‘'Oliver Rowe takes me downstairs in his new restaurant, ‘'Konstam at
The Prince Albert.’ In the corner four lucky diners are tucking into
sandwiches, tbeir dirty boots resting on boxes. It’'s
all lit by the romantic glow of portable work lights. As you might gather,
it’'s not quite ready yet. In fact the whole of this former pub is under
conversion. Upstairs the main room is totally bare and Oliver indicates the
intended location of the open plan kitchen by waving his hand at a cement sack
in one corner and a plastic barrier halfway down one side. In his mind's
eye he sees great things, the one thing he doesn’t see is a gastro-pub.
‘'I think the gastro pub thing is a bit tired now,’ he says removing
a radio microphone from the small of his back. He has the BBC following him
about for a documentary to be shown in March. ‘'Even
The (famous local gastro pub - name deleted), I haven’'t recommended
anyone to eat there for quite a while.’ He has no plans to remove the
original pub signage or windows, which is good news. while the Thomas Edwards
studio is taking care of the interior design - a company with a good
track record.
This all sounds pretty ambitious and it''s not going to be cheap. ‘'No,’ agrees
Oliver shaking his head a bit ruefully,’ it's not going to be cheap.’ All
a bit daunting perhaps for a man who is currently running a café over
the road, but then Konstam the café is no ordinary café. Everyone
who goes there comes away full of praise for the well-priced and delicious
food.
Of course it transpires that he is no café chef, Oliver began cooking at fourteen on a break at a relation's art school in Tuscany. It interested him enough for him to go back at twenty two and do a further six months, before doing more apprenticeships in Greece and other countries. After that he was to become Head Chef at Moro and also Maquis (now Chez Christophe). Konstam, has been going a few years now and it suited Oliver’s ambition to escape from the back room while still taking care of the cooking. In the short time the café has been running it’s attracted a loyal following, partly due to its location.
‘'Kings Cross has great future,’ Oliver says. ‘'It
has a sense of change but also a strong sense of community. What’'s nice
about this place is that people come in three or four times a week, they meet
each other and its all familiar faces. I know many by name, it’s good
to feel at the middle of a community and to know a bit about people and not
to be buried in the kitchen, which I used to be.
That new future, of course, is based on the arrival of the Eurostar terminal which, in theory, should rejuvenate the area by flooding it with eager French people eager to take in London life. The same theory applied in the 60’s, except then it was Scottish people most of whom never got any further than the first pub they fell into.
Of course if this was just about another new restaurant, who would care? The
angle is that Rowe intends sourcing all his produce from within the M25. Everything.
Now while I share his preference for seasonal produce that hasn't travelled
thousands of miles to be on my plate, this restriction seems a little self-flagellating.
As gimmicks go, though, you can’t fault it and the presence of the BBC2
team suggests he is no dummy when it comes to publicity.
His mushrooms are grown in local polytunnels, the fish comes from the Thames near Canvey Island (as a kid all I ever caught were Gudgeon but they might make a good whitebait substitute) while the spuds come from Rowe’s own allotment. I have an allotment myself and what with potato blight and slugs I barely grow enough to feed the family for a few weeks. Rowe must have green fingers and few acres. Soon after the interview changes focus as he quizzes me on how best and when to grow spring onions. We then fall silent pondering the possibility of a hose pipe ban this year, it won’t do the spuds much good. They need about a gallon a day per plant when they are ‘'bulking up’ as we flat-capped sons of the soil say.
The menu at Konstam will be ‘'Northern European’, which makes sense given the restrictions put up by the concept. That Northern European food can be interesting is not in doubt but obviously it’s going to require harder work, something Rowe seems well up for.
The wine might be a problem, although he’s sourcing it from Cobham and apparently they do a decent rose and white. Beer of course is no difficutly.‘' Young's Brewery in Wandsworth and the Battersea Brewery,’ he says pointing out that beer drunk with fine food is rapidly becoming trendy. He even extends his M25 rule to salt, pepper and spices although salt is relatively easy to get from Essex, pepper is not something you find growing anywhere in England except perhaps Kew Gardens.
The proof will be in the eating, of course, and the TV show will reveal all.
In the meantime, the café continues to win praise and is a winsomely
hippyish place to take in a a very good meal. Light a joss stick and I'd
be back in the 70's, although that Thin Lizzy T shirt will never fit
me now.
