Foodie Round-up

It's been quite some time since I updated this blog, so this post will be something of a foody based round-up of the last few months...and then who knows I may get around to updating all the extra columns, I'm planning on introducing something new down the right hand side as I'm sure finding out what I'm eating every day is as dull to read as it is to write!

A Pignata Corsica

High in the Corsican mountains with glorious views overlooking the granite peaks of the Alta-Rocca, A Pignata is reputed to be the best restaurant on the island, favoured by pop stars and politicians who arrive by helicopter. The menu is fixed price and consists of traditional dishes, 5 of them for €40 and may consist of dishes of beans, cannelloni with local Brocciu cheese, charcuterie and desert. The portions are generous and come in rustic sharing dishes or platters, all entirely consistent with the setting. The meat is fabulous, a mixture of dried hams and sliced sausage, the Copa, Lonzu and Saucison are all worth the price of entry alone. Drink a bottle of locally produced wine, Propriano's Domaine Fiumiccicoli makes a great reasonably priced red, and you'll be in for a stomach stretching treat. 
http://www.apignata.com/acceuil-anglais.html 

Ottolenghi's flavour complex

Open for nearly a year now Nopi is the west end, all day restaurant opened by acclaimed flavour master Yotam Ottolenghi. A bright white space upstairs with a vast kitchen table and a view in to said kitchen in the basement, Nopi's decor is perhaps best enjoyed when the light is low. However the food offers fascinating and complex flavours at any time of day. Take the Roasted Pumpkin Tart with Rainbow Chard, it sounds dull but the blend of flavours, sharp then sweet and drizzled with truffle oil to add a little buzz of complexity was quite stunning.

The dishes are small designed for sharing, as is the modern way, but it gives you an excuse to try multiple plates where a regular meal wouldn't allow you. There are lots of names on the menu you won't find in so the Chargrilled Octopus with Salmorejo sauce and Morcilla is a plate of tenderly cooked seafood in a light tomato and garlic sauce with a delicate black pudding, not a combination you'd expect but a beautiful whole.
Theres a lot on the menu that deserves tasting including Barramundi with Salsify, Rabbit Pastilla and a delightful selection of puddings, plus a well priced and carefully chosen wine and cocktail list. If it's seasonal, imaginative breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner that you're after in 2012, then Nopi has to be high on the list.
http://www.nopi-restaurant.com 

In search of Pernod and Black

Back in the late 1970's it was part of unwritten pub lore that if you were underage you'd be served provided you kept quiet with your little gang of mates in the corner and didn't cause any trouble. This is when I first went to the Hand & Flowers in Marlow, between the ages of 16 and 18, a couple of pints of Hofmeister (whatever happened to that?), a packet of scampi fries, a pernod & black and a couple of No6 fags to round the night off, before wobbling home on my bike. An excellent teenage night out.


Since then the Hand & Flowers has gone up market and while I'm sure they would have provided a pernod & black if asked I think they may have frowned on the scampi fries! Now the possessor of two Michelin stars and the AA restaurant of the year 2011/12 it packs a big reputation embodied in chef patron Tom Kerridge, who's profile is rising all the time (hence he's hardly ever in the kitchen which is now run by Aaron Mulliss).


Still possessing the feel of a converted pub rather than purpose built restaurant and serving cask ales, it is the well priced seasonal menu that keeps a loyal customer base returning and booking well in advance essential. Crispy pigs head with artichokes, crackling and pancetta is a wonderful little starter. A crumbed "fish finger" of rich, deeply satisfying meat that lingers in the mouth, shows remarkable skill and patience. Simple things are done well too such as salty whitebait served in a paper cone with homemade tartar sauce.


Described by knowledgable and friendly waiting staff as an upside down toffee apple, the Essex Lamb Bun oozes slow cooked lamb shank and sweetbreads wrapped in a pastry bun, placed on the plate with the bone pointing upwards, it's novel, attractive and most importantly bursting with rich flavours. Duck breast comes slow cooked, which renders away the fat but is still moist and matched by some crisp, fat chips cooked in duck fat. A serving of salt baked potatoes for two arrives in its own bread container which you have to knock the top off to get at the steaming potatoes within. An excellent cheese board with homemade grape chutney complements the rustic simplicity of the meal. 


