Pescheria Mattiucci

Pescheria Mattiucci Fish Boutique

It may be becoming clear that I have a penchant for seafood* so obviously when I hear of a fish boutique in Notting Hill serving fish shipped straight from Italy, prepared Neapolitan style, I'm going to be there.

There it was, a short stroll off Portobello Road and we stumble across this low key little restaurant, hardly noticeable as open and when you try the door, it's locked! Exciting! When one of the waiters allowed us to come in, we felt like we had just gained access to one of London's exclusive boutique restaurants.

Outside

Inside

Once we were inside and seated at our choice of table (a couple of old-school desks and chairs facing the restaurant), we admired the artwork as one of the owners walked us through the menu and made some food and drink recommendations. The style is kind of tapas-like in that you choose a couple of small plates and then see if you're still hungry for more.

We ordered some Aperol cocktails made with Italian mixers. Both were dry and tangy but also moderately sweet. One tasted a little bit like sour cola bottle sweeties and the other, a little like bubblegum. In any case, tasty!

For food, to start we went for the raw fish platter consisting of 4 types of raw fish, carefully prepared and dressed only in the finest olive oil and sea salt. I'd never tasted anything like it. I'm not entirely sure what we ate but the white pile, I think, was squid (not sure about the pink pile), then there were two prawns (unusual that they were pink but still raw!) and a langoustine. It was absolutely delicious - the velvety textures, the sweet flavours, the gentle compliments provided by the olive oil. And the bizarre part was that none of it tasted "fishy". 

Seafood platter to share

Our "main" tapas-like dishes were tiny teacup saucer sized portions of fish and vegetables. We thought we'd only go for one portion of veg - the purple broccoli, rather than the platter of vegetables, which was about £13(!). The other two dishes were octopus with rosemary and garlic potatoes and a type of Italian fish with parsley mash. All of these dishes were also delicious. We just wished we could have had more!

From left: Octopus, purple broccoli and fish with parley mash

So we did have more, we ordered two more dishes - no less delicious than the previous - another type of Italian fish with courgettes and sun dried tomatoes and squid stuffed with broccoli. SO. GOOD!

For once, I was not uncomfortably full after eating and was left longing to taste those flavours again for days after! Seriously have to go again! 

The prices weren't too high-end. The starter was pretty pricey at £18 and the mains were about £7, give or take, each and you need 4-5 between 2 people. If you don't mind not having gigantic portions and truly appreciate quality over quantity, you really need to give this place a try! Approximate cost for 2 people, including a cocktail each, circa £65. And by the way, the service was outstanding!

* As an aside, I learnt recently from a Jewish friend that he classes "seafood" as prawns etc and "fish" and "shellfish" as two different categories (he will say he can't have shellfish or seafood and can only eat fish with both scales and fins - so no shark, for example). However, whenever I say "seafood", I mean ANY food from the sea.

Pescheria Mattiucci, 8 Blenheim Crescent, London, W11 1NN, Tel: 020 7229 3400

Herne Bay

Herne Bay for the Seaside

When you've just been sampling some of the finest oysters England has to offer, what better to do than drive 10 minutes down the road to the seaside town of Herne Bay, also in Kent. Think sun, sea, harbour, candy floss, rock, brightly coloured beach huts, amusement arcades and chips in cones. British seaside at its best.

View from the beach with the Kent wind farm in the background

View of the beach from the promenade

The clock tower on the promenade

After walking along the promenade and taking in the fresh sea air and gentle wafts of vinegary chips, it was time for the second instalment of lunch so we headed to one of the many fish and chip shops along the main strip and order a cone of chips to sit and eat on the beach.

After absorbing the sunshine and the scenery, we took a walk along the opposite beaches to the clock tower and stumbled across the most beautiful array of brightly coloured beach huts glimmering as the sun went down.

Beach huts that stretch for miles

Next stop was the arcade to play on the 2p and 10p slot machines. There's nothing more memorable than rainy days spent at an amusement arcade as a child, playing on the slot machines and hearing the sound of the coins falling into the metal trays when you win. 

