Gelupo

Feeling particularly hedonistic, we used the excuse of it being the hottest week in London this year to visit Gelupo, what our favourite FT food reviewer rates as the best gelateria in London. We were not unique in brainstorming the idea. Already, dozens of folks had made their way to Soho, slurping down gelato on the sidewalk outside Gelupo. I listened to one of the staff describe the non-stop demand for gelato this weekend, hoping the summer weather was here to stay.

We ordered our favourite flavours, pistachio and hazel nut, before making our way to Golden Square Park. The verdict? Yes, Gelupo serves better-than-respectable gelato, but we remain loyal to Scoop and agree sorbet is the way to go in the summer months.

Zucca

Resuming our exploration of the best dining London has to offer, we lunched at Zucca in Bermondsey. Although I am familiar with the nearby Borough Market on the Southbank, I had never visited Bermondsey. I’m happy to report back that all the “rumors” of there being a high street (a sure sign of civilisation) and respectable food haunts are true. Eating at Zucca on a particularly warm and sunny day worked as the restaurant’s interior is completely bare with floor-to-ceiling windows so that we got a healthy dose of Vitamin D along with a delicious Italian meal. Of course, we had to order the Zucca Fritti, or friend pumpkin, the house specialty. We both agreed that it was our favourite dish; the pumpkin was tender and soft and, well, let’s face it: anything fried is going to taste good. The grilled asparagus was a treat, particularly since we ate it knowing there’s only a six-week window in the year for enjoying the vegetable, followed by the very special carpaccio of sea bass which was seasoned in red pepper. After the gorgonzola salad (leaves, walnuts, pears, cheese – how can you go wrong?) and broccoli, we shared the spinach mezzaluna (spinach-filled tortellinis). We don’t typically dine on Italian unless it’s at Cecconi’s, and while Zucca will never usurp our favourite restaurant in London the food at Zucca gave Cecconi’s a run for it’s money.

Cinnamon Kitchen

Last night I sat at my first “chef’s table” – it was an industry event at Cinnamon Kitchen. Eight of us were ushered into a private room where we dined on fusion-Indian cuisine (roasted vegetables, paneer, a variety of naans, and cauliflower korma) while peering through a window into a rather grand kitchen where chefs furiously worked to create and deliver fine food to their customers. The meal was tasty and the conversation illuminating, but the evening was most unique for the vantage point into the engine that is the kitchen.

Benares

After a casual-dining respite at Ceviche, this May bank holiday we resumed M’s high-end foodie romp around London with lunch at Benares, London’s only Indian Michelin-star restaurant. We love its location on Berkeley Square and the restaurant is unexpectedly large with an indoor fountain decorated with budding flowers. Despite the beautiful interior, amazing service and imaginative fusion Indian cuisine (Tandoori cauliflower and fish kebab followed by a well-seasoned steamed veggie selection over a daal sauce and pan-fried sea bass; for desert we had the gulab jamun and kulfi), we agreed that among the high-end Indian restaurants in London, Red Fort remains our favourite with Veeraswamy coming in as a close second. Leaving the restaurant, I was struck by the amount of Indian food I’ve had recently and happy to realise that I had finally emerged from the psychological trauma following my bout of food poisoning at the end of our trip to India years ago.

Ceviche

When my favourite UK women’s magazine published a rave review of Ceviche, a new Peruvian restaurant in Soho, I quickly reserved a table weeks in advance – already word had spread and the restaurant was booked for most dinner seatings and late-afternoon lunches its first month after opening. The food is startingly fresh and zesty: lots of vegetables and assorted seafood lightly cooked in light lemon juice and the like. I had a Ginger Pisco Infusion to start whose scent was remarkably pronounced, closer to how I’d expect DIY moonshine to smell rather than a central London aperitif. For our family-style lunch we shared the chacalon (button mushrooms and sweet potato in clementine and lime tiger’s milk and aji limo chili); don ceviche (fresh seabass ceviche and onions); a solterito (Peruvian salad made up of beans, corn, feta cheese, and olives); asparagus (appropriately in season here in the UK); and the jalea or seafood frito mixto of prawns, squid and fish. The finale, what pushed our stomachs over our belts, was the chocolate mousse made from pure Peruvian chocolate and guanabana, a tropical fruit cream. All in all, a fun and adventurous exploration of Peruvian cuisine in a cozy London location.

The Savoy’s Beaufort Bar

Conveniently, across the street from where we saw “Sweeney Todd” is the recently-refurbished Savoy hotel, one which has a long history that includes visits from the likes of American novelist Ernest H and musician George G. Earlier that day the music in Aurelia reminded me of one of my favourite albums of all time, Ella F and Louis A’s duets which include a number of songs about living and falling in love in London. After the show, we nipped over to the hotel’s Beaufort Bar where we settled comfortably into plush sofas, sipped on our evening refreshment and enjoyed the live music, a singer and his pianist, clad in tuxedos, performing classics like Chris D’s “Lady in Red”, Tony B’s “The Lady is a Tramp” and JJW’s “Mr. Bojangles”.

Aurelia

Upon entering Aurelia we were greeted with the sound of American jazz which sparked off my weekend-long mulling over of the significance of “Londontown” in mid-20th-century African-American jazz composition. Only recently did I realise how central London is in the duets of Ella F and Louis A – in one song Louis describes a “foggy day in Londontown” and how the “British Museum had lost its charm”. In Aurelia where we were the only non-Italians (staff and guests included), I continued on the artichoke theme by ordering the artichokes braised with olives, sundried tomatoes and pinenuts, a plate that caused my taste buds to dance to the jazzy tempo. Following my starter I had the globe aubergine, marinated tomino, fresh mint and garlic main – the soft aubergine had a pulpy texture and was smothered with cheese, mint and pomegranite seeds. M had the crisp baby squid seasoned with chili and lemon to start followed by the saffron gnocchi with artichokes and pecorino. The calamari was quite fancy, a big departure from the same dish in NYC’s Uncle Nick’s, and the gnocchi was soft and tender, my preference for Italian food which is typically served al dente in American and English establishments.

