St John St is a busy street, and in a very good way. Home to St John’s restaurant (from Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver), and also wine bar & restaurant Vinoteca (across the road), with Bistro Bruno Loubet (which I have eaten at 3 times but neglected to blog, a huge oversight), and The Zetter Townhouse around the corner (one of my favourite spots for drinks and bar snacks). There are lots more and I could type all day, but my point is, that this isn’t an area that has been crying out for great new restaurants. This hasn’t stopped the Hawksmoor team from taking a stab at it, and given their pedigree (I am a fan of their Hawksmoor steakhouses and bar), I was curious as to what they planned to deliver and how. I knew that this wasn’t going to be another Hawksmoor, but I was expecting it to be quite meaty. And so it was. In a very good way. Continue reading

Most declare a fond love for Paris. Some find it rude. Those poor Parisians have a reputation to maintain, earned for them, from what I can see, by a small handful of people. Sure, there are some rough characters, but we have them here too, right? I think mainly, we are just intimidated by the language, and their lack of patience for us attempting to speak it. I can’t blame them. I muddle through like a cat that has just had her tongue removed. Limping by, mumbling French through an Irish accent, expecting at any moment to be told off. And I sometimes am.

On a trip to Paris last weekend (very brief and just for one night), I ate at a restaurant that has a reputation for being brusque, rude and maybe not very good at all at times. So why did I go? Because it is a slice of Parisian history and I am eternally curious. Bouillon Chartier is tucked away down an alley off a side street. One of the turn of the (20th) century soup kitchens, Bouillons were established so that anyone could get affordable traditional French food and bouillon (a broth – hence the name), and speedily. Very few are left, and Chartier still serves traditional Bouillon fare, and very cheaply, with starters priced from €1 – €6.80 and mains not exceeding €13.50 (and that includes steak).

Bouillon Chartier, Paris

A queue usually snakes outside – at meal times anyway – but it moves very quickly. I expected a lot of tourists, but we seemed to be surrounded by French people. The queue was managed in French too, so I resurrected by primitive teenage French discourse and managed to communicate our needs (he would have spoken English if I wanted him to, but I wanted to practice so persevered). It wasn’t long before we were seated in a beautiful vast room, elbow to elbow with some strangers on a shared table. Which was absolutely fine.

Bouillon Board – Meat Origins

Coats are tossed above your table on baggage racks, and orders scribbled on your table cloth. Service is at times impatient, our waiter marched off at one point as we were taking too long. Maybe it is because London is a great leveller, but I found it more efficient than rude, and wasn’t bothered at all. This is a restaurant that was established to serve speedy well priced food, and this is what it is, plus you get what you pay for.

Starters were traditional, and I couldn’t resist an aggressively unapologetic egg mayonnaise – priced at €2.20 – and two halves of an egg, slapped yolk down, with lots of (good) mayonnaise dumped on top. But it tasted great, even if the egg yolk was lined grey from too much time in the pot. At €2.20 another starter was called for, and I felt a salad might be good. Especially if it was dripping in bacon fat and covered in crispy bacon and croutons. So frisee with lardons and croutons was divined, and some escargots bathing in bright green garlic rich butter came along side (there were two of us, in case you are worrying).

For mains we had fresh sausage with lentils. The lentils had long ago stopped pretending to be firm, and were languid in their dressing, but the flavour was good, and the sausage, crisp and rich, was great. Veal chop, Normandy style in a cream cider sauce with mushrooms was spot on and comforting. The spaghetti on the side, bloated as a depression era fat cat in a butter coat, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Desserts called. Chou with chantilly, an overbearing (but delicious) bun filled with sweet cream, and a delicate puffed prune clafoutis with custard.

We washed our meal down with a bottle of water and a very drinkable bottle of Cahors, and it all came to €65, for two. I wouldn’t hesitate to go back again. And, I never say this, but it is worth it for the room alone. A restaurant experience is never just about your meal. It is about the room, the service, the company and everything in between. We seemed to get most things right last Saturday.

http://www.bouillon-chartier.com/

7 Rue du Faubourg Montmartre, 75009 Paris, France ‎+33 1 47 70 86 29

I travelled to France with Eurostar on their #wheninparis campaign. 

And – you will see that I am fiddling around with the design – please don’t be alarmed and I welcome your feedback – I am doing it live and it is only half way there at the moment. The pumpkins are a temporary measure! :)

(the title should make sense to those compos mentis in the 80s ;)

In Argentina, you seek out beef. That’s a given. The Argentine and particularly gaucho diets until relatively recently consisted almost entirely of beef and all sorts of offal. All cuts fired over parrilla flames and served toppling on platters.

Nothing is  wasted when an animal is slaughtered here, Argentines absolutely love offal. The sweetbreads (thymus and pancreas) are some of the best that I have ever eaten, simply cooked with lemon juice over some hot coals, the crisp offal taste rich and delicate. The chewy rich chitterlings (intestines) are fought over by children. When the bullocks are castrated, the testicles are slung on the parrilla to be eaten. It’s a time of year that all farmers here look forward to.

Wine list at La Cabrera

So, the Aubergine Parrillas (BBQs) are a must and they are everywhere. In Buenos Aires, I explored and visited quite a few. I have 3 favourites (so far!), the first being La Cabrera in Palermo.

Palermo is like the Notting Hill of Buenos Aires. Once quite a rough area it is now all glamour and gloss, with the associated price tag. It does have some really good restaurants though, and naturally the tourists flock here. With La Cabrera there is a lot of hype and so it is insanely popular (even now in low season) but it really lives up to the chatter.

It is actually split over two restaurants, and we chose to sit outside as it was a beautiful sunny day. We were lucky that we didn’t have to wait, but worry not if you do, they will give you sparkling wine to ease the torture.

Provoleta at La Cabrera

A must when in Argentina is the provoleta, a hallmark of the strong Italian influence here, it is an Argentine variant of Italian provolone cheese, waxy and firm, it cooks beautifully. Cooked in cast iron little pots until gooey and crisp, usually with herbs and olive oil it’s incredibly more-ish. A rich starter when lots of meat is due, but it is a must.

La Cabrera in Buenos Aires

La Cabrera is famous for its sweetbreads so we had to order those. We also, wisely, ordered a large rib eye between 3, and trust me that at lunchtime, with all of the side dishes and the salad (simply to ward off scurvy you understand!), it was enough. We needed to leave room for dinner.

Spinach with Tarragon / Mustard Sauce at La Cabrera

A word of warning when you order here, the Argentines like their beef well done, so be sure to order it to your liking. The sweetbreads arrived, and were enormous. Beef pancreas I expect.. I was grateful that I wasn’t eating on my own as I often do.

Sweetbreads at La Cabrera

A thin crisp coating gave way to a succulent rich mass. An uninitiated diner described them of tasting of delicious crispy fat. I couldn’t put it better although it does ignore the gorgeous lighter interior. The steak was rich and large. And all of those sides (all delivered with every order on the house) were playful and a nice distraction from all of that meat. Some spinach with a tarragon mustard sauce was gorgeous and we just slathered it all over the steak.

BEEF! Lots of beef at La Cabrera, Buenos Aires

Meaty spread at La Cabrera, Buenos Aires

We toddled off happily after. Not slayed but pleasantly full. Which is an acquired talent when eating out in Buenos Aires. A siesta is always in order here though, especially after a parrilla indulgence, so make sure you fit one in.

La Cabrera, José Antonio Cabrera 5127, Buenos Aires

London is an interesting city. Waves of enthusiasm seem to infect leading to trends in food and otherwise. Trends drive me crazy, food is food after all, and if it’s good it’s good. So what if I want to eat sun dried tomatoes and it’s not 1997?! I like ’em. Sometimes they bring benefits though, and I am happy to succumb. One such trend is the interest in Spanish food and drink and the corresponding surge in quality tapas restaurants in London.

