London Restaurant Guide: New Restaurant Update

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Bon Vivant

Nobody does a power restaurant to ‘see and be seen in’ quite like Caprice Holdings or Chris Corbin & Jeremy King, and both launched new restaurants at the end of 2011 that will no doubt become firm favourites throughout 2012.

‘34′, located just off Grosvenor Square in Mayfair was Caprice’s first new restaurant launch, which adds to its portfolio of power restaurants including The Ivy, J Sheekey’s and Scott’s. 34 specialises in meats and seasonal game but also offers lighter dishes, fish and shellfish, all to the glorious sounds of a live jazz quartet in timelessly elegant surroundings.

The Delaunay, new sister restaurant to The Wolseley from Corbin & King, has opened on the corner of Drury Lane and Aldwych and already has the familiarity of an institution on the London scene. The restaurant is open seven days a week serving breakfast, afternoon tea, and à la carte lunch and dinner menus inspired by the grand cafés of Europe.

With every celebrity, socialite and restaurant connoisseur already firmly ensconced, be prepared to sell your prized possession – kidney, trust fund or mother in law – to secure that reservation.

The best affirmation that a restaurant is doing something right is if a guest books a return visit. Within minutes of leaving dinner at Alyn Williams at the Westbury (which opened quietly at the end of 2011 from Alyn Williams, who was previously head chef at the two Michelin starred Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley), my client had emailed with three further booking requests for the coming months – a sure sign that this restaurant is on to a winner.

Another former Michelin darling to set up on his own is Ollie Dabbous, formerly of Texture, with his new restaurant ‘Dabbous’, which opened on Whitfield Street in Fitzrovia at the end of January, in partnership with mixologist Oskar Kinberg, formerly bar manager at the Cuckoo Club.

Spread over two levels, the restaurant and bar has an industrial feel with exposed brickwork, sheet metal and copper pipes.

While the restaurant features a modern European menu of ‘clean flavours and seasonal ingredients’, the basement bar offers a menu of classic drinks and signature cocktails that is ideal for a group of friends or a first date.

Thompson Hotels’ first hotel outside of North America will open in Belgravia in early February with 85 rooms and an 80-seat restaurant from celebrated chef Mark Hix. Hix Belgravia will feature another outpost of Mark’s Bar, his popular bar from his Soho restaurant, as well as a cigar garden. Although the menu will still be British focused, it will have more of an international feel, based on the chef’s travels across the globe.

While the onslaught of Mexican burrito bars might still not have ended, this year it will be time for Peruvian cuisine to take the limelight. ‘Ceviche’ promises to be London’s first Peruvian restaurant in Soho, hotly followed by LIMA in Fitzrovia, both of which will also feature a Pisco bar. Grab a Pisco sour and meet me at the ceviche counter.

Refurbishment and reinvention seem to be popular themes for the start of the year from some of the city’s celebrated chefs.

Tom Aikens has recently reopened his eponymous Chelsea restaurant after a large refurbishment to create a more relaxed atmosphere. There is an à la carte menu and a series of tasting menus, including six, eight and ten course options that are also available with matching wines.

The 52-seat restaurant features broad-boarded oak floors, custom-designed hand-made wooden chairs, a variety of mismatched oak tables (no tablecloths), and has ‘evocative quotes about food and wine’ written on the walls.

Over in Soho, Quo Vadis has undergone (another) refurbishment, this time to mark the occasion of a new partnership with Jeremy Lee who had previously spent 16 years at the Blueprint Café.

There’s a lot to digest as we look forward to another sterling year for the London restaurant scene, but if you’re interested in a one-off charity event with some of the biggest names in cooking, check-out the ‘Who’s Cooking Dinner’ charity event on 5 March at the Four Seasons Park Lane.

20 top chefs will prepare dinner for 200 guests, who can also bid for the chefs to cook dinner in their home at a later date, all in aid of Leuka. Each chef will create a four-course menu for one table of ten people with accompanying wines. Here’s the twist: only after a draw during the pre-dinner reception do guests discover which chef is cooking for them.

