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Welcome to The London Foodie
Reviews of London's Restaurants, Supper Clubs and Hotels, Wine Tastings, Travel Writing, and Home to the Japanese and French Supper Clubs in Islington
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Name: The Colony Grill
Where: The Beaumont Hotel, 8 Brown Hart Gardens, London, W1K 6TF
http://www.colonygrillroom.com
Cost: The all day menu is served from 7am until 11pm. Starters cost from £8.95 to £25, main courses from £12 to £49 (for a 14 oz rib-eye steak). Sides are £4.50 to £6.25, with desserts from £6.75 to £9.50.
About: Opened in 2014, The Colony Grill at The Beaumont Hotel is a haven of tranquility and Art Deco glam, and surprisingly, just a stone's throw south from manic Oxford Street and west of Bond Street.
Owned by Chris Corbin and Jeremy King (who also brought to London the restaurants Le Caprice, The Ivy, The Wolseley and The Delaunay), the American Bar and Grill Room is an elegant spot, and its hard to believe that its Art Deco murals and red leather banquets and linen-clad tables have only existed for 4 years.
On the mid-week evening we were there, the restaurant was packed with a well-healed crowd.
This is my second visit to The Colony Grill, my first time there was only a few months ago during the kitchen takeover by the New Orleans restaurant Galatoire’s, this was a superb meal which you can read more about here - http://www.thelondonfoodie.co.uk/2017/10/do-you-know-your-cajun-from-your-creole.html.
What We Ate: We started with the dressed Weymouth crab (£18.75). This was fresh and fragrant, with roughly chopped chives and a half lemon in a muslin sleeve daintily designed to keep lemon pips out of the food.
The steak tartare with toast and salad (£12.25) was assembled at the table (I loved watching the waiter doing this) with a mixture of hand-chopped fillet of beef, ketchup, mustard, shallots, capers, cornichons, anchovy, parsley, Worcester sauce, Tabasco and a raw quail egg yolk.
This was excellent - a bracing combination of chilli and spice, with succulent raw beef still retaining great texture.
For main course, we shared a Tomahawk steak (£35 per person). An Ayrshire 30-day dry-aged Aberdeen Angus, this was served with French fries and a choice of beurre maitre d'hotel, pepper or Béarnaise sauce.
The steak was brought with a section of rib to the table, and carved with some theatricality. It was then transferred to a tin-lined copper pan, and served with tomatoes roasted on the vine.
The aroma of roasted bone marrow was sensational, and with a combination of Béarnaise sauce, pepper sauce and fries, this was absolutely stunning.
As accompaniment, we had a small macaroni cheese (£8). The signature dish of the restaurant, this was rich, creamy and beautifully seasoned with nutmeg and pepper, enriched by double cream and Gruyere cheese.
For dessert, we chose the Knickerbocker Glory (£9.25). This was an authentic version of an all-American classic, a very sweet but refreshing dessert. The small ruby plum and sherry trifle (£5.50) had sponge cake and a splash of sherry, but lacked the unctuous custard I was hoping for. The raspberry jelly used was too sweet for my palate, it tasted a tad naïve.
What We Drank: We kicked off with a couple of pre-dinner cocktails in the American Bar. The Classic Champagne Cocktail (£15.75) with Cognac, Angostura bitters, sugar and Champagne, was a fine example of the genre. The Boulevardier (£14.50) blended Woodford Reserve Rye Whiskey, sweet vermouth and Campari, and was strong and invigorating.
In the main restaurant, the wine list is well thought out, and has a good range of European and New World wines. The entry level wines, both red and white, are from Chapoutier priced at £27.50. They are a Luberon Blanc and a Marius Rouge from the Languedoc.
We chose a bottle of Montes Alpha Carmenere 2015 from Colchagua Valley, Chile (£43.50). A fruit-driven wine, this had plenty of blackberry fruit, and was more than a match for the rich steak in our dinner.
Likes: The steak tartare and tomahawk steak were excellent, as were the cocktails. The Mac n’ Cheese is probably one of the best I have had this side of the pond.
Dislikes: The desserts were the weakest link, a tad naïve, overly sweet and lacking in sophistication.
Verdict: The Colony Grill is home to one of the most elegant American Bars and Grill Rooms in London. With well-made cocktails, fantastic food and Art Décor glamour plus very friendly service, it is one of the few restaurants in London that I cannot wait to return to. Very highly recommended.
I was recently at a dinner hosted by the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Chef Giorgio Locatelli to learn about the Italian Sounding Phenomenon. But more on that later.
