Saturday 19 February 2011

My favourite restaurants

We don't have much spare time where I work. But everyone needs a bit of down-tools, water-cooler time on a Friday afternoon. In ours just lately we've been talking trivia and making lists - top ten films, books, etc. A colleague suggested we listed our top ten restaurants, and some eyes glazed over slightly. Not mine, of course - that's a list right up my strada (as Gregg Wallace would say).

So here it is - my favourite ten restaurants. Not the greatest, highest-ranking restaurants or any kind of a recommendation - just places where I've had a great experience. And ones where I remember specifically what I ate.

1. Cocoon (near Piccadilly, London) - pretty tables, the best beef in town, great dim sum and an amazing sake list. The sommelier, Honami, is wonderful.

2. La Sacristia (Tarifa, Spain) - attractive, good service and interesting food with a Japanese influence.

3. Texture (Portman St, London) - too cool for school Scandinavian style place with the most exciting ice cream I've ever been served, and bacon-flavoured popcorn.

4. 21212 (Royal Terrace, Edinburgh) - a cutesy, cosy, Michelin-starred place that serves imaginative and complicated five-course meals.

5. Lemon Tree (Bishops Stortford, Herts) - comfy and reliable restaurant with great puddings and locally-sourced ingredients.

6. Cinnamon Club (Westminster, London) - refined Indian dining in a beautiful old building with delicious cocktails and a constant buzz.

7. Busaba Eathai (several branches in London) - essentially a chain, but I love their decor, welcoming incense smell, fresh food and tempting soft drinks.

8. Rhodes 24 (Tower 42, London) - fantastic location and comfortingly simple food from good old Gary.

9. Delicatessen (Tarifa, Spain) - a lovely outdoor restaurant with great salmorejo, ham, cakes and cava.

10. Marine Ices (Camden, London) - strangely genteel amid the piercing parlours, this Italian place has an impressive history, huge range of pasta dishes and fantastic ice cream.

Special mentions to the Albannach and The Chancery in London, the Village Inn and The Dogs in Scotland and Ma Salle a Manger and Les Fous de l'Ile in Paris.

Sadly, three restaurants that'd be right at the top of my list have closed down. RIP St Alban (Piccadilly, London), Brian Turner's place in the Millenium Hotel, London and 1893 (in Stansted). You're missed.

Tuesday 1 February 2011

New year, new pie

So, it's a new year and we've all survived the Christmas come-down again. We're a few pounds heavier, a few pounds poorer. And what have we learnt?

Well, I've learnt that chestnuts are delicious and that a jar of them at Christmas will leave me with a few left over in January. Cue frantic hunting through my recipe books and files for interesting ways to use them up. And just look what I found (erm, and adapted)! Yes siree - it's pie-shaped.

The pie-ness of it is actually beside the point. What I made to begin was a rich and creamy mushroom and chestnut sauce/filling. Chop a few shallots and fry them in a large pan until they're going a bit transparent. Add a good slosh of brandy and let it reduce a little before adding plenty of chopped mushrooms. Any kind will do - I used half chestnut mushrooms and half shiitake. Add the chestnuts themselves to the pan, broken into pieces. Finally add a little double cream to bind the whole thing into a creamy whole. You'll probably need a decent old grind of black pepper in there too.

With this base the world's your lobster. I piled it into an ovenproof dish and topped with readymade puff pastry*. Bake it for 20 minutes and eat it with steamed broccoli, sugar snap peas or asparagus (or all three). I think filo pastry may work instead, if you prefer it.

If pies aren't your bag, baby, stir it through some penne pasta. Or serve it with grilled polenta. Or heap it on topp of jacket potatoes. Like I say - world, lobster. It's fereezable for a couple of months, too. And if I screw up my eyes and go 'la la la' I can probably ignore the calories in the cream, too!

*Twee pastry decorations, as depicted, are optional.

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