The restaurants taking part include some of London’s most sought-after tables, such as Scott’s, Dinner by Heston, Zuma and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay – so perhaps no need to sell your kidney after all.

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Alyn Williams at The Westbury

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Bon Vivant

By Jules Nelson

On a quiet night in January we zipped through The Westbury hotel and straight into the more glamorous bar of the hotel’s new flagship restaurant, Alyn Williams. The restaurant is oriented around a private room encased by floor-to-ceiling glass wine cabinets.

The décor is luxurious and chic; wood panelling, muted hues of creams and browns and a plush silver-threaded carpet (although get the interior designer back to match up the pattern). The atmosphere was hushed and perhaps a little cold, certainly as a result of dining out on an unseasonal mid-week night when sensible people were home digesting the festive excess.

Given the sybaritic tendencies of my companion, we eschewed the three-course á la carte (£45) and opted for the seven-course tasting menu, which was very reasonably priced (£55) for fine dining in London and indeed Mayfair. The menus list out the primary ingredients of the dish (for example “Cod/seaweed butter/beach vegetables/cockles”) in a similar form to Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, perhaps unsurprising given Alyn was head chef there in a previous incarnation.

The staff were warm, courteous and informative, offering to swap dishes between the menus should we wish, and after one or two substitutions we were off.

We started with canapés over a glass of bubbles at the table: truffle arancini were delicious and just as good as those at Marcus Wareing. Fourme d’Ambert gougeres were light as air while packing a cheesy punch. Deep fried sea bass belly with tom yum jelly on prawn crackers were unusual. Bread is made in house and was near perfect, including star anise rolls, lavash flatbread and (a slightly heavy) potato bread, served with an excellent whipped caraway seed butter.

A particular highlight on the menu was a deconstructed onion soup served in a martini glass along with crab meat, melting onion and jellied beef with a potato wafer with gruyere on the side – a very innovative take on a familiar dish. The main course allowed a choice between Cotswold chicken with smoked egg and charred leek or Devon beef sirloin.

My companion opted for the latter and, before I even had a chance to sample, reported that it was very flavoursome. I had been too distracted with my Cotswold chicken, served with a perfect smoked egg yolk that sauced the meat as I pierced it with my fork. While the meat was verging on the edge of translucency, the dish was as tasty as it was beautiful.

Courses were perfectly balanced and despite being rather full, we foolishly opted to add in a cheese course. The trolley was excellent as was the knowledge of our waiter, who was very accommodating and offered to bring my favourite cheese (Vacherin) from the kitchen. No need at all and my tour of goat’s cheese was beautifully presented on slate with crackers or bread (we were too full to accept the latter) accompanied by chutney and a honey gel.

Desserts reached similarly heady heights: pre-dessert of crème Catalan with pear granita was subtle and refreshing (although the pine sugar was perhaps a little too subtle) and dessert of chocolate mousse with caramel and peanut butter consisted of a rich, dense chocolate “finger” with a caramel core and a peanut butter ice cream. Heavenly. This is slick, elegant and contemporary cooking, as handsome as it is delicious.

We managed to finish off dinner with truffles and then rolled out of the restaurant. Alyn Williams at The Westbury may not have opened with a prestigious named chef on the door but this is certainly prestigious cooking. Bring on the Michelin stars and go now before they put the prices up.

Faberge Egg Hunt Around London!

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Bon Vivant

Launching on 21 February 2012, The Big Egg Hunt will take place in London for 40 days and 40 nights, where over 200 uniquely crafted eggs created by leading artists, designers, architects and jewellers will be displayed in central London.

You can join the hunt, picking up clues along the way – collect your map or download your app, gather your family and friends and get cracking to solve the challenge. The event aims to raise £1m for the children’s charities, Elephant Family and Action for Children.

English interior designer Sophie Conran has decorated an egg which will be on display at Jumeirah Carlton Tower, Knightsbridge, and set designer Rhea Thierstein has designed an egg to be displayed at Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel in Belgravia for the duration of event. Both hotels will also launch specially created ‘Eggs menus’ with a donation from each dish sold going towards the two charities.

