Name: Boulestin
Where: 5 St James Street, London SW1A 1EF
Cost: Bastille Day Menu for 3 courses is
offered at £37.50. The Prix Fixe Theatre menus are also available at £19.50 and
£24.50 for 2 and 3 courses respectively, and also for Saturday lunch. From the
à la carte menu, hors d'oeuvres range from £9 to £17.50, fish dishes are from
£19.50 to £27.50, and meat dishes range from £23.50 to £29.50. Desserts cost
from £7.50 to £9.50, with French cheeses including a selection of 4 for
£16.75.
About: Marcel Boulestin (1878-1943) was a
French chef and restaurateur, who opened his eponymous restaurant in 1927 in
Southampton Street, Covent Garden. He was also the world's first TV chef,
appearing in 1937 on the BBC. After his death, the restaurant continued under
various managements until it closed in 1994.
In September 2013, restaurateur Joel Kissin
(co-founder and managing director of Conran Restaurants, now known as D&D
London) opened Boulestin in St James as a 60-seat restaurant with a private
dining room, an outside courtyard and the bistro Café Marcel. It specialises in
the sort of classic French cuisine Marcel Boulestin popularised in the UK, led
by Head Chef Andrew Woodford (ex The Wolseley, Colbert and Rules).
The restaurant is at the southern end of St
James Street, next door to Berry Bros & Rudd's Wine & Spirits Shop.
With a black and white tiled floor, starched white linen tablecloths and green
leather chairs, set in a dining room flooded with natural light from the
skylight, it's an elegant spot for lunch or dinner. It is only a stone's throw
from Fortnum & Mason, Burlington Arcade and the luxury shopping area of
Bond Street.
What We Ate: We started with the Jambon Persille,
a terrine of ham hock and parsley, this is a specialty of Dijon in Burgundy of
which Boulestin’s was a fine example.
We also had a magnificent Octopus Salad
which included samphire, tomatoes, potatoes, olives, capers and lemon, this was
a delicious dish reflecting the Mediterranean coastline of France, with a
generous serving of tender octopus and fragrant olive oil.
For mains, we had one of the restaurant’s
signature dishes - Tete de Veau - calves head, tongue and brains, with carrots,
potatoes and celery. The Tete de Veau took me straight back to my Cordon Bleu
days – classic French cooking at its best. A highly complex dish to assemble
and cook (best left to the professionals), Boulestin's appeared effortlessly
put together with tender calves’ head meat accompanied by a delicate but
intensely flavored broth.
Dr G opted for the Roast Rabbit, served
with mustard sauce. The rabbit was attractively presented with Girolle
mushrooms, the saddle cooked in a balotine in a water-bath, perfumed with tarragon
then wrapped in carrot slivers, and served with a fine mustard sauce, gherkins,
capers and parsley. It was tremendous, and a reminder of just how fine a meat
rabbit can be when expertly cooked.
Before dessert, we opted for the platter of
4 French cheeses, all from nearby Paxton & Whitfield (£16.75). This
included Brillat Savarin, Beaufort, Foure D' Ambert and Mothais-Sur-Feuille.
The cheeses were of excellent quality, and perfectly ripe.
For dessert, we had the cinnamon doughnuts
and a fruit tart. This was a French tart of crème pâtissière, blackberry,
strawberry, raspberry and blueberry, with a perfectly crisp and crumbly short
crust pastry base.
The doughnuts were light and airy, with a delicious coating
of cinnamon and sugar.
What We Drank: Impressively, the house
Champagne is the "R" de Ruinart Brut, available for £14.75 by the
glass, or £70 per bottle. Wines have a
strong French influence, but there are also options from the rest of Europe,
Australia, South Africa and the Americas. They are priced from £19.50 for
whites, £20 for reds (both from Pieno Sud, Sicily, a Trebbiano and Sangiovese
respectively).
Our choices on the evening were guided by
the friendly and knowledgeable sommelier Alessandro Talento, we couldn’t have
been in better hands. We kicked off with an Americano (£12), a cocktail made
from sweet vermouth, Campari and a splash of soda.
The vermouth was a Cocchi
from Torin, a magnificent sweet, boutique vermouth made from the moscato grape,
unlike the big brand vermouths usually made from Trebbiano. The Americano was a superbly refreshing, and
appetite stimulating start to the evening.
With the starters, we had an Albariño 2012
from L&L, Rias Baixas (£42). With
vibrant peach and tropical fruit characteristics and balancing acidity, this
was a very good partner to both the ham and the octopus.
To enjoy with the veal and rabbit, we had a
glass of Saint Aubin 1er Cru Derriere la Tour 2011, from Domain Jean Claude
Bachelet (£59.50). This was a classic
example of pinot noir, with elegant redcurrant and raspberry fruit, light
tannins, and great complexity and length.
With the cheese, although we were
considering the selection of fine Ports on offer, Alessandro recommended a
glass of fine aged Colombian rum - La Hechicera. Aged in sherry casks, it had
none of the sweetness or caramel flavours that we usually associate with rum,
but instead had nutty and dried fruit flavours, rather like an Armagnac. This
was an unusual suggestion to partner our cheese platter, but it worked really
well, balancing out the rich (let's be honest, fat) French cheese with a clean
but complex spirit.
With the doughnuts, we had a couple of
“After Dinner” cocktails. These included a glass of La Pommier, with fresh
apple, vodka and eau de vie. With the fruit tart, we had a Sauternes de Luxe
cocktail, made from fresh orange, home-made vanilla syrup, bourbon whiskey and
Sauternes. Both expertly made and excellent pairing to our puddings.
To finish, we had a small tasting of two
Italian artisan amaretto spirits and a fine drink created by Alessandro himself
to demonstrate some of the flavours of his loved Italy – with Amaretto, Frangelico,
sugar, ginger and cloves. A very fine end to our meal.
Likes: Great cooking, friendly service and
a fantastic bar headed by Alessandro Talento.
Dislikes: None.
Verdict: Boulestin serves classic French cooking in an elegant setting in Pall Mall, and from the 14th July 2014 for one week, the Bastille Day menu priced at £37.50 will feature a selection of great dishes from the restaurant's repertoire. Highly recommended.
Verdict: Boulestin serves classic French cooking in an elegant setting in Pall Mall, and from the 14th July 2014 for one week, the Bastille Day menu priced at £37.50 will feature a selection of great dishes from the restaurant's repertoire. Highly recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment