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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: Berners Tavern
Where: The London Edition Hotel, 10 Berners Street, London, W1T 3NP, 020 7908 7979,
Cost: a 3-course meal will cost around £50 per person on average (not including drinks or service)
About: The London restaurant scene moves SO fast, so it is rare for me to visit the same place twice - Berners Tavern is however one of the few restaurants I’ve been returning to over the years.
Another good reason for my recent return visit was to attend a fabulous Wine Masterclass with Matteo Montone, Berners Tavern’s Director of Wine, and possibly the best dressed sommelier I ever met!
But besides his uncanny resemblance to Jude Law, Matteo is not an actor - he is in fact about to become one of a very select group of fewer than 300 Masters of Wine worldwide as he finalises his Master Sommelier Diploma this year. In 2019, he was named GQ Best Sommelier and the Young Sommelier of the Year by the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs. So we can say, the man knows a thing or two about wine!
Held in one of the most glamorous London restaurants, at @bernerstavern’s private dining room, these intimate sessions held during September are a great opportunity to learn about the art of wine tasting and discover some of the 800 wines from the restaurant’s wine list.
Priced at £45 per person, the classes will have 12 spaces available per session, and there will be 2 sessions per month. Guests who choose to dine at Berners Tavern following the class will also receive 15% off the total bill.
Charming and knowledgeable, Matteo is leading a number of fantastic wine tastings in the coming months - what a great opportunity to meet the man himself, try some amazing vino and dine at one of the most glam restaurants in London!
Berners Tavern is still one of the most glam restaurants in London, I wrote about it in The London Foodie 6 years ago when it first opened (see review here). Berners Tavern is where you take your hottest date, your mum, or your family when they are in town, it is a place where you take folk you want to impress!
And 6 years on, on the Tuesday evening we attended, the place was jam packed - so what is the secret? The menu features some comfort British classics, exquisite British produce which is immaculately delivered, and a fabulous list of 800 wines.
What We Ate: *OUTSTANDING DISHES* were the HUGE Buccleuch Estate Côte de Boeuf served with Berners Tavern’s BLT, a bacon, tomato & lettuce wedge drizzled with a delectable buttermilk dressing (£90 for 2).
Sides of Berners Tavern’s signature MAC N’CHEESE with pulled beef blade (£10) and TRIPLED COOKED CHIPS were nothing short of PERFECTION, I was told the mac n’cheese can also be ordered as a main dish, another reason to return!
Hand-chopped, aged Buccleuch Estate BEEF TARTARE, English mustard mayo and sourdough crouton (£15) and chargrilled octopus, smoked cod’s roe, treviso and chicory salad (£17) made for magnificent starters.
Dessert came in a trio – Peach Triffle with Nyetimber jelly, peach sorbet and deep-fried jam donut was light and refreshing (£9) as was the Gin & Tonic flaming Alaska (£18 for 2) with cucumber, hibiscus and juniper. But best of all was Peanut & Chocolate Ganache with toasted peanut mousse and salted caramel ice cream – rich and so comforting.
What We Drank: With 800 wines to choose from, we were lucky to have Matteo Montone, Berners Tavern’s Director of Wine guide us – his choice of super Tuscan’s Il Fauno, an IGG blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot was a perfect match to the Côte de Boeuf.
Likes: *THAT* Mac n' Cheese with pulled beef blade! Possibly the best wine menu in London. Fabulous decor.
Dislikes: None.
Verdict: To date, this was one of our best meals of 2019 – if you haven’t tried Berners Tavern’s outstanding British fare yet, you are missing out. If anything, *THAT* Mac n’ Cheese is to die for and worth a visit in its own right.
Name: Boyds Grill & Wine Bar
Where: 8 Northumberland Avenue, London, WC2N 5BY, http://www.boydsgrillandwinebar.co.uk/
Cost: Hot and cold small eats are all priced at £5. Charcuterie and cheese platters for sharing between two cost £19.95. Grilled meat or fish main courses range from £14 to £50, with most being around the £15 to £20 mark. Side dishes are £4.
The wine list is comprehensive, with a focus on classic French regions, but with a good representation of wines from England, the rest of Europe and the New World. There is a good selection of wines by the glass. By the bottle, the entry-level white is a Solano Blanco 2014 from Galicia, Spain at £21.50. The red, at the same price point, is a Tarabilla Tinto 2014 also from Galicia. Prices ascend as far as the Cos d'Estournel 'Les Pagodes de Cos' 2009 at £192.50.
About: Situated on the ground floor of the The Grand Hotel, Trafalgar Square, Boyds Grill & Wine Bar is set in a sumptuous room, dating back to the origins of the hotel, with black and white marble walls and floors, and a glamorous copper-topped bar in the centre of the dining area.
The menu, designed by Executive British chef Nate Brewster, features an extensive range of grilled meats, all cooked on a high heat, eco-friendly Synergy Grill, which claims to retain the natural juices of the meat and give it an authentic barbecue charred flavour.
Signature dishes include a Tomahawk rib steak, served with two sides and two sauces (1.2kg, £70 to share), and braised short rib sandwich with caramelised onion, rocket and jus (£10.95).
There is a range of British meats to choose for the grill, including British Wagyu beef, Scottish Black Gold beef, Welsh lamb, Suffolk pork and Norfolk black chicken. For those with fish and seafood in mind, there is a selection of small plates and fish dishes.
If you get to visit Boyds Grill & Wine Bar, the Dessert Bar experience is not be missed – for £11.95 per person, the pastry chef will prepare (and demonstrate) up to 11 different types of ice cream and sorbet using liquid nitrogen, but more on that later.
What We Had: We started with a selection of small eats (£5 each) and a glass of fine Nyetimber Classic Cuvee 2010 (£10 per glass). The salmon tartare with avocado, mango and chilli was zingy, well seasoned and beautifully presented.
Equally good were the Mac n Cheese croquettes (with Wookey Hole cheddar), served with Boyds own bbq sauce. Crunchy on the outside but cheesy and delicious inside, I love Mac n’ Cheese in any shape or form, and these were no exception.
The duck liver parfait with crispy brioche, fig and mandarin meringue was also good – I particularly liked the citrusy, sweet meringue combined with the creamy liver parfait, a revelation.
I enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek fish and shellfish goujons deep-fried in beer batter and served with a curried hollandaise much like a posh chippy's curry sauce.
We were very impressed by the eclectic and surprisingly well priced wine list, we went a bit overboard on our choices. Accompanying our starters, we ordered 3 different whites: the Austrian Gruner Veltliner, Lossterrassen Weingut 2014 (£8.25 per glass) was a good example of its kind, with apricot and gooseberry flavours. The Croatian Primus Reisling, Bolfan 2012 (£7 per glass) was rich and off-dry, with green apple and mineral aromas. Best of all was the Puilly Fuisse 'Vieilles Vignes' 2014, from Domain Patriarche, Burgundy (£10.25 per glass) - made from 100% chardonnay, this was rich and concentrated with subtle tropical fruit aromas.
The starters were followed by a scrumptious meat platter (all Boyds meat comes from British farms), including pork chop (£17), Black Gold rib eye, lamb hogget (£18), and Wagyu minute steak. Lamb is a sheep aged up to 1 year, while the hogget is aged between 1 and 2 years (over 2 years it becomes mutton). The hogget had a great depth of flavour while still retaining the tenderness of lamb.
Boyds gets its Wagyu from Sussex, where native cows have been crossed with Red Wagyu from Australia and the USA. The final product is a 28 day dry-aged, beautifully marbled and tender cut of beef.
Sides (£4 each) were assorted seasonal vegetables, Parmesan fries and triple cooked sweet potato wedges, served with lemon, thyme and Port jus, and a Béarnaise sauce (£1.95 each). The Parmesan fries were among the finest chips I have ever had the pleasure of eating - light, fluffy, crisp and cheesy all at the same time.
With the meats, we had an outstanding glass of Gevrey Chambertin 'Vieilles Vignes' 2011 from Domain Gerard Seguin (£67 per bottle). Refined and elegant, this had delicate redcurrant fruit and a surprisingly long finish.
The Chateauneuf du Pape 'Le Calice de St-Pierre' 2014 (£47 per bottle) was altogether more robust as would be expected from this hot climate area, and more than a match for the richer meats, with black berry fruit and a good grip of tannin.
One of my favourite red wines is Chateau Musar 2007, from the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon (£61 per bottle). This was an excellent vintage, with brambles, plums, leather, tobacco and just a hint of mushroom.
After dinner, there is an option for diners to have the Dessert Bar Experience (£11.95 per person), where some amazing ice creams are rustled up to order.
The Dessert Bar experience includes up to 11 different ice creams and sorbets, from a mind-boggling array of fruit creams and purées, where guests are invited to select their favourite flavours. They are then mixed with liquid nitrogen at -190 degrees centigrade, to create an amazingly light and airy ice cream. The Dessert Bar Experience can also be enjoyed on its own, without any requirement to eat dinner at the restaurant.
We started with “Dragon's Breath” – a selection of flavoured, superchilled meringues that literally froze the breath, followed by the ice creams.
Some highlights were intensely flavoured and creamy blackberry and raspberry ice creams. The Jack Daniels ice cream came on a classic vanilla base, while the lemon sorbet made with Limoncello was mouthwateringly refreshing.
