Kitchen Influentials Lunch at Hix Oyster & Chop House

Words and Photography by Su-Lin Ong

The London Restaurant Festival 2012 (1-15 October) is replete with creative treats for seasoned omnivores.  This year's celebration featured the new Kitchen Influentials series.  These one-off Sunday lunches, especially for American Express card members, teamed up pairs of top chefs for double fun and surprises.

It was off to the lunch hosted by Mark Hix and Harvey Ayeliffe at Hix Oyster & Chop House in Smithfield that I went.

Harvey has worked with Mark for some 15 years, and more recently, together they opened Alfred's the Dunhill members' club in Mayfair.  So with these impeccably tailored creds, the day's lunch was full of dapper promise; no over-styling, no conceits.

Mark Hix's food is always about beautifully seasonal produce that is painstakingly sourced from choice suppliers.  Despite the restaurant being a mere toss of a pork scratching from Smithfield Market, Hix chooses to source his meat with a lot more fuss and attention.  There are Cornish clues around the place.

The dining room we sit in seems like the kind of canteen which butchers might like to feast in.  Shiny utility finishes, a solid, well-used bar and proper bright lights keep you gazing around the space, meeting the eye of fellow diners doing the same.  It seemed more like a lively weekday, with plenty of social bustling between tables - which is always allowed on these special occasions.  This is what Sunday lunch in the city should be like.  

All eyes eventually get darting to the wall art.  Hix is known for being a patron of contemporary art, with an astute eye for snaffling up pieces to adorn his restaurants.  He is a lucky, lucky man to have such available wall space with which to delight his diners.  It all fits without distracting from the purposeful look of the restaurant.  Paper table covers are always a good sign.  They clearly encourage a kind of informality: 'Don't mind it if you get messy'.  And we didn't.

So when lunch was served by our waiter with the perfect handlebar moustache, we knew it would end up being the type of Sunday session with a bit of boisterous banter flung round the table.  

We hushed for the first course of steamed Lyme Bay shellfish.  It was lightly prepared so that the individual flavour of each offering could be clearly tasted.  The single oyster which crowned the dish was quite simply enough, and made me think how any typical platter of six or 12 oysters so dulls your palate for anything else.  It started us musing about shoreline foraging and wanting to head for the seaside.  A zingy Gavi di Gavi complemented this dish, and had us nibbling again on the teasing ribbons of fried parsnip that had welcomed us to the table; not leaving those.

It was back to hedgerow and field for the next two courses.  Grouse was finely slivered into a salad, yet its dark gamey flavours still beat through.  It seemed a little on the dry side for those of us once-a-year grouse eaters, who only know how to slather on the gravy and bread sauce.  Never mind, subtle sharpness came from elderberries that we naughtily crushed into red stains on the plate.  

Next came the rib of veal, served in hunks that were sliced in a way that only someone truly skilled with a single curved swipe of a knife can manage.  This magnificent, honest meat was perfectly melting.  

By this point, a magnum had been placed on the table.  It had to be this magnum, instructed our host as he explained his choice to me.  Why such a name as Tonnix?  Well, Tonnix - a luscious Douro - was dreamed up by Hix and restaurateur friend Mitch Tonks.  The simple label was another clue that this was the host’s proud cellar choice.  It was not just any meandering of the pen; this was a Tracey Emin doodle.

Back on the foraging trail, we marvelled at the mountain of Autumn blackberries on the light-as-air apple pudding, and we thrilled like kids at the giant one hidden inside like a sixpence.  These were not uniform black blackberries on steroids, but wild looking, wind-beaten bounty, tinged with dark juicy pinks. Then arrived the cider brandy custard which was non-stop flowing.  We all insisted it needed continuous pouring for the sake of achieving a decent photo.  I am hoping the recipe will be in Mark Hix's new Baking book.

The sweet Jurançon we sipped alongside had notes of dessert apple too.

As for our host, Mark Hix, he was charming.  Comfortable with his guests whom he treated alike as old friends, he had plenty of time to sit and talk away. Wouldn't mind loitering on a street corner with him for a breath of fresh air, we thought.  I am always one to quiz people about the next treat in store, so I asked him to spill the beans.  I'm hopeless at keeping secrets - he doesn't know that, of course.

So as not to give too much away, all I can say is that the next Hix establishment is likely to be somewhere in West London.  W10?  W11?  Guessing from his keen eye for vintage detailing, it is likely to be an unloved space which he will gloss up again; a shell of a building he can fill with artwork and more, fine, discreet dining.  Well, I'll ask him again until he tells me.

What an afternoon.  I would have liked to stretch it to cocktail hour, to test the list of gentlemanly offerings.  Vintage cocktail trappings on the bar are always a sign that bartenders want to flex their skills.  But that makes for another visit, for sure.

