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[Written for wine.com]
Good British Food: An Oxymoron?
By Elizabeth Sagehorn
The first time I visited London in 1992, the food was so
bad that I lost ten pounds. It was
either unappetizing to look at or so filled with saturated fat, that I shied
away from eating much of anything. While
packing for my most recent trip, I took note of the cellulite rippling about my
thighs, and was fired with enthusiasm at the thought of losing a little weight.
Was I in for a surprise!
The
English seem to have finally forgiven the French their part in the Napoleonic
Wars two centuries ago and adopted some of their more delectable cooking skills.
French is all the rage right now, but not the traditional heavy on the
cream and fat French. Gifted local
chefs have managed to concoct delicious dishes that are original, tasty,
attractive and (relatively) easy on the arteries.
While visiting expatriate family members recently, we made the rounds to
discover this trend for ourselves. We
picked two restaurants that we loved which are endemic of some of the
gastronomic goings-on in not-so-foggy London town.
The
Capital Hotel on Basil Street in Knightsbridge is one of those small swanky
hotels that only announces its presence with a tiny brass plaque next to the
door. Silent, middle-aged
attendants pad softly to and fro, attending to guests’ needs the old-fashioned
way. If you can’t afford to pay
$500 a night for such service, but would like to experience it for an evening,
we suggest having dinner in their restaurant.
The room itself is unremarkable. Considering
how much you’re about to cough up for dinner, you would think they could lay
down a new carpet that didn’t have worn patches in it. The décor (cream walls with pretty standard fare ethnic art)
is equally uninspiring. But the
food and wine….
Between
the four people in our party, we ate half the menu. And frankly, I wish we’d brought four more people so we
could have had a bite of everything because what we had was delicious.
The standout appetizers included the warm quail salad on a carpaccio of
ceps. The flavors were rich and
complementary, and the sauce was only slightly sweet and full-bodied.
The salad of roasted peppers, carmelised garlic and goat’s cheese was
another pleasant surprise. It
sounded a little weird, but turned out to be a fantastic combination of flavors
and beautifully presented. The best
entrees were both meats. The saddle
of rabbit, sweet onion pastilla and rosemary was moist, tender, and mercifully
not gamey tasting. The fillet of
lamb with herb crust and fricassee printaniere also sent us into raptures.
The dessert worth writing home about was the strawberry and white
chocolate trifle. It wasn’t too
sticky sweet and was served in a very generous portion.
But the most impressive part of the evening was Matthew
the sommelier. At our request, he
brought each individual a different wine with each course (another reason to be
grateful for London cabs). If you
press him, he will admit to being partial to French wines, but he presented us
with a selection that stretched from Lebanon to California. Each glass made its way around the table for others to taste,
and remarkably there was no swapping. Everyone
agreed that their wine was best for their dish.
The rest of the staff was equally polite and unobtrusive in the
old-fashioned way that earned England its standout reputation for service.
Dietary restrictions were met with creative suggestions and accommodated
with ease. Dinner, wine and bottled
water for four people came to £303 (about $460).
If
you’re looking for something a little less pricey and upscale, but equally
delicious try 190 at 190 Queen’s Gate in Kensington. Actually three venues, a bar, downstairs restaurant, and
bistro, it is also located in a hotel (The Gore Hotel, no relation to our veep
as far as we could discern) and is a much more cheerful place to visit with
friends or family. The bistro is a
lovely, high-ceilinged, cheerful, yellow room.
On a pleasant evening the huge windows are opened and you can catch a
whiff of the flowers in the window boxes. The
food is hearty and much of it is original. The wine list has a surprising range.
The
Bruschetta and mussels we had as appetizers may not sound too exciting, but
these are both dishes that are often badly made. In this case, the tomatoes in the bruschetta were plump and
tender and flavorful. The mussels
were tender, fresh and tasty without being particularly fishy-flavored.
They were steamed in a water, white wine, garlic and parsley broth.
Favorite entrees included a roast butternut squash, pistachio and shitake
mushroom cannelloni. An unusual
taste sensation, none of the flavors overpowered the others, and they all
harmonized to create a mouth-watering dish.
The char-grilled tuna with roast fennel, olive and blackened tomato salad
and red pepper mayonnaise was also a hit. It
was beautifully presented and the fish was done to a turn.
If
this new-fangled fancy cooking is not in your line, never fear.
There are still plenty of places where you can indulge in bubble and
squeak to your heart’s content. Just
don’t expect to loose any weight while you’re over there.
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