We went on to have some increasingly unusual flavours - why go for vanilla when you can have smoked strawberry, smoky bacon, English breakfast tea, canned pork and picallilli, dill and cream cheese, and even smoked salmon and wasabi!
With dessert, we had a chilled and creamy cocktail of Baileys, Sambuca and Espresso that went down a treat.
Likes: Trafalgar Square location, elegant dining room, fantastic chips, a great selection of grilled beef, Wagyu and other meats. The small eats are well made and very reasonably priced. Loved the Dessert Bar Experience!
Dislikes: None
Verdict: A perfect meal for me at Boyds Grill and Wine Bar starts with their Black Gold rib eye accompanied by the scrumptious Parmesan chips and a large glass of 2007 Chateau Musar. The Dessert Bar is an experience not to be missed, and is worth a trip to the restaurant in its own right. I cannot wait to return. Highly recommended.
Hélène Darroze at The Connaught is without a doubt one of my favourite restaurants in London. I have visited it on a number of occasions and written about it in The London Foodie, here and here.
Hélène Darroze’s cooking is exquisite – her use of outstanding ingredients (she works very closely with all her suppliers as seen here), the flavours and presentation she conjures up in her dishes are some of the reasons why I go out to eat or write this blog.
From Landes in Southwest France, Hélène Darroze has held her 2 Michelin stars for years; she is the 4th generation descendent of a long line of chefs and was the right-hand woman for Alan Ducasse in Monte Carlo where she worked. Since adopting two Vietnamese children, her French cooking has taken inspiration from the flavours of the East – Vietnam, Japan and other Asian cuisines. I still dream of her steak tartare flavoured with yuzu ponzu, and caviar!
As much as I love getting stuck in some great burgers and street-food, Hélène’s cooking is something only a handful of chefs in the world can put together – it is unique, very highly skilled and something truly special.
I recently returned to Hélène Darroze’s Sommelier Table. The Sommelier Table is a beautiful private room in the underground cellars of The Connaught Hotel where you will find some of the hotel’s 6,000 vintage wines. For groups of up to 8 people, you can enjoy a private 4-course lunch with wines included for £150 per person or perhaps a 6-7 course dinner for £1,200 (for up to a group of 8 diners, not including wines).
As the name suggests, there is a great focus on wine-pairing at the Sommelier’s Table, and the night we were there, sommelier Mirko Benzo did not disappoint. Guests are not told the identity of the wine in advance, and this blind tasting focuses the concentration on its taste, nose and harmony with the food – unconstrained by preconceptions relating to region, vintage or value. At the end of each course, the wine is revealed.
And now onto the wonderful, 7-course dinner that Hélène Darroze prepared for us. We started with a Champagne reception and a few delightful morsels of French ham and croquette canapés which got us off on a very good note.
Hélène’s focus on ingredients really showed on her menu – the dishes’ names were given by the use of the main ingredient in each dish. So next up was “Caviar “– crab, radish, Hass avocado. This was the most exquisite dish served that evening and the flavours were fresh, clean but still super intense, it was like having a private garden on your plate!
This was followed by “Foie Gras” - wild strawberry, rhubarb, and lemon verbena. The creamiest foie gras, with a crystal clear rhubarb jelly and wild strawberries, another fantastic dish.
The “Coco Bean” – eel, shimeji – this was yet another great dish with a coco bean emulsion, well eel and shimeji mushrooms.
Next up was the fish course - “Lobster” - asparagus, bottarga, and seaweed.
The meat course – “Sweetbread” - asparagus, morel, and vin jaune was also one of my favourites. I love sweetbreads, it is such a delicacy and deliciously creamy when well cooked, like the one pictured.
I love the concept of pre-desserts and Hélène’s Baba “Armagnac” - with strawberry and banana, doused in her own family’s Darroze Armagnac was the lightest and most wonderful baba I have ever tried.
Dessert was a torte of “Chocolate” – ginger and Bourbon vanilla, which was followed by a tier of mini choux buns filled with cream and macarons.
This was a splendid dinner and one I will remember for years to come. For a special occasion or if you would like to enjoy some of the best French cooking and wines that London can offer, there are very places I can think of rather than The Sommelier’s Table at Hélène Darroze. I highly recommend it.
For reservations, email: helenedarroze@the-connaught.co.uk or call: +44 (0) 20 3147 7200.
For more information about The Sommelier Table at The Connaught Hotel, visit their website:
http://www.the-connaught.co.uk/mayfair-restaurants/sommeliers-table/
Words & Photography by Greg Klerkx
Think of the world’s venerable winemaking nations, and Italy will surely be near the top of the list, with rich Barolo, peppery Chianti, and dozens of other venerable varietals, regions, styles and makers happily crowding the mind. Think Italian fizz, however, and that expansive, multi-hued picture often reduces to a single frame crowded with one word: Prosecco.
