New favourite restaurants

My favourite restaurant - Cocoon - has closed down. But what can replace it?

I haven't yet had a chance to try out Senkai, the Japanese restaurant opened in Cocoon's place by the same team. I'm sure I'll love it, but I don't think it'll hit the top spot.

So step up to the plate good old Gordy! Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's bobbles on the horizon as the epitome of a swanky, luxury restaurant in London. Celebrity chef influence, plush hotel, good location, classic food ... and a hell of a reputation to live up to. But it does, with an almost irritating amount of ease!

Then there's kooky old Joel Robuchon. We ate at the first floor, La Cuisine, rather than at the well-known ground floor L'Atelier. But it's the same fantastic, brave food with eye-popping presentation and great wine. A slight lack of atmosphere and some rowdy fellow diners mean it isn't my favourite, but it's close.

Incidentally, this is the time of year when our friends, family and loved ones all seem to celebrate birthdays. And either of these excellent restaurants would be a prime celebration location, even though they come at a hefty old price. You'll need to sell a major organ for an a la carte dinner with wine and a well-deserved tip. But I'm here to tell you it's worth the money - so start dusting off that Wurlitzer and book now!

And have happy birthdays.

Alive and well and eating

I'm sorry - I haven't been in touch. I've been an erratic blogger. I said I'd be here with news, dear reader, and I wasn't. I didn't even tell you more about Madrid!

But I'm alive and awfully well. And I'm discovering the eating delights of Smithfield. If I were the kind to use the phrase foodie heaven (which I'm not), I'd use it to describe the Smithfield area. It's a gastronomic delight, and no mistaking.

Never mind the fact that every famous, modern lunch chain has a branch right on my doorstep. And never mind the fact that there's a plethora of beautiful traditional old pubs to hand. I'm not even counting those things.

A short walk away I've discovered The Modern Pantry - a cutesy, wholesome restaurant with a fantastic choice of takeaway options for lunch. If you haven't tasted their aubergine quiche and soba noodle salad you don't know real happiness.

Then there's Farm, home of the fish finger bap. There's lesser known chain Benugo, with their excellent Parisian panini. There's Abokado for wonderful sushi.

When evening rolls on, you can choose from Hix Oyster and Chop House (also a good lunch venue, for small snacks at the bar), posh old Club Gascon, and any number of swanky bistros and brasseries.

I might be some time.

Another one bites the dust

Remember when I listed my favourite restaurants earlier this year? Remember how there were three I added at the bottom - ones that would have been at the top of the list but had closed down?

Well, it would appear to be a curse.

Cocoon, my number one choice, has now closed. A modern Japanese restaurant is opening in its place this month, but that's not the same. Really, it's not the same.

Cocoon - I salute you. We had many a happy evening with you and you opened our eyes to Wagyu beef, black cod and (most importantly) good sake. Boo hoo.

PS: If anyone knows what's happened to Honami (used to be Cocoon's sommelier) please do let me know.

A slice of Madrid at home

So you knew it was just a matter of time, right? Before I got ideas above my station? And felt the need to recreate the Estado Puro tapas at home? Don't you hate always being right?

I didn't feel adventurous enough to try the tortilla in a glass. But I did try out the cute little patatas bravas with a swirl (or in my case, dollop) of sauce.

I consulted the Book of Tapas - otherwise known in my house as the 'big yellow book of chomps' - for a standard salsa brava recipe and followed it to begin. It's a bit of white wine vinegar, a dash of worcestershire sauce, some crushed garlic, chilli flakes and a whole load of paprika mixed together. But it wasn't thick or rich enough, so I took drastic steps.

First I added one teaspoon-full of salmorejo mixture, which I was making at the same time. Salsa brava doesn't traditionally contain tomato, but it feels as if it should! To thicken the sauce I heated it intensively, stirring constantly until it made a deep red paste. A quick taste - similar enough to the restaurant's original. I selected same-size, neatly shaped small potatoes (I can't remember which kind, but ones suitable for baking, not boiling). Once the potatoes had baked in their skins for about 40 minutes I took a scoop out of the top of each and plopped in some sauce. Another five minutes in the oven unites potato and sauce nicely, and they're ready to serve.

Also on my twee plate (pictured above): a small ramekin of salmorejo, asparagus spears, slices of tortilla, jamon iberico and onion-stuffed mushrooms. Yum, eh?

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The best tapas in town

I could say so much about Madrid. And I will, I promise! But just while I have a moment, there's one place that deserves a mention before everything else.

Of course one expects tapas. And of course one expects some places with a touristy pictures-on-a-board menu and others full of locals. A mixture of basic, sophisticated, over-priced, cheap as chips, over-Spanish, traditional, understated and hidden gems. But I still wasn't expecting Estado Puro (by the way, watch out - the website plays music!).

Plonked on the edge of a roundabout just opposite the Prado, it's slap-bang in tourist territory. Despite the busy road running by, it has a tourist-trap outdoor terrace. It's just down the road from McDonalds. Yet it's the classiest place I saw in the whole of Madrid.