Cinnamon Soho To Open Mid-March

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Bon Vivant

Cinnamon Soho, the third restaurant from executive chef Vivek Singh, will open mid-March, dubbed as the Cinnamon Kitchen’s ‘younger, cheekier sibling’.

Dishes on offer will include sticky desi pork back ribs; seared sea bass with aubergine-potato crush; and vindaloo of ox cheek. There will also be range of Indian-inspired ‘balls’, such as crab cake and Bangla-Scotch egg; and exotic pies, such as Keralan seafood and rogan josh.

Address: Cinnamon Soho, 5 Kingly Street, London, W1B 5PF
Phone: 020 7287 6080

Fashion Cocktails at the Light Bar

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Bon Vivant

By Vilma Darling

The Light Bar in London’s St. Martins Lane Hotel has launched a new selection of Front Row cocktails in celebration of London Fashion Week. The glamorous event will begin this Friday in the nearby Somerset House, and so the bar hopes to lure fashionistas with some refreshing drinks.

The Front Row cocktail list caters to the weight conscious fashion crowd and is light on calories. For example, the Long Legged Londoner is made with Bombay Sapphire gin, rose syrup, pink clove cordial, fresh lemon juice and soda.

My favourite, the $10,000 Breakfast (Wyborowa vodka infused with Jasmine and clove, shaken with creme de peche, lemon juice, sugar syrup and egg white), was pleasantly sour and very refreshing.

The St Martins Lane sister hotel, Sanderson, has also developed a new line of Skinny Cocktails inspired by Fashion Week. Six lightly crafted cocktails are made of the freshest ingredients that apparently won’t stick to your waistline.

Try the Scarlet Martini – Wyborowa vodka shaken with fresh strawberries and cucumber honey water and finished with pomegranate juice (135 calories) – or the Mexicana – Jose Cuervo Tradicional shaken with green grapes, apple puree, apple juice and elderflower cordial (150 calories).

Greek Chef To Take Over The Capital Restaurant

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Bon Vivant

Greek chef Athinagoras Kostakos will be ‘Guest Chef in Residence’ at The Capital Restaurant for one week from 5th March 2012.

Known for his work as executive chef at Bill & Coo Suites and Lounge, a luxury boutique hotel on the Greek island of Mykonos, he won this year’s version of ‘Top Chef’, Greece’s version of ‘Iron Chef’ from the US, and the restaurant won the Condé Nast Traveller 2010 Readers’ Choice Best Hotel Restaurant award.

The menu for The Capital is in the process of being finalised, but dishes may include the likes of Santorini cherry tomatoes cooked with honey, warm goat’s cheese, capers, olive oil & foam perfume with thyme and slow cooked sweet tomatoes and lamb marinaded with mustard & Myconian herbs.

Address: The Capital, 22-24 Basil St, Knightsbridge, London SW3 1AT
Telephone: 020 7591 1202
Website: www.capitalhotel.co.uk

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Trishna Celebrates Holi from 5 to 11 March

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Bon Vivant

Trishna will be celebrating Holi, the Hindu spring festival, from 5 to 11 March with a special tasting menu created by Head Chef Karam Sethi.

Dishes on offer will include crab and pollack tikkas with curry leaf, mustard seed and crab chutney; lamb chop with Kashmiri chilli, ginger and mustard mooli; and mango rice pudding.

The tasting menu is priced at £35.50 for four courses (or £64 including wine pairings) or £45.50 for six courses (£88 with wine pairings).

Trishna is located at 15-17 Blandford Street in Marylebone, specialising in the coastal cuisine of South West India.

For further information or to make a booking, please contact your concierge at Bon Vivant. To make sure you’re kept informed of similar updates on a regular basis, subscribe to the blog, our fortnightly newsletter, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook!

Mele e Pere – Italian Trattoria in Soho

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Bon Vivant

Mele e Pere, a new Italian trattoria on Brewer Street in Soho launches today, 3 February 2012, offering a ‘mix of traditional and modern regional Italian cooking’.