The most important thing I'd learnt as a child about being at amusement arcades is to quite while you're ahead. And that, we did. 10p up. So then we left to purchase some souvenir rock and candy floss and headed back to the City before sun started to set.

Herne Bay, Kent

Whitstable

Whitstable for Oysters

On a sunny day in London, who wants to stay in the big smoke when in an hour and 15 minutes by car, you can be at the seaside in Kent? Short notice trip to the seaside? F yeah!

Whitstable is most famous for its oysters, apparently the best in the world, and which have been collected from Whitstable ever since Roman times. Whitstable clearly posses some prime beds - clean sea water + the right balance of minerals washed out to the sea from nearby rivers = great oysters.

Traditional English pebble beach, divided into sections by large wooden breaks known as 'groins'

After a stroll along the beach, we went to the beachfront Whitstable Oyster Company (or Whitstable Oyster Fishery Co. as it is also known), frequented by slebs such as Paul Merton and Janet Street-Porter.

Inside the Whitstable Oyster Company 

We were in Whitstable, there was no way we'd be leaving without eating our fill of oysters. So we ordered 18 Whitstable Native Oysters and we were not disappointed. They arrived on ice, in two batches, with shallot vinegar, lemon and Tabasco sauce. Huge, fresh, juicy and extremely tasty! I couldn't have asked for more. Well, I could've asked for more...but that would've been greedy and there were other seaside delights to sample.

The first dozen

So plump and juicy!

We accompanied the oysters with warm French stick slathered with unsalted butter and a glass of refreshing white wine. 

Oyster shell recycling on the beach outside the restaurant 

Next stop, Herne Bay, via a sneak peak inside Wheelers, where we'll be going next time (for a trip planned at least a week in advance) for a BYOB Company Shed-esque seafood feast.

Whitstable Oyster Company, Horsebridge Road Whitstable CT5 1AF, Tel: 01227 276 856

Pierre Hermé

Sweet Delights

What better time to first try Pierre Hermé macarons than in 2012, which sees the introduction of le Jardin Enchanté. This means, each month for the next 12 months, Pierre will showcase a "new taste and sensory experience" (translates: uniquely flavoured macaron), starting with the combination of lime, raspberry & espelette pepper (the green and white one with red speckles). Espelette pepper is a variety of French chilli so amongst the zesty lime and tart raspberry, there is a delicately spicy warmth as you bite through. YUM.

Other macaron flavours enjoyed were mandarin with olive oil (a unique texture and flavour that softens the harshness of the citrus), passion fruit and milk chocolate (the tangy passion fruit cuts through a very rich chocolately centre), rose, lychee and raspberry (rose and lychee flavours prevail and a raspberry is hidden in the middle), salted caramel and rose with rose petal.

Now, finally having tried both Pierre Hermé and Ladurée macarons, I can provide a comparison:

• Buying Experience: In terms of buying experience, Pierre Hermé wins hands down. The staff there are patient and helpfully explain about the flavours (despite a queue) and provide service with a smile. Contrast with the staff behind the counter at Ladurée who have without fail been rude, snobby and unhelpful at every boutique I have visited. This is unfortunate. 

• Texture and Appearance: Ladurée macarons are beautifully light in texture, all the way through to the fluffy ganache centres. This makes them very moreish and easy o devour. Colours tend to predominantly be pretty pastel shades and the same throughout. Pierre Hermé macarons on the other hand are slightly more attractive, set in bright multi-colours with iridescent dusting on some and speckles on others. Texture though is heavy, particularly where the centre is chocolate - it can feel like you are biting through a slab of chocolate truffle.

• Flavour: Ladurée macarons are true to their flavours. The combinations are not particularly dynamic or unusual but they are classic, which is no bad thing as there is little chance of them becoming sickly. Pierre Hermé does explosive flavour combinations that are exquisitely rich and whilst they can sometimes sound unusual, they really work. Pierre Hermé are probably best suited for people who have an extremely sweet tooth - it would be difficult to eat more than 3 in one sitting.

