Today I went, with the members of my office, to the wonderful Chez Bruce in Wandsworth for my leaving lunch. There is a promotion running, organised by Hardens and the FT (Lunch with the FT 2008), where you can have , at Bruce's, a three course lunch for £19.50. It is obviously a shortened menu but, as always, absolutely delicious.
Now I may be a bit partial here, but I do really like this restaurant. I first came here when it was Harvey's and have been numerous times since Bruce Poole has been in charge and it just keeps being great. The room is a well designed space, not too big or crowded, airy but still cosy. The staff are always friendly and it seems that nothing is ever too much trouble.
We were a table of four and started with some bubbles - a bottle of Pol Roger NV - lovely while we pondered the menu and subsequent wine choices. We had the following to eat: Foie Gras and Chicken Liver Terrine with Brioche, Wild Mushroom Tagliatelle and Salt Cod Beignets, Mussel Vinaigrette and Aioli were the starters and all were deemed delicious. The Foie was light and the brioche some of the nicest I've had for ages. The salt cod was YUM and came with my first samphire of the year so that made it for me.
The red wine arrived - a Shiraz Mataro from Pemberton in Australia, "Lilian" 1999 by John Brocksopp - and it was round and had good fruit but with a nice bit of age there too. Main courses were Rump of Aberdeen Angus with Fondant Potatoes and Spinach, said to be lovely but it disappeared before I could even snaffle a taste. Halibut with Mash, light and perfectly cooked fish, and I had Belly Pork with Caramelised Apples, Choucroute and crackling. So good, I shall be recreating this at home, or at least trying to... Desserts followed and they were Pink Grapefruit Sorbet - delish - served with a selection of biscuits, a brandy snap, a tuille, a madaleine and a piece of vanilla shortbread. A Chocolate Pudding with Vanilla Ice cream, which was deemed amazing and than Syllabub with Blood Orange Jelly which I will also be recreating.
All in all a wonderful lunch and I am so glad that Chez Bruce is my "local"!
Wednesday 27 February 2008
Friday 22 February 2008
Birthday Dinner
It was Johnny Bollinger's (the brother) birthday on Tuesday and yesterday we went out to dinner to celebrate. We, that is the brother, the mother and myself, went to Tom Ilic, a newish restaurant on Queenstown Road in Battersea. It is on the site of The Stepping Stone and latterly The Food Room and Tom used to be the chef at The Stepping Stone a good few years ago.
The restaurant has a very friendly atmosphere but it doesn't look as though much has changed decorwise. A big bonus is that they haven't tried to cram too many tables in so it feels lovely and open. The bread, both white and olive, we got on arrival was very good and came with some nice fleur du sel butter. We perused the menu, very nice sounding it was too, and chose some interesting sounding dishes - obviously we all had something different to try as much as possible.
I had Braised Pig's Cheeks with Chorizo, Garlic & Parsley Mash. It was a very well put together dish, there were thin slices of chorizo laid on the pig's cheeks and they added a lovely depth to the porkiness. The mash was a great foil to that and the slick of dark, sticky sauce on the plate. The mother had Foie Gras & Game Terrine with Fig Compote and Brioche, very nicely put together. The foie was soft rather than being straight-from-fridge firm and this made a good contrast to the firm pieces of game, the soft sweet brioche and the crunch of the fig. Bollinger had sautéed calf sweetbreads, oxtail ravioli, apple and parsnip purée, it was a very nice dish, just not quite as punchy as I was expecting... To go with that we had a 2006 Vouvray which was fine.
This brings me to my complaint. I know that I probably expect more from a wine list than some but this was a truly boring effort. It was a struggle to find something you wanted to drink, it was all fine and not fine in a good way, just exceeding boring, nothing exciting to make the food sing - hence not remembering the producer, not something I want to remember as I won't be drinking their wine again.
