London Restaurant Review - Gallery Mess

Words and Photography by Felicity Spector

Sloane Square. It’s not exactly known for its buzzing restaurant scene - not, that is, until the newest outpost of the Corbin and King empire set up camp on the far side of the square, its crimson canopies instantly looking part of the Chelsea scene.

But walk a little further to the top of the Kings Road, and there’s a former Ministry of Defence site which has been transformed into a fancy piazza, replete with luxury shops. At the far end, the old barracks which was once the Army Military Asylum is now the Saatchi Gallery, filled with the most edgy kind of modern art.

I was slightly late for dinner, and it felt like the coldest night of the year: luckily I managed to get past the seemingly impenetrable iron gates to the welcoming beacon of the museum’s restaurant, Gallery Mess, which had invited us to try out the dinner menu.

Appropriately enough, on this most Arctic of nights, the current exhibition is a collection of mid-century Moscow art entitled “Breaking the Ice”. I’ll have to go back during opening hours to check that out.

Gallery Mess, its name evoking the officers’ mess which fed the military elite for almost two hundred years, is a grade II listed building which must be an architect’s dream of a place; all exposed brick, a wall of windows, and pieces of art in between the tables. In a room which once echoed to the tramping of squaddies’ boots, there’s a giant shoe on the back wall. Thankfully, there are no formaldehyde cows.

The food comes courtesy of the upmarket catering firm Rhubarb, which now runs a handful of London restaurants: there‘s an all-day menu with cakes at tea time, and some options for children. I have to confess I hadn‘t realised it stayed open in the evenings, but you can get dinner here every night apart from Sunday.

My friend, R, had already staked out a prime table right next to a powerful heater, and had started on the wine, getting the chance to taste three before settling on an organic chianti which she declared “smooth, well-rounded and delicious". We eyed up the menu, a short but fairly classic selection with prices on the Chelsea side of average: there were so many tempting dishes, although I was immediately won over by the butternut squash tortellini, one of my favourites.

R hovered between sea bass and rib eye steak, briefly swayed by the idea of a couple of starters. The scallops sounded excellent, as did a marinated salmon with beetroot and horseradish cream.

But with the sub-zero winds whistling around us, this was a time for something hearty and comforting. The waiter helpfully recommended the fish, and we were decided.

I’ve never been a huge fan of sea bass, but if it was always cooked like this I’d definitely order it again. It was perfectly cooked, with the crispiest possible skin, the flesh firm and satisfying beneath. There was some Swiss chard, and a pile of well seasoned crushed potatoes that had been fried to a crisp finish, almost like a hash. A generous circle of shrimp in a butter sauce surrounded the plate. It was delicious.

But the triumph of the night was my bowl of large, plump tortellini. The pasta was just thin enough without losing that necessary bite: the filling was dense, smooth, rich, with a warming note of nutmeg: a tangle of watercress on top came scattered with shaves of parmesan and some unusually fresh pieces of walnut. Lurking underneath was a puddle of squash puree, sweet and unctuous. I suspect there was some butter involved. I grudgingly let R try a tiny corner before I polished off the rest.

Onto pudding then, for we were being nothing if not thorough. The wintry weather seemed to rule out the ice cream or knickerbocker glory - so we ordered the other two options, a chocolate tart and a rhubarb steamed pudding.

The tart was filled with a very rich, very dark ganache: a little bitter for my taste - it definitely needed the accompanying salted caramel ice-cream to balance it out, but I might have preferred a less intense chocolate filling. Not that I wasted much time clearing the plate, of course.

R’s choice, the deconstructed rhubarb pudding, looked deceptively small, but the dense, syrup drenched sponge was just the sort of thing you need on a freezing night: presented on a long platter with a large scoop of clotted cream ice-cream and a few pieces of poached rhubarb alongside. R said it reminded her of the steamed puddings her mother used to make when they were children, and in a good way.

We were too full for tea or coffee, and even managed to turn off the heater for a nano-second, trying hard to delay the unwelcome idea of leaving the warm embrace of the restaurant and venturing back outside, where it had started to snow.

We were the last to leave, but no-one tried to rush us out: it was all very relaxed. I enjoyed the whole experience; had the chocolate tart been slightly sweeter it would have scored ten out of ten. To echo that old slogan, Gallery Mess is an ace café, with a museum attached.

Petworth House Throws a Party‏

Words by Felicity Spector

"These houses were made for parties." Sarah Hammond, the director of upmarket catering company Rhubarb, was in her element: standing in the grand drawing room of a 17th century mansion, a roaring fire in the hearth keeping out the bitter cold of a January night. We were in the glorious Petworth House, in the heart of the Sussex countryside, set in its own 700 acre deer park landscaped by Capability Brown.