Pierre Hermé, Selfridges, Ground floor, 400 Oxford Street, London, W1A 1AB

Corrigan's Mayfair

For A Wine Tasting Lunch

For a first ever* wine tasting, this was totally pimp! On our arrival, we were lead to a private room with a long dining table and seated with around 15 other guests. First things to note were the number of glasses per person, the long list of items on the menu (we assumed that these must surely just be options!?) and our "Golden Rules to Wine Matching" guide - probably best to read it before drinking anything, even better idea to take a picture of it to read on a clear day.


Once we had got settled, our sommelier introduced himself and also introduced us to what was going to be a very long and boozy lunch. We were informed that a spittoon was optional but all agreed that this would be a waste of perfectly good wine. 

So many glasses and these are all just for one person!

We began by going through the golden rules for food and wine matching, then we got started with some practical exercises, like:

• smelling "wine smells" in vials, which we had to try and label, e.g. lemon, cherry, grass, etc., using a defined list of possible wine scents;
• passing around a dark glass and trying to guess whether the wine is red or white (it was chilled and sweet-smelling like a white dessert wine but it was in fact a red);
• observing the legs of various wines to determine alcohol content;
• trying out different ways of sipping wines to taste (i.e. slurping and gurgling).

Hints and tips (don't think we'd even started at this point so the crooked picture is inexcusable - apologies)

After the practical exercises came the exciting bit...wine matching!

THE Menu

To our surprise, the first course on the table was EVERYTHING from the list of Starters...sweeeeet! 


We paired the first item on the menu with a bubbly pink number and every item after that was paired with something completely different and in the same quantity as the first. Needless to say, never mind about being "double-parked", I had reached a new low - triple-parked, which resulted in knocking it back, and which in turn resulted in a strange eyesight phenomenon.

The Starters

One of the Middle Courses

Another Middle Course and example of triple-parking

Dessert and is that...almost quadruple-parked?!

I cannot recommend Corrigan's for wine-tasting highly enough, it was fantastic! And the best part about going at lunchtime is that when you get out in the daylight, there are plenty of things to do nearby, and attempting any of them when that jolly can be very amusing. Or, if you're more sensible (not really my thing btw), you could just go home, sleep it off and still have the rest of the evening.

*Memory loss frequently occurs after copious amounts of wine so this statement may be unreliable.


Corrigan's Mayfair, 28 Upper Grosvenor Street,  London, W1K 7EH, Tel: 020 7499 9943

Black Banquet

By Bompas and Parr

Back in 2009 for the London Design Festival, the Jellymongers Sam Bompas and Harry Parr unveiled their plans to hold a Black Banquet consisting of an eight course meal of all black food. 

The banquet was held at a pop-up club inside the beautiful Georgian House of St Barnabas in Soho with its own garden and Chapel, which housed a black pyramid jelly tower.

The Chapel

On our arrival, we were served warm spiced black cocktails in teacups and were free to wander the grounds.

Then we were invited into the garden to watch a couple of the Fuel Girls play with fire in front of a palm tree made of old tyres.

Afterwards, we were summoned to the dining rooms, which were highly atmospheric with the dark balloons, purple lighting and decorations. The tables were furnished with black concrete figurines, shiny Black Jack (must've taken ages to peel the papers off all these) and liquorice towers and black matte ostrich eggs with guests' names on them in chalk. Flower arrangements were arranged of all naturally dark flowers: Black Dahlias, Black Calla Lillies and clusters of blackberries, blackcurrants and black grapes.

One of the dining rooms

Black Jack Tower

After reading that Bompas and Parr had taken inspiration for the event from black banquets of the past, I didn't know what to expect. At the first black banquet held in 1511 by The Company of the Trowel, guests entered through a huge serpent's jaws, were ushered to their seats by a "hideous devil" and served food hidden in repulsive creatures such as spiders, newts and scorpions. I had hoped we weren't going to meet a similar fate.

The Menu

In the meantime, I enjoyed a black blackberry cocktail and had a chat with some of the other guests around me at the dining table. 