Italy has a staggering 810-plus food products and wines recognized by the European Union as Protected Designation of Origin (DOP) or Protected Geographical Indication (IGP), making it one of the leading countries in the world for food and wine excellence. Think Pasta di Gragnano (IGP), Salame Toscano (DOP), Mozzarella di Bufala Campania (DOP), Amalfi Lemons (IGP) to name just a few, there are so many easily recognizable names even for us folks here in the UK, right?
But what if I told you that an estimated sixty billion euros are generated worldwide from sales of Italian-sounding products that have little if any connection at all with Italy? Welcome to the Italian Sounding Phenomenon!
In the UK, Italian products that are mainly affected by this include Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma and olive oil. We all use Parmesan cheese in our everyday cooking but perhaps not many are aware that the real McCoy Parmigiano Reggiano is matured for at least 12 months and has “Parmigiano Reggiano” fire-branded on the rind. In addition to that, the name Parmigiano Reggiano and their DOP certification symbol should both be visible on the packaging. Having the words “Parmesan Cheese” on a label is not in itself an indication of authentic Italian Parmigiano Reggiano. So watch out.
DOP and IGP certification go far beyond the labeling and marketing of Italian food and wine, they are certificates of provenance and outstanding quality that we should understand and look out for.
Protected Designation of Origin (DOP) identifies food products and wines that are made in a specific geographical area by local producers using only local ingredients under a precise set of specifications.
In addition to Parmigiano Reggiano, other popular DOP labeled ingredients are Mozzarella di Bufala Campana and Prosciutto di Parma. Their DOP certification attests to their quality and is a guarantee that these products could only have come from Campania and Parma respectively. So make sure to look out for their full Italian names and the red DOP logo on the packaging before making your purchase.
Protected Geographical Indication (IGP) refers to Italian food and wine linked to a particular region where they are made by local producers. The main difference between DOP and IGP labeled food and wine is that with IGP products, the ingredients used to make them need not to have come from that same geographical region. IGP labeling is very commonly seen in wines, though to obtain this classification, at least 85% of the grapes used for the production of these wines should come from the indicated geographical area.
A fine example of an IGP labeled food ingredient is Pasta di Gragnano IGP. Gragnano is home to the very best artisan pasta of Italy and I was lucky to visit it only a few years ago by invitation of the Italian Trade Agency and learn about San Marzano tomatoes, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana and Pasta di Gragnano, you can check this feature here: http://www.thelondonfoodie.co.uk/2015/01/a-foodie-pilgrimage-in-campania-italy.html.
Back in London, and in the very good hands of Chef Giorgio Locatelli, we were treated to a spread of authentic Italian DOP and IGP products. These included a selection of breads and grissini, olives and cured meats such as Salame Felino IGP, and Salame Toscano DOP studded with fennel seeds (which was rather special), and Prosciutto di Parma DOP.
Next up were steamed asparagus, quail egg and Parmigiano Reggiano DOP – the matured, umami-laden cheese brought great depth of flavour to a deceptively simple dish.
The following dish included two other DOP ingredients - Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP served over Caponata (a Sicilian aubergine stew with a number of other vegetables) with Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale DOP, which imparted a lingering sweetness and acidity, perfectly balanced.
The star of the dinner though was the Calamarata di Gragnano Pasta IGP with monkfish, candied Amalfi Coast Lemon IGP peel, samphire and capers. Locatelli tells us that you should always choose your sauce based on the shape of the pasta used.
This was my first time trying Calamarata, a tubular pasta very similar to the Neapolitan Paccheri but a tad shorter. I loved the sauce – a mix of small pieces of monkfish with candied Amalfi lemon peel and crunchy greens, indeed a great match to the Calamarata di Gragnano IGP.
Locatelli then served us Sicilian cannoli filled with almond cream made from Mandorle di Noto IGP (almonds of Noto), and Pistachio di Bronte DOP ice cream – a perfect ending to a highly accomplished Italian dinner.
As with Japanese, Italian food is a fine example of a cuisine that is deceptively simple but relies on high quality ingredients. It is all about the ingredients when it comes to Italian food, so using lower grade or Italian sounding ingredients to create authentic Italian dishes will just not do.
The Extraordinary Italian Taste is a campaign that aims to increase awareness of authentic Italian food produce and wines to non-Italian food professionals, writers and consumers. If you would like to learn more about this project, check their website at http://www.italchamind.eu/news_item/the-extraordinary-italian-taste/1/519/EN
