FIRE & FEAST - THE ART OF DINING at LONDON DUNGEONS

The Art of Dining know how to do a pop up restaurant. Their 80s Office Party I went to will long remain in my memory (despite the copious amounts of booze consumed...) - the food they serve is delicious and the immersive experience of the whole evening is unlike anything I've experienced elsewhere. Which is why you need to book tickets to their next event - Fire and Feast, which starts its two week run at the London Dungeons on Tuesday 14th June. It's nearly sold out so get in there quick!

I went down to the London Dungeons for a sneaky preview of what's to come. Firstly, I have to say that the London Dungeons are not where I thought they were.... Apparently they moved. Three years ago. So having completely ignored the email from the PRs, in my "I don't need to read that, I know where the dungeons are" state, I arranged to meet Julie on Tooley St, near the "dungeons". They're not there anymore. The London Dungeons are now at County Hall, right next to the London Eye, so if you go to Fire and Feast that's where you need to head.

We finally arrived at the correct location, and had an excellent hour of quaffing bubbly, and going on a tour of the dungeons' new show - Escape the Great Fire. I don't want to spoil it for you, but it was a really excellent show! Lots of laughs and screams, and plenty for you to work up an appetite for the feast that followed.

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EAT FIRST - BRUNCH DELIVERY

There's a new-ish company in London that is literally the company of my dreams. Eat First are a food delivery company like no other. They don't go and collect your food from restaurants - they have their own kitchen, run by top professional chefs, where they make your food to order. You can order on the day you want food, or if you know you've got people coming round and want some top quality dishes to serve you can order in advance. Oh, and they also do brunch. And Bloody Marys! Delivered straight to your door exactly when you want them. Sounds pretty good?!

Eat First have recently teamed up with Noemi from Berlin Brunch to launch the brunch part of their delivery service. So if you know you're going out on a Friday and can't face cooking on the Saturday you can put your order for brunch (and booze) in during the week, and it will come straight to you when you need it. We went to The Little Yellow Door to check out Noemi's dishes, and sample some (all) of the drinks on offer too. Starting with a Bloody Mary made with clear tomato juice - using cyrofiltration (freezing the vegetable then straining it as it defrosts) - creating the most tomato-y flavoured tomato juice I've ever tried. Mix that with Our London vodka, some pickles and the horseradish sauce mix that comes with the drink in the delivery, and you've got a seriously good Bloody Mary.
 

We sampled all of the brunch items that Noemi has created for Eat First. My absolute favourite was the smoked mackerel pate with grated apple, fresh horseradish and rye bread. Other highlights included The Berliner - a platter of cheeses, cured meats and veggies, and the sweet potato and feta toasts. Beetroot hummus and avocado was brilliant, and for the sweet toothed, there was almond butter and banana with quark and chia granola.
 

 

There are other dishes available for brunch that have been created by head chef Benn Hodges, like the asparagus frittata with béchamel, and the flock and herd sausage ragout. Lunch and dinner dishes include salmon teriyaki, rare roast beef salad and spring lamb with vegetables to name just a few. And wine, beer and fresh juices and smoothies.

Eat First are revolutionising the food delivery market, offering top quality food made using the freshest ingredients, and I really like the ordering system - allowing you to plan ahead, or order off the cuff. Check out the dishes you can order from there here.

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COCOTTE, WESTBOURNE GROVE

If you want finger lickin, healthy chicken I've got just the spot for you. Earlier this year Cocotte was opened in Westbourne Grove by a group of Parisian friends who lamented the lack of healthy rotisserie chicken joints in London. In Paris they're a common occurrence, but not so much in London as KFC and deep fried everything seems to take precedence. So Ziad, Capucine, Eglantine and Romain (who created all the recipes) set up shop and have been dishing up their delicious chicken dishes in the their restaurant (and via Deliveroo) since. Cocotte source all their chickens from a free range farm in La Chapelle d'Andaine in France and then marinade them for 24 hours in their secret herb and spice blend before cooking them on the rotisserie.

Hazel and I popped in on a rainy Monday to eat all the chicken and have a catch up. The menu is short and sweet - you can get a whole (£22), half (£12) or quarter (£7) rotisserie cooked, juicy and tasty chicken with a variety of homemade sauces including garlic mayo, BBQ, Cocotte mustard, chicken gravy, spicy, green or truffle mayo, all of which are £1. Sides range from the healthy - The Nathalie salad (kale, roasted yellow pepper, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, sesame, lime juice, walnut oil and tahini) and the Nini's (broccoli, broad beans, green beans, basil, olive oil, mushrooms and lemon dressing), to the not-so-healthy but bloomin' delicious mac n cheese. We shared a half chicken with the spicy sauce and truffle mayo, a mac n cheese and the The Nini's salad with extra avocado, which was more than enough for two of us. The chicken was expertly cooked and seasoned and the sauces were spot on. Gooey mac n cheese and a bowlful of green goodness was all we needed to go with it.

