Supper Clubbing with a Difference

The arrival of supper clubs in the London food scene a couple of years ago has changed the way many Londoners think about eating out. Supper Club dinners are I think more than just a meal out - they are about experimentation, meeting strangers and making new friends, and venturing beyond the comfort zones of most people.

Over the last two years I have visited numerous supper clubs - many have come and gone, but I am pleased to see that those I thought were consistently good are still with us, while others have morphed into restaurants. You may or may not be a supporter of supper clubs, but I hope you will agree that London is a better place with them around.

Two recent trends I have noticed are the appearance of famous/celebrity guests chefs at some of the more popular supper clubs, and the development of links between supper clubs and charities. Whether you regard these as positive or negative directions (I would be interested to hear from you), I have had the opportunity to attend a number of these events, some of which I will feature in this post.

Fernandez and Leluu with Yell for the Jamie Oliver Foundation

I recently went back to one of my favourite London Supper Clubs "Fernandez and Leluu" for an event sponsored by Yell for the Jamie Oliver Foundation. Yell has launched TrustedPlaces, a new platform where members can review the businesses listed on the Yell website and gain donation points. Every time a member writes a review, they'll earn 25 donation points (or 25p) to go towards a charity of their choice.

 

The Jamie Oliver Foundation is one of the many charities supported by the scheme. The foundation raises awareness (via practical teaching projects, training and employment ) of the importance of nutritious food and cooking and their impact on the lives of everyone, especially children and other vulnerable groups. As a food blogger I can't think of many other initiatives that are closer to my heart.

The food served on the occasion was among the best I have had at F&L. Simon and Uyen were in excellent form as delicious plates were brought out one after the other. We started with a platter of beautifully presented sushi (all the fish was supplied by Richard of Fin & Flounder of Broadway Market) washed down with a young but very agreeable 2010 New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough (Small and Small). Supplied by Naked Wines, this wine was a less restrained and easy going example of this varietal - fresh and grassy with gooseberry and other green fruit characters.

Other fantastic dishes that followed were a slow cooked oxtail stew with green beans (flavoursome and yielding) and a sea bream "ceviche" served with fine slices of tuna sashimi. Fin & Flounder's fish was impeccably fresh in this delicious dish - I loved the unusual addition of coconut milk to the marinade which gave an extra layer of complexity to an otherwise simple dish.

You can read my previous reviews of Fernandez and Leluu here.

Fernandez and Leluu with Unearthed for Action Against Hunger

Later last year, I returned to F&L to take part in an event sponsored by Unearthed & Campo Viejo in aid of Action Against Hunger’s Eat In Campaign. As part of ACF International, Action Against Hunger is a global humanitarian organization committed to ending world hunger. It works to save the lives of malnourished children while providing communities with access to safe water and sustainable solutions to hunger.

The idea behind their current campaign is to encourage enthusiastic cooks to host dinner parties across the country, spreading the word of Action Against Hunger's charitable works while giving guests the opportunity to make their own personal donations. Action Against Hunger is another of the charities supported by TrustedPlaces and Yell.

On this occasion, the food was supplied by Unearthed, a fantastic company I had already come across. A young and dynamic company, run by a small number of people including Simon Day, who was present at the dinner. Simon is one of the buyers, and travels the world to unearth his foodie discoveries and bring these to the shelves of Waitrose, Ocado and Abel & Cole among others. What a fantastic job!

Inspired by his Spanish heritage, Simon Fernandez prepared an array of delicious dishes. Some of the most impressive included a simple selection of cold meats, duck rillette, tortilla and mushroom, followed by pears poached in vanilla & Champagne served with Serrano Ham, lettuce & watercress salad.

The star of evening in my opinion was Simon's "Baked Rice w/ Catalan Sausages, Pork Ribs, Pave, and French Saucisson Sec" - this was nothing short of outstanding. The rice was baked under a layer of thin slices of potatoes and cherry tomatoes, making it moist and deliciously flavoured by the cured meats. A triumph.