Centrally this has seen the arrival of Barrica, Fino (relaunched last year) and Pinchito Tapas. Spanish style (perhaps Irish style too!),we embarked on a crawl of these three, taking advantage of the Tio Pepe Tapas Trail. Tio Pepe fino, one of my favourite summer drinks, was available free with any tapa over £4.50. What fun!

We started at Barrica. My first time there, I was taken with the warmth of the traditional room with the sunny yellow walls. Lots of wood, a big counter, some tables and high stools. We opted for bar seats and chose Tortilla; Morcilla (Spanish black pudding); Clams, White Beans & Girolles and Galician Octopus. Some of my favourite dishes and Spanish staples (the girolle dish aside), they would be a good test of the kitchen.

The tortilla was eggy and runny in the centre and rich, exactly as it should be, tick. The morcilla was very good, a lovely spicey version and finely sliced like a cured sausage, I devoured it quickly. The Galician octopus was tender and delicate. So far so good. The Clams, White Beans & Girolles felt as though it was missing something, I would imagine this is a vegetarian version of clams, white beans and chorizo. It felt like it was missing a fruitiness with the earthiness of the girolles too dominant. Prices circled a very fair £4-6. We sipped on our Tio Pepe Finos and headed on to Fino. Boom boom!

Fino, an offering from the Hart brothers, owners of Barrafina and Quo Vadis is very smart.  The most expensive of the three we would visit, Fino is a basement room with low ceilings, it’s been very good on previous visits, but it had been some time so I was looking forward to checking in. We grabbed seats by the bar again – the best place to sit always, isn’t it? – and ordered another Spanish staple Pane con Tomate, a lovely fresh & fruity version, some more Morcilla (I can never resist!) – Marcilla Iberica, Fried Quails Eggs, Chorizo Chips (small chorizo sausages wrapped in wafer thin potato and fried), Braised Iberian Pig Cheeks, sensationally rich and tender, they were irresistable. Another glass of Tio Pepe Fino here, but we also indulged in an extra glass of Tio Pepe En Rama, the celebratory 175th anniversary vintage which sold out in hours, but is available at Fino (and also Pinchito) at £5.90 a glass. This was gorgeous and silky with great depth of flavour. We had to have another one when we visited Pinchito next! We are indulgent…

Before we left we watched a suckling pig (a a very tiny one – seriously not much bigger than a cat) being prepared in the kitchen. Despite concerns for the age of the tiny piglet, we watched with envy. That has got to be done soon.

Final stop was Pinchito. I have only been there for drinks before, and at that at the Shoreditch one. First impressions are of a trendy bar, which always worries me when it comes to the quality of food (am I an old crank or what?!), however, Pinchito really delivered, and I thought it was probably the closest to what you would get in Spain right now.

The staff are also immensely knowledgable, we were all very impressed with our waiter Guillaume, who was so enthusiastic and helpful and full of information. We bought him a glass of En Rama and asked him to join us, which he did, although only briefly before he diligently went back to work.

We had Pa amb tomaquet (bread and tomato) which was a terrific version of the dish. The tomato was fruity and had spice with some lovely vinegary back notes. Alioli (garlic dip with toasted bread) was simple and perfect. I was very impressed by now. We hadn’t had croquetas yet so we ordered Croquetas de cocido madrileño (mixed meat croquettes) which were rich and dense. Mixed meat is a nerve wracking description but this worked well, whatever it was.

We also had Chorizo a la sidra (chorizo with cider & apple sauce), again simple, rustic and high quality and a plate of very good manchego. More Tio Pepe fino (again free as part of the Tapas trail), an irresistible glass of En Rama and a cocktail – Sevilla Fizz made with Sherry & Cava (costing £6.50) and very, very good, as everything had been until this point.

We were ready to bounce out of there by now, and we did. It was a great evening, and a very good showcase of Spanish food in London with only one weakish dish. Barrica was relaxed and a lovely place to catch up with friends, Fino a smarter setting with more elegant food, but the standout for me was Pinchito. High quality, relaxed, friendly and innovative, that’s Spanish cuisine in a sentence for me, and we have it here now in London. I want to go back to try Albondigas (meat balls with green olive sauce) and Hanger steak with paprika alioli (and more cocktails of course). Watch this space, I will tell you all about it when I do.