Cocotte is light and lovely inside, and perfect for either a quick pit stop and bite to eat or a more leisurely meal with mates, sharing one of everything with some cocktails on the side. They're open from midday til 10pm every day so next time you're craving really good rotisserie chicken why not head to Cocotte?

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KOJI, PARSONS GREEN

It's no secret that I love Japanese food. And even less of a secret is my fondness for a good cocktail. So put the two together and I'm a very happy girl. Koji - which ticks both these boxes - in Parsons Green, seems to be a bit of a secret.... I'd never heard of it until researching sake cocktails for a piece I wrote for Time Out, but when they read my piece they invited me down to sample the cocktails and food in person. I went along with Lucy the night before heading to Tresco to do a weekend of pop ups, and we had the most delicious feast of delicate yet punchy Japanese food with punchy yet delicate cocktails!

Koji have an ex-Nobu chef in their kitchen and you can really tell there's someone who knows what they're doing there. Every dish was exquisite, and the whole experience heightened by being in such a gorgeous setting - if you want to impress a date then head straight to Koji. We started with cocktails in the elegant bar area, which is lit by huge feather covered lights. When you go to Koji (which you really should if you're anything like me about good cocktails and Japanese food) order the lemongrass and chilli martini. The perfect balance of zesty and spicy it left our lips tingling in all the right ways. We didn't get round to trying it but the watermelon martini also sounds divine.

The food at Koji is Japanese,with a modern twist. The menu's divided into snacks, hot and cold tapas, robata grill and various forms of sushi and sashimi. Being the good (greedy) reviewers that we are, we tried to sample something from each section. Starting with the most wonderful soft shell crab and asparagus summer roll. Light, fresh and expertly rolled it was a great start to what turned out to be a top notch meal.  

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MY FAVOURITE ROAST POTATOES

I've got a roast potato confession to make.... they're always the part of a roast that I don't finish and leave most of on my plate... Blasphemous to some, but I find roast portions so big at pubs and restaurants that I'd rather eat all the meat and veg, than fill up on the roasties, despite the fact that I really like them! I normally eat one or two, and obviously, if I've cooked the roast myself, will only serve myself what I'm going to eat, so others can get their fill. But there is, as always, an exception to the rule. My absolute favourite version of roast potatoes are hasselback potatoes. They look great, taste amazing and have all that extra surface area that crisps up and gets all sorts of delicious.

If you don't know what hasselbacks are, they're the "hedgehog" potato. They're much easier to make than they look as well. You can have them with roasts, steak, fish, meat, or one of my favourite ways is one their own with salad, drizzled with loads of sauce (normally salsa verde or aioli) that you can dunk each slice of potato in.

The easiest way I've found of prepping hasselbacks is as follows:

Take 4-5 new potatoes per person. Place one potato on a chopping board between two wooden spoons running parallel, so the potato is between the wooden spoon handles. Chop the potato, til the knife hits the wooden spoon handles. This should mean you end up with a potato with slices through the top two thirds, but still all joined together at the bottom. Repeat with all the potatoes. Once all the potatoes are sliced, brush them with a mixture of olive oil and melted butter and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Cook the potatoes for 20 minutes at 200C, then remove from the oven and brush them again with the oil and butter mix, making sure to get right down inside the slices. Return to the oven for another 20 minutes, or until golden and crispy. If you're cooking them as part of a roast you can add them to the same pan as the meat to cook, if there's enough room, and they'll absorb all the delicious roasting juices.

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SUGAR FREE RECIPES

You can’t open a newspaper or magazine without reading about the latest diet fad, which foods will give you a “bikini ready body” or what you must immediately cut out of your diet. Personally I believe that most things are fine as long as they’re in moderation, and whilst I try and eat very clean during the day – fruit for breakfast and vegetables and salad for lunch – I often eat out in the evenings so could easily end up consuming most of my daily calories in that one meal. I love nuts and avocado, both of which people avoid due to their high fat content (despite it being the “good” fat) but one thing I do try and avoid is sugar. There isn’t a “good” sugar. Excessive sugar consumption is linked to a whole host of horrible diseases and is hidden in many of the foods we eat, whilst also sprinkled liberally into hot drinks by many. I’ve never been one to add sugar to my coffee, and I don’t drink tea, but it still crops up in so many foods and drinks. And though I try to actively avoid sugar laden products, I do love a glass of bubbly which is full of the stuff. I’ve put together a little guide for you here about how you can cut down, or cut out sugar. I did it fully for a week, but even if you manage to reduce your intake you’ll be giving your mind, body and health a really good boost.