I cannot think of a more comforting dessert than Simon's Churros With Green & Blacks Dark Chocolate, Orange Zest, Chilli & Cinnamon. Deep-fried sweetened dough is dusted in sugar and cinnamon, then dunked into thick hot chocolate. Divine!

The wines for the evening were provided by Campo Viejo, the most noteworthy being the 2003 Rioja Gran Reserva - a blend of several grapes, with tempranillo predominant, aged in oak for 5 years. It was well structured, with a garnet colour reflecting its maturity, a good weight of fruit, soft tannins, and a long finish. It retails at around £13.

Friday Food Club with Anna Hansen for Fairtrade

Lee and Fiona's Friday Food Club is another favourite of mine. One of the more upmarket supper clubs in London, I have been lucky enough to eat there several times. The food has always impressed me, as has the hosts' charm and generosity towards their guests.

I have purchased Fairtrade products in the past, but was completely unaware of how wide ranging was their portfolio of certified products - over 3,000 products from coffee to flowers bear the Fairtrade logo! The Fairtrade Foundation is an independent non-profit organisation that licenses the use of the FAIRTRADE mark on products in the UK in accordance with internationally agreed Fairtrade standards.

The Foundation’s mission is to work with businesses, community groups and individuals to ensure that vulnerable producers get a fair share for their produce, and to deliver decent livelihoods for farmers, workers and their communities. The Foundation is committed to tackling poverty and injustice created through trade via their FAIRTRADE Mark. Having grown up in Brazil, I am aware of the huge importance of the work this organisation carries out in Latin America, as well as Asia and Africa.

Anna Hansen, chef/owner of The Modern Pantry in Clerkenwell (and Peter Gordon's former partner at Providores), took over the supper club to cook us a slap-up three course meal on behalf of Fairtrade.

We started with "spiced Burford brown hens scotch egg" served with yuzu tomato chutney, green pea purée and chilled curry sauce. I enjoyed this a great deal, particularly Anna's use of Japanese "yuzu" in an otherwise classic British dish. Yuzu is a Japanese green citrus fruit, which tastes like a cross between a lemon and a tangerine, and is incredibly aromatic and delicious. It is nearly impossible to find fresh "yuzu" in the UK, but small bottles of yuzu juice can be purchased at Japanese grocers. It is an expensive product even in Japan.

For the main course, we had "roast loin of venison" - another magnificent dish. The meat was cooked to perfection and tasted delicious served with chestnut and nutmeg puree, pomegranate and rhubarb jelly, and slow roast grape jus. I enjoyed the bold flavour combinations and creativity of Anna's cooking in this dish.

The "white chocolate, vanilla and green tea panna cotta" was ultra light and refreshing, and the classic combination of Japanese green tea and white chocolate worked really well.

Three Fairtrade wines were available on the evening - Percheron, a 2010 South African Sauvignon Blanc, Los Unidos, a 2010 Chilean Cabernet Franc/Carmenère blend, and Stella Organics, a 2010 Shiraz from South Africa.

You can read my previous review of Friday Food Club here.

Friday Food Club with Mark Hix for Chance UK

Mark Hix is something of a culinary institution in London, and I was keen to try out his cooking and meet him when I heard of his charity event for Chance UK at the Friday Food Club. Chance UK is a London charity which aims to help reduce crime and antisocial behaviour in 5-11 year olds, by providing mentoring programmes. Tickets were sold at £100 per person, with all proceeds going to Chance UK.

To start the evening, we had an amuse bouche, "Deep Fried Quail Eggs with Asparagus Puree" - the quail eggs had been coated in bread crumbs and deep fried, yet the yoke remained yieldingly tender, and the fresh asparagus purée appeared to be a witty allusion to mushy peas.

Our next dish was a platter of various different boiled eggs - duck, chicken and quail, some shelled, some not, sitting on a bed of cress, baby fennel and chervil. Home-made loaves of white bread, celery salt and mayonnaise were the accompaniments to this simple dish.