Blackberry Cocktail

The food was created by New York chefs A Razor, A Shiny Knife and the menu was as follows (the penultimate course by the way was Black Pudding, Stone Fruit, Malt, Cola but I've not got a picture of this):

Blackberry, Caviar, Cream Cheese 

John Dory, Confit Lemon, Tamari Soy

Maldon Rock Oyster, Cuttlefish, Black Garlic Aioli

Egg, Fresh Tofu, Hijiki - the egg looks weird because it is "100 years old"

Halibut, Black Truffle, Trumpet Mushroom, Trenette (squid ink pasta)

Beef Tenderloin, Balsamic, Tomato, Mozzarella

Jelly Ziggurat

Drinks were of the dark variety - dark cocktails, dark red wine, dark shots...all served in dark Waterford Crystal glasses so they looked genuinely black.


The food and drinks were delicious and all that good stuff was intensified by the theatre surrounding it. A truly brilliant evening in all respects! 


As with all of these things, the people you meet tend to be pretty normal, usually interesting but I hadn't anticipated scary! The banquet was a little bit spooky with it being themed "black" but when I switched seats with the person next to me to speak to the guy who looked like he had a horn growing out of his head (apparently just an injury - yes, I did ask), he told me he studied some kind of religion at university. He later casually mentioned that he was a devil worshipper who spends his spare time in graveyards trying to evoke evil spirits...time to leave.


Needless to say, I got out of the dining room pretty quickly (thankfully I only switched seats after eating) and went and found Sam Bompas who was busy in the kitchen. I thanked him for a wonderful evening and we chatted, then he took my address so he could send me a glow in the dark lollipop. I was sceptical but as promised, one arrived the following week and it (and everything it touched) really did glow in the dark! They should sell these in night clubs!! 

Bompas & Parr http://www.jellymongers.co.uk/news

A Razor, A Shiny Knife http://www.arazorashinyknife.com/about/black-banquet/

Surrealist Dinner Party

Pop-Up Dinner Party

So we rock up at the secret located in Shoreditch and someone whispers from outside one of the flat windows that they're not yet ready so my partner-in-pop-up-crime and I gate crash an exhibition at a nearby art gallery and speak to the randoms who look like they're also only in the area because they're waiting to go to a surrealist dinner.


Now, this was one of my very first pop-up experiences so you must excuse the lack of pictures (plus I wouldn't want to spoil it for those who like a surprise). I also didn't want t be so snap-happy that the hosts would think I'm trying to copy their ideas.


Upon entering the secret location, we were met by a man and woman, who were dressed up in what looked like quirky cooks attire. There were about 3 tables in a small studio apartment (total covers: about 12) and some of the tables were things like, er, ironing boards. Needless to say, the space was intimate, especially with it being in someone's bedroom/living area.


The dinner, at £35, was a sit down fixed (three-course I think) menu with two complimentary drinks. Further drinks were available but you had to sell "artwork" in order to obtain them. This involved drawing wax crayon pictures of each other and using these as currency to "buy" wine. I assume this was to get around licensing issues (as well as being pretty amusing).


We were assured before we arrived that the food would not be played with too much to make it look odd but there would be some fun with it so when we were told we were going to have the courses in any order and we received frog spawn on lily pads with toy frogs, we weren't alarmed but our taste buds were scared. 


We were also told pre-event that if any guest wished to contribute something in terms of a performance - ala make do caberet, they could submit a proposal. I really hoped someone would make a tit out of themselves.

Frog spawn (tapioca)

After dinner and chatting with the strangers, we played a party game which involved group story-telling with helium balloons. Hilarious! There was no burlesque performance as rumoured, which I was glad of as that would have been pretty unimaginative.

Overall, food was good, company was cool (probably a bit hit and miss though) but the main thing is the experience - I loved seeing how creative people could be and in a world where I am surrounded by "The City", it's so refreshing to live in somebody else's world, however surreal, if only for a night.

Surrealist Dinner Party, Secret London location (someone's crib) - somewhere in Shoreditch