Main courses. Roast saddle & braised neck of lamb potato and turnip gratin, spiced aubergine was Bollinger's choice, it was nice adn tasty, looked very good on the plate (sorry about lack of photo) and the neck was outstanding. Mother had Seared scallops honey roast pork belly, jerusalem artichokes and hazelnuts which again was tasty, the scallops were cooked to perfection but there was a depth of flavour lacking slightly from the small amount I tried. I chose Venison creamed savoy cabbage butternut ravioli and candied kumquats which was, I think, the outstanding dish. The venison was tender and delicious, the cabbage was a good foil for the rich sauce and the ravioli was simple wonderful. The kumquat however, was entirely superfluous to the dish as I actually found it a little unpleasant to my taste; so I didn't eat it and really enjoyed my dish. We had a 2003 half bottle of Madiran with it, which was lovely.
We finished with some espresso, a glass of Banyuls and a glass of LBV Graham's. Tom came out to see a table in the restaurant who were, I am guessing, friends. I would like to thank Tom adn the staff as they were lovely and made the evening for us. The food was great on the whole, if with a few things I would prefer differently, but then that's my taste, and I would go back. Especially if they change the wine list and make it a bit more fun.
The restaurant has a very friendly atmosphere but it doesn't look as though much has changed decorwise. A big bonus is that they haven't tried to cram too many tables in so it feels lovely and open. The bread, both white and olive, we got on arrival was very good and came with some nice fleur du sel butter. We perused the menu, very nice sounding it was too, and chose some interesting sounding dishes - obviously we all had something different to try as much as possible.
I had Braised Pig's Cheeks with Chorizo, Garlic & Parsley Mash. It was a very well put together dish, there were thin slices of chorizo laid on the pig's cheeks and they added a lovely depth to the porkiness. The mash was a great foil to that and the slick of dark, sticky sauce on the plate. The mother had Foie Gras & Game Terrine with Fig Compote and Brioche, very nicely put together. The foie was soft rather than being straight-from-fridge firm and this made a good contrast to the firm pieces of game, the soft sweet brioche and the crunch of the fig. Bollinger had sautéed calf sweetbreads, oxtail ravioli, apple and parsnip purée, it was a very nice dish, just not quite as punchy as I was expecting... To go with that we had a 2006 Vouvray which was fine.
This brings me to my complaint. I know that I probably expect more from a wine list than some but this was a truly boring effort. It was a struggle to find something you wanted to drink, it was all fine and not fine in a good way, just exceeding boring, nothing exciting to make the food sing - hence not remembering the producer, not something I want to remember as I won't be drinking their wine again.
Main courses. Roast saddle & braised neck of lamb potato and turnip gratin, spiced aubergine was Bollinger's choice, it was nice adn tasty, looked very good on the plate (sorry about lack of photo) and the neck was outstanding. Mother had Seared scallops honey roast pork belly, jerusalem artichokes and hazelnuts which again was tasty, the scallops were cooked to perfection but there was a depth of flavour lacking slightly from the small amount I tried. I chose Venison creamed savoy cabbage butternut ravioli and candied kumquats which was, I think, the outstanding dish. The venison was tender and delicious, the cabbage was a good foil for the rich sauce and the ravioli was simple wonderful. The kumquat however, was entirely superfluous to the dish as I actually found it a little unpleasant to my taste; so I didn't eat it and really enjoyed my dish. We had a 2003 half bottle of Madiran with it, which was lovely.
We finished with some espresso, a glass of Banyuls and a glass of LBV Graham's. Tom came out to see a table in the restaurant who were, I am guessing, friends. I would like to thank Tom adn the staff as they were lovely and made the evening for us. The food was great on the whole, if with a few things I would prefer differently, but then that's my taste, and I would go back. Especially if they change the wine list and make it a bit more fun.
Thursday 21 February 2008
Changes
Well, having been employed in the wine trade for the last five plus years I will be leaving the company I work for on the 29th February. An auspicious day! I have been trying to decide what to do with myself and think have some plans. After taking a break - well deserved I may add - I shall do some part time work still in the trade. I have to keep my finger in as I do love it and the subject is fascinating. The big idea however, is to finally put my feet forward and set up a catering company. I'm going to start small and do in house catering for people with some event stuff, following on the the WoSA event I did, so fingers crossed all round. SCARY STUFF!
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