(Picture Courtesy of Vintage Macaroon)

Mark's own De Beauvoir smoked salmon ‘HIX cure’ was served next with shaved fennel salad. A simple, delicately smoked salmon, served with a pleasing Sauvignon Blanc Domaine Pont du Livier 2009, Loire, France. The main course was Pan Fried Ling with Summer Vegetables (broad beans, peas, beans and pea shoots), paired with a 2009 Sancerre Domaine de la Rossignol, from the Loire.

(Picture Courtesy of Vintage Macaroon)

(Picture Courtesy of Vintage Macaroon)

Dessert was one of Mark's signature dishes - Perry Jelly with Summer Fruits and Elderflower Ice Cream. It was served with a Prosecco Rosé Follador Di Valdobbiadene 2009, Col San Martino, Italy. It was a light and refreshing dessert. This was followed by a selection of British cheeses with a 2008 Côte du Rhone Domaine Bouvachon Nomine.

(Picture Courtesy of Vintage Macaroon)

This was an evening of simple but well-executed dishes. The opportunity to meet and chat with Mark Hix in such an intimate environment whilst supporting Chance UK made this a unique event.

(Picture Courtesy of Vintage Macaroon)

London Restaurant Reviews - Chapters All Day Dining

Josper Grilling @ Chapters All Day Dining

Over the last few years, Blackheath has become a foodie destination and a hub for some excellent dining. Places like Friday Food Club (one of my favourite London underground restaurants), the micro brewery Zero Degrees, Boulangerie Jade, and more recently Chapters All Day Dining are leading the way and showing sceptical North Londoners how expertly it can be done down South.

I am always surprised when I meet Londoners who haven’t heard of Blackheath despite it being only 12 minutes by train from London Bridge and one of the most picturesque spots in London. So when I was recently invited by Douglas Blyde of Intoxicating Prose to a Bloggers Dinner at Chapters in Blackheath with The Wine Sleuth, Greedy Diva, Eat Like a Girl, and London Eater, it didn’t take much persuasion for me to accept the invitation.

Sister to the Michelin starred restaurant Chapter One, Chapters All Day Dining is a more informal, brasserie style eatery, with an understated, casual feel about it – the decor is well thought out with exposed brickwork, wood flooring, large mirrors along its walls, and unobtrusive lighting. I enjoyed the informality of the dining rooms and felt instantly at ease in them.

Chapters All Day Dining is one of the 9 London restaurants, including Chapter One, to use a Josper oven for grilling all its steaks, some of the fish and seafood starters, and also desserts. An impressive piece of machinery invented in Spain over 35 years ago, the Josper (pronounced Hosper) is both an oven and grill, a “closed barbeque” made of insulating materials capable of withstanding temperatures of up to 1,000˚C.

This dual functionality helps the food to be cooked much faster than in traditional barbeques by allowing the unit to maintain high cooking temperatures for extended periods of time. It also greatly enhances the flavour of the foods being cooked by searing them on the outside, keeping the juices locked inside whilst giving an intense barbeque/smoky taste.

On this occasion, we had the pleasure of meeting the head chef Trevor Tobin and the restaurant manager Philip Urasala who accompanied us throughout the meal and introduced the wines being matched to each course.

To kick off proceedings, we were served an assortment of delicious starters from the restaurant’s new summer menu including:

“Josper baked mackerel, spiced puy lentils and aubergine, apple puree” @ £5.25 and “Baked scallops & chorizo, sweet chilli dressing, baby herb salad” @ £9.95 - these were both sensational; the fatty mackerel and scallops had a delicious and very noticeable smoky/barbecue flavour from the Josper

“Serrano ham, salad of rocket and goats cheese, grilled sour dough” @ £6.50 and “Terrine of potted ham hock and black pudding, Piccalilli, grilled sour dough” @ £5.95 – the terrine was deliciously spicy with hints of mace and nutmeg, and having the grilled sour dough served already buttered was also a nice touch.

“Salad of warm Kentish asparagus, poached egg & Hollandaise sauce” @ £6.50 and “Salad of chicory, pear, walnuts and blue cheese” £4.95 – both salads were very good but the combination of asparagus, poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce was my favourite.