Drinks.

Drinks fall into three categories for me – soft drinks, hot drinks and alcoholic drinks. As far as soft drinks go, you need to stop drinking juice, cordials and fizzy drinks. They’re all packed with sugar, even breakfast fruit juices. Try drinking tap water instead, and if you need to add flavour, add a few ribbons of cucumber and some basil or mint leaves. If you drink lots of sugary drinks and replace them with water you’ll start to see almost immediate results as your skin will look clearer and brighter. For hot drinks, if you’re drinking tea or coffee and adding sugar then really try to stop. If you can’t go cold turkey then reduce the amount of sugar you’re adding to your drink little by little until you’re not adding any at all. Booze wise, your best bet is drinking clear spirits – vodka or gin – with soda water and cucumber and/or lots of fresh herbs. Red wine is also low in fructose, though avoid bubbly as that’s got the highest amount of sugars.

Food.

Sugar is hidden is so many food products, even ones in which you can’t taste it all, like soy sauce. So to cut out sugar, cut out processed foods. Starting from scratch with your ingredients means you can avoid hidden sugars. I bought some lovely asparagus from the local market recently which I used to make two sugar free dinners.

Green salad with avocado sauce

This is hardly a recipe but more of an inspiration, as you can mix it up with any veggies/herbs that you fancy.

Serves 2

4 asparagus
1 avocado
Juice of 1 lemon
Drizzle of olive oil
Tsp chilli flakes
Salt and pepper
Crumbled feta
Handful cherry tomatoes
Springs of dill and basil
6 large green olives
1 red chilli

Steam the asparagus for a couple of minutes, then chop the tops off and slice the other ends into 1cm chunks. Put the avocado in the blender with lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, chilli flakes and salt and pepper and blend til smooth. Chop the rest of the ingredients, toss together with the asparagus tops and chunks and serve with the avocado sauce.

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CHOOKS, EALING

I love finding a restaurant in an area I know really well that I haven't found before. I used to pass through Ealing several times a week, bemoaning the lack of good eateries there. There's a few, but the majority of them I'd give a miss. Recently Chooks got in touch to see if I'd like to try out their new extended menu and I assumed they were a new addition to the area, but apparently they've been there a while - at least since I used to spend time in Ealing. Intrigued to check it out I headed down there with Bron a few weeks ago for a chicken themed feast! Chooks is renowned for marinating and grilling buttermilk chicken, but they've added to their menu and now serve brunch and more healthy options (not that we necessarily went for all of those!)

We started with cocktails which were fine - too cold and not quite strong enough, I've had better (I'd stick to beer or wine if you go) then moved on to the main event. We were hungry and wanted to sample as much as possible...

Starting with Nachos to nibble on while we perused the rest of the menu. The nachos were great - a good amount of all the toppings and still nice and crunchy underneath.

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FRANCO'S, MAYFAIR

London has such a plethora of options for every cuisine you could imagine, that sometimes it's nice to be able to rely on an old school classic. Take Italian food.... in the last few weeks I've written about three or four brand new Italian joints in London. And yes, they were all good, but do you know which was the most authentic and despite being the most expensive, actually the best value for money.... the most classic of them all - Franco's in Mayfair. A place I went with my Dad when he worked in the area and it seemed the most obvious place to meet. Franco's is 70 years old and oozes the classicness of somewhere with that heritage, which in the London restaurant scene is few and far between. But that's also what makes it fun. And reliable. You know what you're getting. Good, classic, Italian food made with the finest, freshest produce available. Which is exactly what we had. Due to its location it is more of a weekday destination than a weekend one, but we went on Friday night and it was still buzzing.

We cozied down in our table for two, facing the rest of the diners for added interest. We went for the traditional four courses - starter, pasta, fish and mains. And maybe snuck a pudding in there too cos when in Rome.....

The whole menu is based around what is flown in from Italy that day so regularly changes, but keeps the favourites for those who love them. We started with the special of the day - poached lobster claw, and one of the classics, beetroot puree with steak tartare and quail's egg yolk. Both were absolutely perfect and a very good sign of things to come....