Sit at a high table just inside, facing the window. It's quiet but affords a great view of the bustle outside. The menu is printed on a little pouch housing cutlery and a napkin. At first glance it lists traditional tapas - patatas bravas, jamon, ensaladilla rusa, tortilla. But look again: it's tortilla siglo XXI (21st century). And ensaladilla rusa with pear mayonnaise. Little twists on a standard tapas menu.

And when the food arrives you'll be bowled over at how different it is. The tortilla is an egg foam in a glass, punctuated by the sweet taste of caramelised onion. The Russian salad is smooth, creamy and rich in taste. Patatas bravas arrive on a long slab - six tiny baked potatoes with a deep, flavoursome swirl of spicy sauce. The ham's unpolluted, excellent ham, but it's brutally cut and arranged in sharp-edged squares.

Add sophisticated decor, good wine, smart service and reasonable prices and you'll have a brilliant, relaxing but speedy lunch. This is a classy surprise and well worth a visit if you've been to one of the galleries, or have a bit of time waiting near Atocha station. It's like Spain, but on a great day.

Lunchtime creativity

One of the best things about having some time at home is access to my kitchen at lunchtimes. And, of course, a little bit more time to be creative about the food I prepare. I'm not a sandwich fan so I've challenged myself to make a lunch I love every day, from whatever I've got in the cupboards. And I've come up with some delicious results.

Roasted tomato soup

Easy as pie (or even soup), this one. Put a handful of either cherry or baby plum tomatoes into an ovenproof dish with a drizzle of olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Roast them in a hot-ish oven for about 20 minutes. Once they've cooled enough not to give you Freddie Krueger burns, decant them into a bowl with fairly high sides. Add half a slice of bread torn into chunks, a small spoonful of creme fraiche, a squeeze of tomato puree and a splash of water. Blend it all with a hand blender and you're done. If you prefer soup to be piping hot you can heat it a little at the end (add a splash more water if it starts to thicken).

Leek and parmesan risotto

Chop one leek very finely and soften it with a bit of butter or spread in a large frying pan. Add a large handful of either risotto or paella rice and stir it around to coat the rice with the butter. When it's starting to look and sound squeakily dry, add half a pint of either chicken or vegetable stock. Put a lid on and let the whole thing simmer until the rice grains are puffy - check now and again, because you might need to add more water. Once it's done, add a spoonful of creme fraiche (detecting a theme?) and as much grated parmesan as you fancy. Smother it with black pepper before tucking in!

Salmon noodles

Heat some chicken stock with soy sauce until it reaches boiling point. Add a salmon fillet, broken into large flakes, and some sliced shiitake mushrooms. Once the salmon is cooked, turn off the heat and add slices of spring onion and a forkful of ginger (the kind you can get in a jar is easiest). Either cook noodles in the microwave or add them straight into the salmon broth, depending on what kind of noodles you have. Serve the whole thing with a last drizzle of soy sauce.

So that's my top three, for ease of preparation and satisfaction at the end product. Can you inspire me further? What's your favourite lunchtime feast? Ah go on - tell me!

Fastest cake in the world

I felt a bit domestic goddess-like this morning - up and about very early and in the mood to fuss aeound in the kitchen. I was also starving by about 10am so I decided to rustle up some scones, one of the easiest cakes to make.

To start I rubbed 60g of slightly salted butter into 220g of self-raising flour. This is the messy bit where you need to take all the rings off your fingers and end up with something resembling breadcrumbs. Next mix in 50g of golden caster sugar and a handful (your hands or mine? Who cares?!) of sultanas. Then use a wooden spoon to mix in 150ml of semi-skimmed milk until it makes a soft but held-together dough. If it's too gooey to lift out of the bowl in one piece, add a sprinkling of flour.

Knead it very lightly for hardly any time at all on a floury surface, then roll it out to a thickness of about 2cm. I prefer square, rustic-looking scones so I used a bread knife to cut it into 8 pieces. I baked them on a non-stick tray for about 15 minutes at 180 degrees.

Of course, the real reason for making them is the joy of butter or spread sinking slowly into hot, crusty scones. And to use up the last of the Fortnum and Mason luxury cherry jam from Christmas!

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Not just snacks

It's tapas time again. Well, it was for me on Saturday. A friend and I cooked up a storm using recipes from The Book of Tapas.

This meaty tome, by family act Simone and Ines Ortega, is a bit of a tapas bible. It cuts straight into business-like and easy to follow recipes for everything under the lovely Spanish sun.

We made patatas bravas, potato salad with tuna, crab and tomato bites, asparagus and ham toasts, spicy chicken brochettes and some delicious stuffed potato skins. All within an hour and a half while avoiding an 18-month-old baby playing with cars underfoot!

It's a pretty expensive book and perhaps not as visually appealing as some cookbooks, but well worth it. If you like tapas. Which I do.

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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.

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.