 | Category: | Restaurants | | Cuisine: | French | | Location: | 16 St Barnabas St - GB - London - Victoria SW1W 8PE |
My love affair with France began long ago but it was only this summer that it was truly sealed when I was given the opportunity to wander through Provence with my girlfriend for what was too short a week. We visited the Red Cliffs of Roussillon, earth and soil tinted rouge because of the ochre and iron oxide content in the ground, NOT as the annoying american threesome at the opposing table's notion that it was similar to "papillon" or butterfly during one of their pointless attempts at conversation with the general manager. Anyway, my girlfriend is here on a short visit, and I wanted to commemorate her time here with a gastronomic treat worthy of a Michelin star. I decided on the Roussillon because it wasn't too far away from where I live, away from the madding crowd in town, and special significance to us because of our trip to Provence. I made a last minute reservation in the afternoon and we were given the earliest seating of 1830hrs of which we were asked to be ready to leave by 2045hrs. I didn't mind. Considering how people actually book weeks in advance, I just drop a call by a few hours on the day itself and get a table. Besides, I have a cunning way (albeit expensive) of not being made to seem like I have to be forced to leave the restaurant -- just order the Degustation Menu! Tucked in a fair distance from Sloane Square Station, in a residential area, I was thoroughly impressed from beginning to end with the service proferred. The female server even escorted me to the door of the Gentleman's! The manager knew straightaway I was "Mr Wong" and continued to refer to me with that salutation throughout the night. The Sommelier was not know-it-all intimidating, actually suggesting a wine-pairing, yet was not put off with my insistence of just settling for a vin rouge from Roussillon, even adding "excellent choice, sir" after indicating my preference. Goes to show how far a little compliment goes! And I haven't even begun on the food yet. I was commenting that the type of bread offered and its warmth, differentiates a good restaurant from the rest. We had a wide selection, our favourites being the sundried tomato-basil roll, the black olive roll and the walnut roll, along with a divine dollop of salted butter shaped like a haystack. The 7-course autumn degustation, "autumn" being the key word here meant truffle-season was upon us. Scallops were followed by truffle risotto. Then came the seabass, grilled so well its freshness spoke through the meat's firmness. The true highlight for me was the next course of venison. Not as boring as beef, all juicy pieces covered in an extravagant pile of truffles. It was accompanied by a celeriac mash and a caramelised pear. I hate celery but i polished the sides off anyway. To me, they provided meaning to the words "bittersweet". I had the chance to show off some cheese knowledge as we were treated to a wide array of choice. Perhaps the only disappointment that each of our 4 cheese choices came back in 4 small portions on the plate. Perhaps that meant we should have chosen more? I was pleased that the server was kind to instruct us to consume the cheese from left to right, weakest to strongest. Thus proving that gastronomic tips should be shared, not hogged like some elitist gourmand ready to scoff at others. Next came a pineapple carpaccio, basically sorbet wrapped in wafer thin layers of pineapple. Refreshing! The crunchy praline dessert aptly named Le Louis XV at the end capped off a wonderful evening's work.We pondered the perks of being the assistant sommelier, who we noticed had to take a substantial gulp of each bottle of wine he opened to test it. It was either being drunk by the end of the night on mediocre wine-tasting or being terribly lucky should a patron decide to open an expensive bottle. We did this over coffee and immaculate petit-fours and by the time the bill came, it was well past nine o'clock.
--- 1 Michelin Star ---
Chef-Patron: Alexis Gauthier
Head-Chef: Gerard Virolle
Head-Sommelier: Roberto Della Pietra
Manager: Michael Lear
Price: £65 per person (Degustation)
AUTUMN
Menu Dégustation
----------------------------
ROASTED SCALLOPS
BLACK PUDDING & APPLE
BLACK TRUFFLE RISOTTO
VEAL JUS
GRILLED SEA BASS,
GIROLLES, COS LETTUCE & FISH REDUCTION
HIGHLAND VENISON
CARAMELIZED PUMPKIN, WILLIAMS PEAR, TRUFFLE & CELERIAC PUREE
A SELECTION OF FRENCH CHEESES
PINEAPPLE CARPACCIO
PINEAPPLE SORBET
LE LOUIS XV
CRUNCHY PRALINE
| |
|