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THE MEAT CO, WESTFIELD

When I went to review The Meat Co in Westfield, Shepherd's Bush, I had very high expectations. I'd read several other reviews saying it was the BEST steak in London. I think it's always a bit dangerous to try somewhere new having read things like that....!


The Meat Co is on the edge of the shopping centre and as soon as you're inside you forget where you are, in the best way possible! There's an elegant bar downstairs, then a sweeping staircase that takes you past floor to ceiling wine stores, into the restaurant upstairs, which is vast. There's at least 100 covers up there, but the long, thin room ensures you still feel like you're eating in a more exclusive place. Having taken our seats we perused the menu, trying to choose between the various steak options (chateaubriand, fillet with foie gras, bone marrow fillet, wagyu, rib-eye, T-bone, New Yorker, rump etc etc....) plus other meat options including hanging skewers, kangaroo, lamb loin, pork ribs, beefs ribs, burgers and more! We settled on a delicious bottle of wine that Hugo chose, Chocolate Box, and picked our meaty mains.

 



We wanted to try a few things so skipped the starter, though couldn't resist the mixed bread platter to nibble on til mains came. The three breads were chocolate and beetroot, cheesy garlic and potato and onion. Not a very "normal" bread selection but we were curious to try them, and actually they all worked. Even the chocolate, which was just a hint of a flavour after the beetroot.

 

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FLOWERS AT TOM'S KITCHEN, CHELSEA

Last week I popped in to Tom's Kitchen in Chelsea for a demo by the man himself, Tom Aikens, and to sample some of the special menu the restaurant are putting on for next weekend's RHS Chelsea Flower Show. We had a lovely evening learning how to cure and poach salmon, and make various sauces to go with it, culminating in trying the dish once Tom's had prepared it for us.

As all good evenings do, we started with a delicious and refreshing cocktail - the Chelsea Gardens, made from Hendrick's gin, elderflower, cucumber and apple juice, and topped with a flower.

If you visit Tom's Kitchen Chelsea between now and Sunday 29th May you'll get to see it in it's floral glory, as it's been dressed from head to toe in beautiful flower arrangements from Lavender Green. And from 23-29th May you can also taste the floral specials on the menu.

We sampled the marinated Loch Duart salmon with grapefruit and nasturtium, which was so good that it even converted Emily, who is normally not a salmon fan!

Other dishes on the floral menu are the poached chicken lemon risotto with lemon basil and marigolds, and for the sweet tooth there's sweetened ricotta with elderflower and rose poached rhubarb, as well as all the normal dishes from the a la carte menu. So if you're in the area for the flower or just fancy soaking in some floral vibes whilst eating delicious food, make sure you head to Tom's Kitchen. 

 

 

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LOTS OF LOVELY BOXES

I've been sent a few things in boxes recently that I wanted to tell about.... bear with me, they're more exciting than they sound!

First up, a box of chocolates. Not just any chocolates though. These delicious chocolates from Pierre Hermé are part of a recent collaboration with the renowned French artist, Nicolas Buffe, who has created two imaginary characters from the kingdoms of the sun and the moon, and the story between them. The Pierre Hermé Paris chocolate boxes invite you to discover perfect chocolate bonbons, which have just the right contrast between their crisp coating and the soft ganache centre. There are five different boxes with unique characters, each of which reveals one of Pierre Hermé Paris signature flavours - Paineiras (pure origin Brazilian dark chocolate ganache enrobed in dark chocolate) takes the form of Helios; Infiniment Vanille (chocolate and vanilla ganache in dark chocolate) becomes Roxane; and under the Heart is the iconic Ispahan (chocolate and raspberry ganache, rose and litchi fruit paste and dark chocolate). The boxes start at around £24 and are not only beautiful but also packed full of delicious chocolates.
 

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SENOR CEVICHE, SOHO

Senor Ceviche is my kind of place for a fun night out with a girlfriend or three. It's in the perfect location for some post-shopping or pre-partying in Soho, it's fun, lively, they play great music, serve excellent cocktails and even better food that's made for sharing. I popped down with Bron a couple of weeks ago after being invited to review it and we made a pretty good dent on both the cocktail and food menu. There's something for everyone and you can have as much or as little as you like.

The food at Senor Ceviche is based around Peruvian BBQ and ceviche dishes and there's a good mix of the two on the menu. We started off with the "clasico" and the "senor ceviche" ceviches. Both are sea bream ceviche with aji limo tiger's milk, red onion, sweet potato puree and coriander, then the "senor ceviche" also has avocado, octopus and tempura baby squid. I love ceviche anyway but these were both excellent versions of it, with the tangy, fiery tiger's milk perfectly complementing the balance of fish and vegetables.

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