The chef, Andrea Mantovani, worked for nearly five years with Anthony Demetre at Arbutus, Wild Honey and Les Deux Salons. Typical dishes on the Mele e Pere launch menu will include Snails with pecorino, parsley and guanciale; Orecchiette with Romanesco broccoli and baby squid; Tagliatelle with beef cheek ragù; Charcoal-grilled shoulder of lamb with stuffed artichokes; Roast cod with fennel; ‘Nonna’s’ apple cake; and Warm zabaglione with lingue di gatto biscuits.

The sample menu can be downloaded here.

Address: 46 Brewer Street, Soho, London W1F 9TF

Phone: 020 7096 2096

Corrigan’s Mayfair: Traditional Sunday Roast at its Best

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Bon Vivant

By Frances Cottrell

Corrigan’s Mayfair is reminiscent of London in a fashionable era, when dressing up was de rigueur, and supper in town was full of excitement and anticipation. A well-made dining room built to last and a menu as timeless as they come, Corrigan’s was the perfect place to go for Sunday lunch.

En route to our table it’s implausible not to swoon at the cocktail bar and run a hand along the smooth, leather-backed stools lining it, feeling a pang of disappointment that on the menu it’s Sunday lunch rather than Friday night at the bar. That being said, when we arrived our table was laid with stunning silver-wear and crisp white linens that looked luscious and inviting.

The Staff at Corrigan’s Mayfair are on hand unquestionably and service is seamless and elegant. To begin proceedings a selection of warming nuggets were served including crispy olives, rock oysters, and utterly delicious Teruel ham. They were just light enough not to ruin our appetites, but with a saltiness and depth to heighten the anticipation of the meal.

Lobster bisque to start was packed with flavour, and a hint of unexpected spice was a welcome slant on the classic. My guest enjoyed smoked salmon and blinis with a generous helping of firm, punchy salmon. Both dishes were beautifully presented, and tasted wonderful, but this, of course, was all fluff. Corrigan’s Mayfair on a Sunday is for one thing, and one thing alone: a beautiful, British, Sunday roast. Aged Rib of Beef was my clear winner on the menu, which didn’t disappoint when the staggering slab of meat was wheeled to the table and carved with a princely amount of ceremony.

The menu is classic, and doesn’t attempt to radicalise the traditional meal. My guest’s venison was cooked to perfection and was clearly some of the most tender game I’ve ever been served. The trimmings are what you dream your family could manage – greens with a delicious amount of bite, unctuous carrots with a sweet buttery taste, crispy and fluffy roast potatoes and a Yorkshire pudding which would even put Delia to shame.

There was no room for dessert, and yet it still made its way to the table, such are the magical, persuasive powers of the waiting team. We both opted for sorbets, wanting to cling on to the rich feeling of the mains for as long as possible. Deliciously light and fruity, they were a pleasant punctuating end to a pretty impressive lunch. You’d have to go some way to find a better, more polished set-up in town. For Sundays and for tradition, Corrigan’s Mayfair has well-earned its reputation as one of London’s finest restaurants. I’m now looking forward to testing that bar out for a Friday night cocktail…

For further information or to make a booking, please contact your concierge at Bon Vivant – our members are entitled to a complimentary glass of champagne when dining in the restaurant.

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Mari Vanna: New Restaurant Launch

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Bon Vivant

Situated in the heart of Knightsbridge, Mari Vanna will open its doors at the end of January 2012. The Mari Vanna menu will offer ‘babushka cooking’ – homely Russian dishes with influences from Armenia, Georgia and Uzbekistan, all ‘with a twist to make it lighter and contemporary’.

Mari Vanna aims to ‘transport each guest into a Russian home where shelves are adorned with matryoshka dolls, trinkets and tchotchke’. The menu will include traditional dishes such as Pelmeni (veal dumplings with a light herb sauce); Mari Vanna’s signature dish Borsch with Pampushka (a beetroot soup with beef); Harcho (a rich Georgian lamb soup with rice and a spicy tomato sauce); and Ukrainian Galubtzi (cabbage leaves encasing meat and rice).

Website: www.marivanna.co.uk

Address: 116 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7PJ

Reservations: +44 207 581 5920