What surprises me is that the Hand & Flowers has 2 stars. It is lovely, the food and staff are excellent, even exceptional, however it doesn't have the fancy flourishes that you normally associate with Michelin dining. I think that's probably a good thing but I would love to know how the judges make their decisions.
http://www.thehandandflowers.co.uk/

The Pre-Theatre Menu

Us provincials don't get up to the big city that much, so when we do it's good to have something nice to eat. However with theatres starting their shows just at the time you should be tucking into a mighty fine dinner, and what with us having to catch a train so we can't eat later, the Pre-theatre menu comes into its own. It works for the restaurant too filling in that dead space after lunch so that when dinner clientele arrive there's already a buzz in the restaurant.


Of course the menu is limited but if you try somewhere like a Arbutus in Soho, they make a proper effort and don't treat you like a second class citizen. Try the exquisite warm porchetta, thinly sliced, infused with sage, it's a generous portion of melt in the mouth pork. Pheasant pappardelle and a rich bitter chocolate mouse arrive swiftly but there is no rush to turn the table, and at £18.95 for three simple but well put together courses  it's a great option.
http://www.arbutusrestaurant.co.uk/ 

Pollen Street Social

The buzz around Pollen Street Social has been so acute it has even reached the backwaters of Henley on Thames. So on an excursion to the capital with Mrs HT, that also took in a light lunch at Books for Cooks in Notting Hill, saw us on the off chance wandering into PSS, (as it shall now be known) in the early evening.

As Olive magazine pointed out this month, go early and choose the day of a major sporting final. So thanks to Barcelona and Man Utd we were happily seated in the bar at 5.30 enjoying a couple of cocktails, with a table ready for us when the kitchen opened at 6pm.

PSS is divided into two large oblong rooms. The bar area with comfortable modernist brown leather sofa’s and chairs with stools at the long bar is discreetly decorated with modern artworks against pale walls and a lowish ceiling. The dining room is slightly larger, decorated in similar fashion with dangling futurist globe lighting. The unusual feature is the dessert bar at one end, borrowed from the New York trend. Where, in other restaurants you might find a seafood bar, here you can perch on a stool, stare longingly into the adjacent kitchen, with its huge glass wall and Star Trek like sliding glass door, and engage the dessert chef in conversation about what to have.

Seated happily where Mrs HT could watch all the machinations in the room, service was exemplary, knowledgeable, friendly and at the right level between discreet and familiar. It is this affable service  that makes a visit to PSS such a pleasant experience. The other is of course the cooking of Jason Atherton.

Famously named by Faye Maschler as the best chef in the Gordon Ramsey empire at Maze and with a self financed stint at El Bulli also in the bag, Atherton cooks with intelligence and obvious passion, you can taste it in his unusual but precise dishes. Out straightening chairs in the bar when we first arrived he obviously cares too.

Almost every dish on the menu prompts a question. This is a good thing, not only providing intrigue it allows the waiting staff to raise your desire too with neat descriptions of all the dishes.Sated with information but not yet by food, my starter of Squid with Cauliflower Puree, shards of Cauliflower, Squid ink puffed rice and roast squid juice looked pale and interesting on the plate and was soft and comforting in the mouth, but given some depth and crunch by the rice, which of course isn’t rice at all. The idea of cutting the squid into tiny pieces and serving almost as a risotto is inspired.

The Full English Breakfast bore virtually no resemblance to that served at a greasy spoon, yet tasted exactly how you want it to. An egg poached  for 1 1/2 hours topping earthy mushrooms and roast tomato puree is unctuous but puts a broad grin on the face.

It is possible to have half portions of the main courses and turn the whole menu into a tasting menu we went tradtional though. Ox Cheek, Tongue and Sirloin was good without being exceptional, unlike the Roasted Halibut with a remarkably rich and moreish paella, steeped in ham fat, which was just wonderful.

Our request to sit at the dessert bar was happily accommodated, though I imagine later in the evening it might not be so easy. Watching Atherton at work through the glass was fascinating as was the conversation with the pud chef over the merits of full portions over mini tasters.

None of the descriptions, Ham, Cheese & Herbs, Sangria or PBJ do justice to the micro menu’s selection of light, delicate flavours prepared in front of us. Suffice to say that the ham is made from water melon and the herbs are tiny pieces of candied basil and sage, which the chef kindly told us how to make.
Pollen Street Social has been praised to the hilt since opening, with good reason, it is the most relaxed and entertaining dining room with some of the best food in London and top quality staff to match. Go while it’s still new.

Total cost for 2 Cocktails, 2 Starters, 2 Mains, 3 mini puddings, 1 bottle Chilean Haras de Pirque Cabernet Sauvignon: £153.56 inc service.

Pollen Street Social, 8-10 Pollen Street, London W1S 1NH 020 7290 7600