London-eaten. Things we've scoffed and swilled
Restaurants reviewed last month
So that was February and we went wild. So many restaurants, so little time. Armed with our Gaviscon Party Seven family pack and a jumbo pack of breath fresheners we trod the mean streets of restaurant land so you might not have to.
Orrery Marylebone. Conran's finest does it again.
La Grand Marque Inns of Court. A buried treasure.
Brera. Bond Street. Milanese cuisine pushing the envelope
Le Vacherin . Chiswick. Getting better and better
Admiralty. Covent Garden. Pushing the boat out?
The Greene Oak. Windsor. A smart and tasty gastro(ish) pub
May we as usual take this opportunity to remind you that if a restaurant really gives you a bad time, please talk to them and allow them a chance to explain/make amends/ buy you off before you trash them on the website!
Cocktail classes - mix it up
Funny how the cocktail came back from the dead. For a while there it was as deeply unfashionable as one of those ties that looked like a piano keyboard. Cocktails screamed the 1980’s, and that wasn’t something many of us wanted to identify with. Especially those of us who were there.
Now however the funny “sexy” names have gone and the cocktail has become okay again, and if there’s anywhere that makes it cool it has to be the Zeta bar at the London Hilton in Park Lane. Not only do they serve very superior cocktails, they also run cocktail master classes where you can watch, learn and get behind the bar to give it a try yourself. So that’s what we did one chilly night.
A glass of Belgian uber-strong beer wasn’t perhaps the cleverest thing to have before starting in on the cocktails, but it seemed churlish to refuse the kind offer. With a small crowd of other wannabe ‘mixologists’ we were soon learning arcane secrets such as making sure the bottle you pour from has its label toward the customer, the arcane thumb hold for champagne bottles and the skill of the special spoon, The latter has a measure at one end, a sort of stirrer at the other and a spiral stem. Why the spiral? So that champagne can be poured down the stem and in this way it doesn’t fizz up and over the glass. Neat eh?
Going behind the bar was a bit like being backstage at a theatre, you get to see all the mechanical bits and bobs and that help create the illusion. Even though the people we were serving were part of the group, you suddenly realise how intimidating it is do a cocktail while people are waiting and watching and, in a busy bar, possibly getting vocally impatient too. Shaking the shaker is a bit nerve racking - what if the top comes off? That’s why even the pros shake sideways-on to the bar –it looks cooler and any disasters will have less problematic fall out.
We made Mojitos, Bellinis and a lot more but it’s no good asking me as my memory got a bit clouded toward the end, but I do remember some rather nice nibbles being brought out to soak up some of the alcohol, as well as a guided visit to the remarkable Galvin at Windows restaurant on the top floor with its incredible views.
All in all an excellent evening that makes it clear that cocktail making is a skill and a science and that, as you might expect, the Zeta bar at the Hilton has some of most skilled mixologists in London.
N.H.
The ‘Cocktail Master Class’ offers an exciting insight into how the famous classic and contemporary cocktails of Zeta Bar are produced as well as the opportunity to make your own cocktails and of course taste them after. The class allows guests to attend on their own, or with friends and offers an ideal opportunity to meet new people whilst learning a new skill. The class is priced at £30 per person and can hold up to ten guests. For more details call Julia Pike on 0207 208 4067
Welcome to Finland
Finnish food. Food from Finland. Finfood. What exactly is it? Vague thoughts of herring and crispbread (or is that Sweden?) cross my mind as I enter the Finnish embassy. Summoned by embossed card to Fresh Ideas From Finland, a celebration of Finnish healthy produce, I am bang on time for lunch as per my cunning plan. The ambassador’s dining room is rammed with people struggling to get close to the ‘tapas’ style nibbles on offer and, sure enough, there is a lot of crispbread around and a bit of raw fish too. All very tasty though and well thought out. Even the soya based dishes, of which there are a remarkable number, are actually rather tasty.
Finland is in fact leading the world in the development of functional, health- enhancing foods and is also at the forefront of tackling obesity and cardiovascular disease. Today apart from the producers there are talks from obesity experts, medical dieticians and authors ,as well as a demonstration of Nordic walking. The latter is not some way of walking that involves John Cleese-like motions but walking with poles to raise your heart rate and burn 20% more calories than ordinary walking. Find out more at http://www.nordicwalking.co.uk. What was also rather interesting was the number of healthy products Finland is producing, including Fruisana the original fruit sugar, and Xylitol, a natural sweetener as well as a remarkable variety of berries. The Finns are certainly ahead of all of us here in the land of the saturated fat and super-sized kids.
N.H.