Image: National Trust

The event: a very special evening of cocktails and canapés  to mark Rhubarb's new collaboration with the National Trust, laying on private parties and functions in some of the country's finest historic homes across the south of England. It was also a unique chance for a private view of Petworth House's sell-out Turner exhibition, which features several works which haven't been seen before in public.

Image: Felicity Spector

It was my first visit to the house; I'll have to save the gardens for a less chilly, daytime trip. But it was a huge privilege to be able to wander around the rooms after-hours, in a house immortalised by some of Turner's best known works.

Image: National Trust

The house contains the National Trust's finest collection of paintings, several of them by Turner, alongside Van Dyke, Reynolds and Blake. There was one incredible room lined with intricate carvings by Grinling Gibbons - in fact, that's one of the rooms you could hire out for one of the bespoke Rhubarb-catered events.

Another was filled with paintings and Grecian style statues, and as one of the National Trust staff commented - "This is about the only room I can imagine where gold cutlery and crystal glasses wouldn't look at all over the top."

The team are remarkably sanguine about the idea of partying guests coming up close and personal with an array of artistic masterpieces. There's modern carpet on the floor, for example, an army of experienced waiting staff and cleaners, and a feeling that guests at an event there would respect the historic nature of their surroundings, and not start flinging around the red wine.

I had time for a leisurely trip round the Turner exhibition, including a marvellous oil painting of Petworth House itself, as well as a selection of watercolours and sketches drawn from the displays at Petworth itself as well as some private collections. A real luxury to be able to stroll round without battling through the crowds. Then it was back to the warm embrace of the drawing room for some much anticipated refreshments.

Rhubarb are known for their innovative food and beautiful presentation - they have catered for royal weddings, charity balls and celebrities like Elton John. They have a handful of restaurants, two of them in central London, and have just begun a new partnership with Heston Blumenthal: who, marketing manager Gavin Gooddy told me, had already brought plenty of exciting new ideas to the venture.

Image: Rhubarb

And here, they were keen to show off some of that skill; with a succession of delicious canapés  including a very pretty macaron which turned out to be made of beetroot, filled with a soft goats cheese ‘ganache’. There were delicate filo pastries with a tiny poached quail's egg and hollandaise, presented on an antique mirror. Rectangles of parmesan shortbread, with a scoop of goats cheese and a sun dried tomato appeared on a specially designed wooden board. There were miniature scoops of butternut purée with a sliver of scallop, served in Chinese-style spoons.

Image: Felicity Spector

I was glad to see an array of shot glass desserts being carried in on a towering stand: naturally I tried them all - including a luscious dark and white chocolate mousse and a passion fruit panna cotta which struck just the right balance of sharp fruit with the rich cream underneath.

Image: Rhubarb

The idea of allowing these grand homes to be enjoyed after hours, and during the long, chilly winter months, means the National Trust gets some much needed revenue to plough back into upkeep and improvements.

And, although there is nothing quite like a cream tea eaten on a perfect Spring day in a garden landscaped by Capability Brown, these are houses which clearly have more to offer, even after the sun goes down. There are ball rooms, grand dining rooms, parquet floors and orangeries: houses, as Sarah Hammond put it, made for parties. And now they are not just the preserve of the privileged landowners who once owned them, but for anyone with a love of Britain's heritage, and a special occasion to celebrate in style.

The Fantastic Teacup Chandeliers by Madeleine Boulesteix

I first came across Madeleine's work in 2002, while leafing through a copy of Living Etc. She makes spectacular, quirky, culinary-inspired chandeliers out of recycled metal cooking utensils and glasses.

I tracked her down to her studio in Brixton, and we spent a happy hour or two discussing the kitchen we were designing and the colour schemes.

At the time, we were constructing a Denby-inspired 1930s cream and green colour scheme for our units, and Madeleine suggested a similar theme for our chandelier. We loved it so much, we took it with us when we moved to Islington.

Now some years later, we have just installed a new kitchen with a very different look, and once again turned to Madeleine for a centre-piece chandelier over the central island.

This time, we spotted a spectacular multicoloured glass chandelier replete with jelly moulds, pastry cutters and flan tins. It sounds barmy but looked fantastic, and had just been exhibited at the Courtauld Institute.

I don't use this site for commercial promotion, have no financial interest in Madeleine's sales and have paid the full asking prices for the two pieces I purchased from her.

But in Madeleine's case I love her work so much, I thought I had to let people know what a fantastic artist she is.