Having read the reviews of the recently-opened Aurelia, we were “theoretically” prepared for the delicious cuisine yet mediocre service but, nonetheless, after dining at the likes of Pollen Street Social and Hibiscus where the staff is bordering militant in its service and attentiveness to customers, we still experienced a bit of a culture shock watching cliques of staff gossiping rather than taking our orders – it was the first time in a long while I had to inquire about bread. Whether it is the staff’s southern-European mentality and youth or the haughtiness which comes from acquiring a glowing reputation for authentic Italian cuisine so soon after its opening, it occurred to me that someone should remind them that the unemployment rate for their cohort back in Italy approaches 10% and that many of their peers would love the opportunity to work in the vibrant and fast-moving, as well as financially-lucrative, London restaurant scene.

It wasn’t until I asked a waitress to take our photo that I saw the service pick up a bit. Three waitresses looked on (and I think one of them half expected she was welcome to join M and I in the photo) while the floor manager re-arranged restaurant furniture and described himself as the “staff photographer”, asserting he was the only one to take a proper photo as a memento of our lunch. Lunch was delicious, the music inspiring and the send-off amusing, but M and I concluded there’s too many great restaurants in London that serve food on par if not better than Aurelia and staffed by professionals that treat their customers like royalty to ever consider returning.

Pollen Street Social

I’ll never match M in terms of his “foodiness” and encyclopedic knowledge of trends in contemporary cuisine, but a general theme I’ve picked up in the last five years is global chefs’ embrace and integration of “scientific” techniques in creating new and experimenting with classical dishes. Continuing M’s culinary study of London’s best restaurants (I am the lucky companion that entertains him with stories and anecdotes while he impatiently waits between courses), we dined at Jason A’s Pollen Street Social which actually has a “test kitchen” on the premises where his staff continuously work to produce innovative cooking.

To start we had a soft and airy salted fish mousse with a potato side, gigantic green olives and brown sourdough bread. One of the reasons why I was partial to trying PSS was that it has a separate vegetarian menu rather than passing fish and pasta as their veggie options. I went “full artichoke” and had the artichoke in the celeriac velouté (“soup” – I had to look that word up myself) followed by the artichokes, roasted cepes, and spiced aubergine. The vegetables were delicately cooked so I could still taste their original flavour despite the surrounding sauces and soups. M had the seafood soup with sardine on toast (you can see that liquids like soups and sauces make a big showing in the PSS menu) followed by the ox cheek with onions and a barley dressing. M’s soup tasted unapologetically fishy, a compliment in my culinary universe, and I can only say M quietly enjoyed his ox cheek.

Our deserts were as pretty as they were delicious. As a palate cleanser, our waiter served us lychee cream over pineapple granita which reminded me of my mother-in-law’s amazing upside-down cake: sweet and refreshing, a blend of international cuisines from India’s lichee to the Caribbean’s use of pineapple. With refreshed taste buds, M wolfed down his very English “Eaton mess” while I had 70% semi-bitter chocolate gateau – you can’t go wrong with chocolate and I certainly didn’t at PSS. As if we hadn’t eaten enough, we were presented with baby financiers, or almond cakes with glazed honey filled with orange bits and marmalade . Needless to say, PSS makes sure to leave their customers sweet.

Baltic

I kicked off Easter weekend at Baltic where we sampled a few fruity vodka infusions (not too many!) and authentic Russian cuisine.

Hibiscus

We returned, after a brief hiatus, to frequenting the best dining venues London has to offer; yesterday saw us lunching at Claude B’s Hibiscus which was also voted one of the world’s top 50 restaurants in 2011. Needless to say, M and I went with high expectations which were, we agreed, met and then some.

There’s an individual on staff for every single stage of the meal; in addition to the standard hostess, sommelier, busboy, and waitress, there was the “bread lady”, omniscient manager, deliverer of amuse bouche, and other nameless staff who seem to blend into the quiet traffic that weaves its way inbetween tables.

Hibiscus doesn’t mess around. From the very start with the delicate bread balls wrapping warm cheese to the earthy brown bread and salted butter to the amuse bouche of the day which was a carrot cream over an apple soda, every stage in the meal is thoughtfully prepared and presented. I felt as if surrounded by “food” musicians, each vowing to wow me with their special feat, the particular dish which was their role to deliver, always with a relish. The Royale with Berkswell Cheese, Sunflower Seed, and Buckwheat Veloute had a soft and creamy texture, a lemon-flavoured cheese sitting in a chlorophyll-green soup of goodness. M’s Quenelle of Pike, Quiche Lorraine Sauce and Pickled Onion Salad had a brief half life on his plate. While M supped on Chicken & Shallots, I gamely delved into my “Vegetarian Surprise” – there aren’t any veggie mains so when I inquired if they had one, the staff explained they would “surprise” me if I was willing to acquiesce to their judgment. I had already decided at that point that if I was going to eat blindfolded and trust anyone to lead me through a culinary adventure it might as well be the staff at Hibiscus. I loved the cornucopia of flavours in the three-seasoned asparagus (each stalk spiced differently in three parts – sweet, savory and subtle) and wholesome vegetable medley. We concluded the meal with a sourdough bread parfait wrapped in white chocolate and a blood orange & marjoran givre. The sweet bread struck me as  appropriately English and the givre a work of art, a ball of fruit thinly coated and bursting with sweetness.