It's time to leave.  The light sculpture in hot white neon by Tim Noble & Sue Webster that hangs on the back wall says it all about the ambience of this place.  
Still can't read it?
Put a mirror against this photo, and you'll get the message loud and clear.  
You'll agree.

The menu & wines
Steamed Lyme Bay shellfish with seashore vegetables

Wolsingham Estate grouse salad with elderberries
Slow roast Cumbrian rib of veal with Jerusalem artichokes, ceps and curly kale
Steamed blackberry and apple pudding with cider brandy custard

Gavi di Gavi Bric Sassi, Piedmont 2011 - Vibrant honeyed fruit-burst flavours.
Tonnix 2010 in magnum - This full-bodied, dark fruit wine is produced by Quinta de la Rosa at Pinhão in the Douro Valley. 
Domaine Cauhapé Symphonie de Novembre, Jurançon 2009 - Beautifully rewarding, both dry and sweet. Exotically perfumed.

Su-Lin Ong attended on behalf of The London Foodie and dined as a guest of American Express, Mark Hix, Harvey Ayeliffe and MHPC, 7 October 2012.
www.londonrestaurantfestival.com/amex

Hix Oyster & Chop House 
36-37 Greenhill Rents, Cowcross Street, London, EC1M 6BN 
Tel: 020 7017 1930
www.hixoysterandchophouse.co.uk

Words and Photography by Su-Lin Ong
Su-Lin Ong eats and drinks tirelessly in adventurous corners around town.  A great night out is one filled with the fun of guests making crazy conversation in any place with a vibrant, individual ambience. By day, Su-Lin is an entertainment, food and drink expert. Her work has spanned feature writing for international lifestyle magazines, through to music business and parliamentary consultancy.  She is also a trained cook. One of her first encounters with Luiz Hara, The London Foodie, was at a gourmet cooking dinner when he relegated her to 'making the salad'. Contact Su-Lin via The London Foodie or sulinong@slo-london.co.uk   Twitter: @sloLondon

London Restaurant Reviews – A La Cruz (Argentinian Asador in Farringdon)

**THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED DOWN**

Opened in 2009, A La Cruz is John Rattagan's latest venture, a more upmarket version of its sister restaurant Buen Ayre, one of my top meat havens in London (reviewed here). Only recently I had the chance to visit and experience A La Cruz's asador grill, reputedly the first in the UK – an Argentine barbecue for slow roasting whole lambs and sides of beef supported on metal crosses “a la cruz”.

Image Courtesy of Paul Winch-Furness

Tucked away behind Exmouth Market, A La Cruz is set on a quiet residential street in Farringdon at the premises of a former Victorian pub.  Beautifully restored by John and his business partner Marcelo Porcu, a former City financier, A La Cruz is an elegant and spacious restaurant with plenty of dark wooden panelling and original Victorian features, but the centrepiece is its glass-encased asador. Sitting in the main room next to the kitchen, it makes for some dramatic entertainment as the chefs spit roast entire lambs and other meats in full view.

Image Courtesy of Paul Winch-Furness

The menu reads well and is surprisingly affordable – starters are priced around £6 while the mains (primarily meats with the token haloumi wrap as the vegetarian option) vary from £16 for a 250g rib-eye steak to £25.50 for a 300g of Argentinian fillet. As in Buen Ayre, Parrilladas (Tradicional, Cambalache and A La Cruz) are also available and cost between £21 and £28 per person. In my opinion, Parrilladas offer the best value and also the option of trying different cuts of meat all at once.

On my visit, I was invited with a group of other food writers, to sample some of A La Cruz’s offerings. I met John Rattagan for the first time and was impressed by his South American warmth and hospitality. Before immigrating to the UK in 1990, John lived in Brazil and speaks fluent Portuguese with a Bahian accent!

We kicked off with a Plato Degustación @ £6 – a traditional tasting platter containing a small empanada (Argentinian beef pasty), provoleta (grilled, melting provolone cheese) and mojellas (beef sweetbreads). I enjoyed the empanada and provoleta (two of my favourite Argentine foods) but the mojellas were the real show stopper.

Sweetbread is the culinary name for the thymus (throat, gullet or neck sweetbread) or the pancreas (heart, stomach or belly sweetbread) glands of the calf and lamb. Mojellas are the thymus glands; they are at their largest in neonatal calves, atrophying as the animals reach maturity. Unsurprisingly, it is an expensive meat and a delicacy in Argentina where it is found only in some of the best restaurants.  In terms of deliciousness, I would say they taste as good as well-marbled wagyu beef or foie gras. I loved my introduction to Mojellas, and look forward to returning to A La Cruz for another helping. Mojellas are available as a starter @ £6.50 or as a main @ £19.