This ubiquitous sparkler can, of course, be lovely; it can also be, and too often is, unbalanced and one dimensional – the stuff of a thousand cheap Bellinis. Italian winemakers have long howled that there’s much more to their country’s sparkling wine scene, and so it was with great anticipation that we sat down recently for a master class featuring six Italian sparklers looking to knock Prosecco off its perch.
The fizz in question hailed from six winemakers in one of Italy’s prominent sparkling regions, Franciacorta, located in Lombardy a couple of hours’ drive from Milan. Though wine has been made here for centuries, Franciacorta sparkling wines received DOCG status – the top quality marker in the Italian wine industry – only in 1995. The rise of Franciacorta as a producer of sparkling wine since then has been precipitous: from 3,000 bottles a year half a century ago to over 15 million bottles sold last year.
There are now 113 sparkling wine producers in Franciacorta, six of which were on show at a pop-up tasting held at Andaz Liverpool Street curated by Christopher Cooper, former head sommelier of Soho House and Gordon Ramsay Group. “Everyone should know about Franciacorta,” Christopher said. “It easily rivals Champagne for quality and often beats it for value.”
We put Christopher’s words to the test with a range of sparkling styles, beginning with a Franciacorta Brut made by Antica Fratta (£28.50, Amazon.) This non-vintage style fizz was medium dry with top notes of hay and wood-smoke and a honeyed finish that was slightly sweeter than expected, though not off-puttingly so. Very low acidity made it also very drinkable, and a fine choice to start any dinner party.
Next up was a wine made in a style called Saten (‘satin’), which is unique to Franciacorta. Made only from white grapes and with slightly lower pressure, Franciacorta Saten is typically more delicate and somewhat less bubbly than other sparklers. We had a Franciacorta Saten from Castello Bonomi that seemed an appropriately silky representative of the style, with an aromatic caramel corn nose leading to a crisp feel and very blanc de blanc notes of pear and gooseberry, an excellent match for creamy dishes (and indeed we drank it with a tasty morsel of Andaz wild mushroom stuff tortellini and lobster puree to underscore the point.)
A highlight of the event was the Ca’Del Vent Blanc de Blancs Vintage 2011, a so-called ‘zero dosage’ Extra Brut with no sugar added. Non dossato sparklers have long been a favourite aperitif in northern Italy and it’s easy to see why: absolutely bone-dry, the absence of extra sugar amplifies the pure sweet-tangy flavour of the grapes, offering a lean, fresh feel and taste. Zero-dosage wines can often been astringent, but this Franciacorta Extra Brut was a revelation that I’d happily buy by the crateful.
The Bellavista Alma Cuvee, a non-vintage Franciacorta sparkling wine, was not quite as wow as the Extra Brut but has the distinct advantage of being easily purchased in the UK (£13.21, uvinum.com.) Alas, while Franciacorta sparkling wines are broadly available in the UK, many of the labels sampled here would require a trip to Italy (or paying the appropriately steep shipping cost from a UK importer.) Bellavista is good value at the price and would match well with hearty, meaty dishes – we tasted it with a portion of aged beef roast with spring onions – and would be a fine, if not outstanding, aperitif.
Gatti Enrico Vintage 2008 is a Franciacorta Brut made in what’s known as Millesimo, or ‘year-defined’, style (Millésime is the Champagne equivalent.) Most sparkling wines are made from grapes harvested in different years, but occasionally a wine-maker produces a Millesimo to highlight the quality of a particular vintage. If the Gatti Enrico is anything to go by, 2008 was very kind to Franciacorta: this was the most classically Champagne-like of the Franciacortas, in the best possible way – earthy, bready, firm and delicious.
We finished with Franciacorta La Valle Rose (£30.49, Italyabroad.com), described by Christopher as an “up and comer” in the region. Made only from Pinot Noir grapes – and with the wine left on the skins to produce its gorgeous rosy hue – this was a soft, lightly bubbling glass filled with strawberries, pear and sunshine…just the sort of thing to nudge a bit of la dolce vita into our blossoming English summer, and an excellent match with a variety of foods, including the crumbed taleggio with red pepper emulsion we were served.
As mentioned above, some of the labels represented in this tasting aren’t yet readily available in the UK. That said, many Franciacorta sparkling wines are very easily found via Ocado, Majestic, Fortnum & Mason and any number of specialty wine shops. Based on the consistency of our tasting, you’ll be well rewarded for trying any of them…and for leaving all but the finest Prosecco behind.
