Lost and Found

I shudder to stutter...a-a-a-bsent a-a-again. 

3 blinks and 4 months later, my time in Paris is wrapping up (sigh, sigh, smile, stomach flip). 

Otherwise, a whirlwind of visitors and travel. 

Start present and noodle my way backwards, with a few  gulps and skips along the way. 

London bridge is falling down but the Brits have alas scaled the culinary mountain and joined the likes of New York and Paris chefs at the peek. 

The bait: 

Fegus Henderson pulls off anything but awful offals at Saint John's Bread & Wine, gastro pub extraordinaire.   Applaud for nose to tail, served up tapas-style. All the better to share with you, my dear. 

Succulent ham, finely shredded  and tossed around with runner beans, plated beside a flavorful, runny duck egg. 

Smoked eel served with a finely spiced horseradish cream.

Cripsy strips of pig skin, plated in a salad of chopped and sauteed cabbage and a few other goodies. 

How ever can this be matched?

And then along came Tapa Room, the downstairs, casual dining version of the upstairs, fine-dining sister resto, The Providores. Under chef and fusion genius, Peter Gordon, the lunch offered up a serious palate party,  with a host of flavors, textures and accents ranging from spicy chilis to sweet fig purees to toppings of toasty, black sesames. 

Rosemary polenta sticks served with sauteed wild mushrooms, aubergine wedges, baby potatoes and caramelized onion, served beside a chive and mascarpone mousse. Polenta is often an audience pleaser but this polenta would bring audiences to their knees. 

Ground pork speckled with mint, toasted coconut, chile paste and pomegranate seeds, laid upon a vibrant, green beetle leaf. Elegant plating and creative flavors to swoon over. 

Last, less innovative perhaps, but still worth a mention: cypriot lamb and bulgar wheat kofte served with an orange and olive salad, paired with a pomegranate- and molasses-infused Turkish yoghurt. I applaud a chef who gets me excited about curdled dairy 

...i'm aware, my tragic flaw ;)

All considered, Me, Happy as a clam. 

St. JOHN Bread & Wine Spitalfields
94-96 Commercial Street
London E1 6LZ

tel (+44) 020 7251 0848

http://www.stjohnbreadandwine.com/

The Providores and Tapa Room

109 Marylebone High Street

London W1U 4RX

tel (+44_ 020 7935 6175