Next, we had a selection of different cuts "parrillada style" including a large piece of Vacío @ £17, this was a tender piece of boneless beef flank, one of the most characteristic Argentine barbecue meats, it was perfectly cooked and tasted delicious served with A La Cruz’s own Chimichurri sauce.

The pièce de resistance was however the Cordero Entero that came next – a whole lamb barbecued on the asador, that looked and tasted magnificent. An impressive course for any celebratory dinner, it can be ordered for groups of 8 to 15 diners on request.

The Argentinian wine list was impressive and the wines that we tried, particularly selected by John to match the dishes we had, were spot on.

I was impressed by the quality of the meat, and the elegant but lively atmosphere that Marcelo and John have created at A la Cruz, and will definitely return for more mojellas and to try their parrilladas. Judging by my evening there, these will be as good as the ones I had at Buen Ayre.

Cost: The London Foodie was a guest of A la Cruz. I estimate that a 3-course dinner will cost around £40 per person (excl. drinks) which in my opinion is good value for money.

Likes: mojellas (sweetbreads) were sensational, as were all the meats I had that evening. Beautifully decorated restaurant. Well priced menu.

Dislikes: None.

Verdict: If you are a meat lover, A la Cruz is as good as it gets. Great quality meats and value, elegant decor in the heart of Farringdon. Highly recommended.

London Restaurant Reviews - Malmaison Hotel London (Bar & Brasserie)

There are few meals I could describe as perfect - but my latest visit at Malmaison was one such. Deep fried seafood, followed by juicy steak and crisp fries with tarragon aioli, and vanilla crème brulée - each was better than the last. I loved it.

Malmaison London is in the heart of Clerkenwell, tucked away in the historic Charterhouse Square, close to the City and West End. A stone's throw from the Barbican, a regular haunt of mine, Malmaison is my latest find in this neck of the woods.

The menu is seasonal and features a range of reinterpreted Classic British and European dishes. The restaurant's head chef, John Woodward, goes to great lengths to find his produce within Greater London. The latest menu has an excellent offer of two courses, a bottle of wine and coffee for only £30 for two people, available by downloading and printing the voucher here.
 

On my latest visit, the "Fritto Misto" @ £8.50 was a delicious mix of deep fried plump scallops, squid, and prawn served with a lemon aioli sauce. The fish tasted ultra-fresh and tender, and was covered in a deliciously light and crisp batter. A magnificent starter.

For main I had a massive 500g "Cotes de Boeuf" @ £28 which was also outstanding. The meat was beautifully cooked and well flavoured, with a rich Bearnaise sauce. Beef at Malmaison is supplied by Donald Russell, and is grass fed, naturally reared and aged for at least 28 days.

To accompany my steak I had a portion of "Hand Cut Fries" with Tarragon aioli @ £3.50. These were crisp and tasted delicious with the aniseed/garlic sauce.

Malmaison's "Vanilla Crème Brulée" @ £5.95 was another winner. A rich and unctuous custard under a thin layer of hard caramel, it makes me smile whenever I hear it cracking (particularly under my own spoon!).

The wine list is comprehensive and relatively well priced for a restaurant of this calibre. Stuart, the sommelier, is knowledgeable and unlike many others in his profession, will discreetly take your cue and suggest the most appropriate wines within your price range. Malmaison House wine is priced at £19.95, with other options within the £20 and £30 brackets or above. On this occasion, we had a "2009 A2O Albarino from Rias Baixas" @ £35 showing excellent apricot and mineral characters. 

Similarly, our choice of red wine, the "2006 Chateau de Lugagnac from Bordeaux" @ £32 was an excellent wine with ripe red fruit notes and soft tannins.

Not so long ago on another visit, Dr G and I had an equally good dinner. We began with a couple of fine starters - "Premier Cheese Creamed Bath Soft" @ £6.50, a lovely dish made of melted cheese, Port poached pear, endive, and salted pecans.

Along with this we had "Grilled Squid, Chorizo and Parsley Salad" @ £7.50. I love the combination of pork and seafood and Malmaison's version did not disappoint.

For main, I chose a "Girolles and Samphire Risotto" @ £17 which was superlative. The buttery rice was perfectly al dente, and intensely flavoured with rich wild mushrooms and flavours of the sea.

Dr G opted for the "Roasted Grouse" @ £22. This was served with puy lentils, roasted garlic puree, bacon and a red wine jus. Grouse can sometimes be a tough and dry bird but Malmaison's was yielding, succulent and unimprovebly good.

"Domaine de Font Sane, Gigondas, 2007" @ £45 was a splendid wine from the Southern Rhone, a blend of Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah and Cinsault. It was full-bodied and well structured with plenty of red and black fruits and fine balancing tannins.

There is no better way to finish off a substantial meal than with a refreshing ice cream. The "Cherry and Amaretto Sundae" @ £5.95 was a delicious concoction of pistachio ice cream, crushed amaretto biscuits and fruit, and was a great end to a magnificent meal.