Madeleine is currently holding a brief exhibition, 'A Light Shower' at The Corner Shop, Craft Central, 21 Clerkenwell Green, London CE1R 0DX from 1-6th November. The exhibition is open Tuesday to Saturday 12-7pm with wine & snacks between 6-7pm, and on Sunday from 12-4pm. Nearest station is Farringdon.

I would thoroughly recommend a visit to her exhibition - every item on show is for sale. You can see more at www.madeleineboulesteix.co.uk, and at www.craftcentral.org.uk.

Fantastic Food Landscapes by Carl Warner

A British artist originally from Liverpool, Carl Warner has been a photographer for around 25 years, working in still life studio photography and the advertising industry.  This background, plus his love of landscape photography and interest in food led to the evolution of his unique art-form of "Foodscapes" in around 2000.

Influenced by Salvador Dali and other surrealists, Carl makes arresting still-life images from a variety of foods, and other day-to-day materials such as office supplies, household appliances and more.

So much goes through my mind whenever I look at Carl Warner's "Foodscapes" that for once, I am almost lost for words. The first word that popped into my head when I laid eyes on his book was "breathtaking". "Intriguing" and "fascinating" soon followed. It's been a few months since I bought his book "Food Landscapes" but whenever I look at these images I still find details as yet undiscovered.

The book shows "behind the scenes" shots of Carl and his team at work creating his series of  "Foodscapes", explains how these were inspired and conceived, and shows the early sketches and list of ingredients used in each image. As a food blogger/writer, aspiring photographer and home cook, this is a book that fascinates me on many different levels.

I am so pleased that Carl has been kind enough to give me permission to use his image "London Skyline" as the new picture header for The London Foodie.  I cannot imagine a better picture for this London food blog.  It shows a stylised view of London with its many iconic buildings compressed into a single scene viewed from the South Bank.  Carl made the dome of St Paul's Cathedral from a watermelon with yellow stripes echoing the lines on the dome, the London Eye from green beans, courgettes, leeks, baby plum tomatoes, while the Thames lamp post was made from mackerel and asparagus, onion and vanilla pods.

The fascinating You Tube video below shows the work that Carl and his team undertook to create the "London Skyline" which was originally commissioned by the Good Food Channel.

Of the many fascinating "Foodscapes" by Carl Warner, "Salmon Sea" is another stunning work. The sea was made of smoked salmon, the rocks from dark soda bread while the sand and pebbles were created from sugar and pinto beans. The foreground trees are sprigs of dill, and new potatoes are used as rocks.

Taking inspiration from "The Wizard of Oz" which Carl saw as a child, he created the "Broccoli Forest". The turmeric path is an allusion to the yellow brick road winding its way through fresh herb bushes, broccoli trees and Jerusalem artichoke rocks, toward a large sugar waterfall set between two bread loaf mountains.

Commissioned by a Swedish fish and seafood company "Fishscape" is Carl's favourite "Foodscape" to date. The concept of "implied design" is key to this work, highlighting the connection of small things in the natural world that look like their larger counterparts.  It is fun to see how an ocean can be "made" out of fish, the wakes of boats from sides of salmon and sprats, oyster shells represent rocks and razor clams become jetties.

"Coralscape" was created in September 2009 using a sheet of rippled glass to create the illusion of looking above and below the surface of water.  Here, tropical fruit represent a small tropical island, while "underwater", a myriad of fruit and dried ingredients from Chinese and Indian supermarkets (including 5 durians) represent coral, plants and fish.

"Salamiscapes" was commissioned by an Italian advertising agency working for Negroni - the salami manufacturer.  They wanted three images made only from the cold cuts they produce, and no other ingredients in the shots.  "Salami river" is one of these three images: the sky, river and waterfalls are made of Parma ham, and mountains are created from Mortadella. Ciabatta and bread sticks were also used for rocks and to make up the log cabin and jetty.

"Cabbage Sea" is a dramatic scene and one of my favourites. Using red cabbage leaves as dark water and wet rocks, radicchio leaves also take the form of the foamy peaks of a turgid sea, its white veins making a perfect representation of the wake of the boat.  A large courgette and marrows form the rocks and a lighthouse toward which the boat is travelling.

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"Garlicshire" depicts a Tolkien-esque scene - elephant garlic bulbs take the shape of dwellings clustered together, on top of Savoy cabbage used for soft vegetation.

Carl Warner's work, turning the mundane into interesting art, is whimsical and fun, and will undoubtedly get you thinking. His pure creativity, photographic technique and innovation are inspirational. I cannot recommend too highly his book "Food Landscapes" of which only a few images are shown here.

To buy Food Landscape, visit Amazon here.
To visit Carl Warner's website and see some of his other work, visit his website here.

Thanks Carl Warner for your permission to use your photographs and particularly the "London Skyline" as The London Foodie's new home page image.