“Risotto of wild garlic and crème fraiche” @ £5.25 – deliciously creamy, the rice had been perfectly cooked, remaining still slightly al dente. This was one of the best starters, and a real steal at this price.

The starters were sensational, and I suspect that the main courses on the menu, priced between £8.95 and £12.95, would have been equally good. But this restaurant’s raison d’être is its Josper grilled steaks, and to show us what Chapters is all about, Trevor served us a variety of different cuts of beef.

Our first was an 18-day dry aged Cumbrian Black Angus fillet steak, sourced from W. G Butchers in Smithfields. Beef fillet, despite being one of the tenderest cuts, is one I hardly ever cook or order – being the leanest part, it is also one of the least flavoursome. The meat had been cooked medium rare - it was also surprisingly tasty, and with a delicate seared crust on the outside. The Josper grilling had, as expected, given the meat an intense charcoal flavour. This is the most expensive meat item on the menu, priced at £23.95 for a 200g fillet steak.

The Australian, 40-day, dry aged Hereford rib-eye steak was served next. A much fattier cut, good quality rib-eye steaks usually show a good amount of marbling which also helps to make it one of the tastiest. Trevor cooked the rib-eye medium, caramelizing the outside whilst keeping the meat pink and succulent inside. At £19.95 for a 320g rib-eye steak (minimum 30-day wet age), this is the second most expensive cut on the menu.

The next meat being served was the English hanger steak, also known as skirt or onglet. Skirt steak is the animal’s diaphragm, a working muscle and therefore with a tendency for toughness if not properly cooked. Ideal for quick flash frying/grilling or for very slow cooking (braising), this is the cut of choice for many Chinese stir-fries, fajitas and Cornish pasties.

Chapters’ hanger steak had been quickly seared and was served rare. It had a dense texture and a deliciously rich flavour. Priced at £11.50, the 250g hanger steak is Chapters’ best value choice.

I really enjoyed the fillet and rib-eye steaks, and felt that the hanger steak was also excellent. The best however was still to come. We were next presented with a selection of various steaks, served on the bone, including porterhouse, t-bone, sirloin and rib-eye from both USA and UK in a like for like comparison.

Both the t-bone and porterhouse cuts have a fillet on one side and a sirloin on the other, with the main difference being that the porterhouse will have a larger fillet. The meats tasted deliciously sweet, probably due to their proximity to the bone, but also succulent and full of flavour.

The American steaks were USDA Prime Graded beef (United States Department of Agriculture). USDA Prime is the most superior grade, with Choice and Select being the second and third grades respectively. The USDA Prime steak has the highest degree of fat (much higher than its UK cousin), and is derived from younger animals.

I was highly impressed by the intensity of flavour of the USDA Prime cuts, and in my opinion, they tasted far superior to their UK equivalent. All premium steaks on the bone are priced at £4.50 per 100g and cost significantly less than Goodman’s equivalent priced at £6.25 per 100g.

The desserts are also well worth a mention, they were all excellent and well presented and ended the meal very nicely. These included:

“Warm treacle tart with clotted cream” @ £5.25.

“Valrhona chocolate fondant, raisin puree, caramelised walnut ice cream” @ £5.85.

“Coconut parfait, Josper baked banana, passion fruit sauce” @ £5.25.

A big thank you to Douglas, Trevor and Philip for inviting me to this event. For a more detailed description of the different cuts of beef, and a more technical perspective, have a read of the reviews by Kang (London Eater) and Carly (Greedy Diva).

Cost: this was a complimentary meal but I have quoted prices of all the dishes we tried. I estimate that a three course meal would cost in the region of £30 to £35 per person depending on the type of steak ordered (excluding service and drinks).

Likes: top grade meats, beautifully aged and packed with flavour, Josper grilling which greatly enhances flavour, reasonable prices and excellent wine list in a charming location. My recommendation would be a dry-aged, USDA Prime rib-eye steak on the bone cooked medium rare.

Dislikes: None.

Verdict: I cannot wait to return to Chapters All Day Dining and try more of their Josper Grilled steaks. I was very impressed and feel this is one of the best and most reasonably priced steak houses in London at the moment. Very highly recommended.