Cost: The London Foodie was a guest of Malmaison. I estimate that a 3-course meal would cost around £25 to £35 per person (excl. drinks).

Likes: excellent local produce and great cooking skills, very well priced menu (particularly the regular promotions), comprehensive wine list, great location between Smithfield's Meat Market and the Barbican Arts Centre.

Dislikes: none.

Verdict: Excellent restaurant in the heart of Clerkenwell serving British and Modern European dishes with a modern interpretation. Creative and delicious cooking at very reasonable prices matched by a well thought out wine list. Very highly recommended.

London Restaurant Review - Bistrot Bruno Loubet

In celebration of Chocolate Week and the launch of Green & Black's new cookbook "G&B's Ultimate Chocolate Recipes" (deserving of an entirely separate review which will follow), the good people of Green & Blacks invited a bunch of food bloggers to Bistrot Bruno Loubet and I was luckily among them. 

Housed at the Zetter Hotel on Clerkenwell Road, Bistrot Bruno Loubet opened in early 2010 to glowing reviews. Bruno's culinary experience is daunting - arriving in Britain in 1982 to work for Pierre Koffmann, he was awarded the 1985 Good Food Guide's Young Chef of the Year, joining Raymond Blanc soon after as Head Chef at the Manoir aux Quat'Saisons. He worked at various other establishments including the Four Seasons (earning a Michelin Star within a year), and opened his own restaurants Bistro Bruno in 1993 and L'Odeon in 1995. After eight years in Australia, Bruno Loubet returned to London in 2009.

His new Clerkenwell venture is a charming and unpretentious restaurant with large glass windows allowing plenty of natural light, retro wooden chairs and white table cloths which give a casual but elegant feel to the place.

The menu is predominantly French but with some interesting North African and Mediterranean touches. Starters are priced between £6.50 and £8.50 while mains  start from £16.50 up to £20.To begin, I had "Mauricette Snails and Meatballs, Royale de Champignons Sauvages" @ £8.50. This was a delicious dish with a rich tomato sauce with veal meatballs, lovely and plump escargot smothered in garlic butter, and a custard-like mousse of wild mushrooms.

Another starter I tasted was the "Guinea Fowl Boudin Blanc on Leek Fondue and Chervil Sauce" @ £7.50 - the game was delicate but flavoursome in this white sausage and combined well with the rich leek fondue.

For my main course, I opted for "Quail and Pistachio Dodine with Spinach and Egg Yolk Raviolo" @ £17. The quail was tender and boneless, and stuffed with sausage meat and pistachio nuts. It sat on a bed of the smoothest potato mash and meat jus. The oozing yolk from the raviolo was a delightful surprise in this magnificent dish.

Some of the other intriguing dishes (which I did not try but other food bloggers did) are pictured below. The "Stuffed Rabbit with Tomatoes, Mange-tout and Leeks"  @ £17 looked particularly good.

For dessert I had a "Selection of Cheeses, Walnut Bread and Grapes" @ £3.25. These were delicious and included a Gruyere, a blue variety, two heavenly soft and creamy French cheeses and a goats cheese presented as an ice cream ball.

Other lovely desserts much enjoyed by my fellow diners are pictured below.

The wine list was comprehensive and in my opinion reasonably priced. Of the two wines we tried, the "2009 Felines Jourdan, Picpoul de Pinet" from the Languedoc was priced at £22 while the "2008 Entraygues le Fel" cost @ £27. The latter was an easy drinking red wine with plenty of red fruit character (red cherries) from the South West of France (Fer Servadou, a rather unusual French grape is the dominant varietal in this wine).

We also had the pleasure of meeting Micah Carr-Hill, the Head of Taste, and Editor of the new Green & Black's Ultimate Chocolate Recipe Cookbook who dined with us, and the lovely Gail Haslam, G&B's Social Media Guru by day, food blogger extraordinaire by night (of One Million Goldstars fame) who kindly invited me and the others along.

Cost: The London Foodie was a guest of Green & Black's at Bistrot Bruno Loubet. I estimate that a 3-course meal would cost around £35 excluding drinks. This is excellent value for food of this quality.

Likes: the mauricette snails and selection of cheeses were outstanding, the service was discreetly efficient and very friendly. Excellent, well priced wine list.

Dislikes: I have read many reviews that criticise some aspects of the service at Bistrot Bruno Loubet (coffee being brought either too early or too late, water bottles that never materialise and so on) but in my opinion, the service was, on this occasion, faultless.

Verdict: Excellent Bistrot in Clerkenwell serving French regional ingredient/dishes with a modern interpretation. Creative and delicious cooking by Bruno Loubet at very reasonable prices matched by an unusual but well thought out wine list. Very highly recommended.