The Tio Pepe Sherry trail runs from 12-18th of July. It’s brilliant fun and if possible, I’ll be indulging in another glass or two at Iberica and Moro before the week is out.

http://www.pinchito.co.uk/

http://www.finorestaurant.com/

http://www.barrica.co.uk/

And on to The Tannery. You’ve been waiting for this one, haven’t you?

Dungarvan was never really a food destination, not until Paul & Máire Flynn moved in and opened The Tannery in 1997. The Tannery was an old leather factory, I remember it very well from my youth. One distinct time when very young I recall lots of people working with animal hides which were hanging very visibly, lots of steam, and a sense of industry. I remember people in hats and my surprise when I was told exactly where those skins came from. From animals! I remember the stench. I was very small.

Since then, I’ve noticed a very big change in attitudes to food in the area. Maybe this was happening already, and the opening of The Tannery crystallised it, but I think it’s fair to say that they were critical to this development. They’ve since opened an award winning guesthouse (Tannery Townhouse) and an award winning Cookery School which I have yet to check out. I have enjoyed food at the restaurant though, and last Sunday, I returned for Sunday lunch with my sister.

Set by the Quay in Dungarvan in the old tannery, The Tannery restaurant is encased in a gorgeous old stone building. Downstairs in the foyer you can have a drink while you wait for your table, upstairs is the restaurant, bright and airy with hints of it’s Tannery past. With a population of 17,000 people, Dungarvan is a small town by anyones standards, but people travel to eat there now.

We opted for a set Sunday lunch which offers 3 courses for €30. Comprehensive, offering 5 options for each course, it was very difficult to decide what to have as it was all very appealing. My sister could not resist the Crab Creme Brulee with Pickled Cucumber and Melba Toast and she advised that I had to try the Tannery Tasting Plate, offering a selection of 4 starters: Vichysoisse, Ketafi of Cooleney Camembert, Chicken Liver Parfait with Plum Chutney & Pork Rillette with Onion Marmalade.

The Crab Creme Brulee was fantastic, ambrosial, rich and still light. Gorgeous. The Tasting Plate was wonderful too, the Vichysoisse was all you could ever want from that cold summer soup, the Chicken Liver Parfait creamy, light and rich, the Ketafi of Cooleney Camembert was a wonderful addition, with crisp noodles surrounding oozy creamy camembert, and the Pork Rillette as good as everything before. I loved it.

Choosing a main course was challenging too. Grilled Hake with Bouillabaise Sauce, French Beans & Aioli; Glazed Pork Belly, Apple Sauce & Celeriac Cream; traditional Roast Chicken with Stuffing, Carrots & Peas; Seared Scallops, Romesco Sauce & Chorizo Croquettes or Wild Garlic Risotto with Crispy Shallots. How to choose?

I decided on the scallops as I loved the idea of the chorizo croquettes and they have been something that I have wanted to make for a while. Nodlaig went for the wild garlic risotto. A side order of intensely buttery mash was served with my main. Both were executed perfectly again, no less than 7 scallops with strips of pickled courgette (I think!), charred scallions, a roast tomato with charred slice of garlic on top and dreamy, creamy, spicy chorizo croquettes. The wild garlic risotto was lovely, bright green and packed with flavour, the rice was al dente and had a lovely bite as it should, the crispy shallots served as a perfect contrast.

Time for dessert. Soft Baked Meringue with Strawberries and Lemon Curd was irresistible for me, and Nodlaig went for her favourite Chocolate Truffle Cake. I loved mine, it was light, fruity and summery, not rich, and the chocolate truffle cake was mousse-like and reminded me of the River Cafe’s Chocolate Nemesis. Very good indeed.

Coffees were included and I had two very good and very well priced wines by the glass. A Bergerac Sauvignon- Semillon for €6.50 and a chilled red Beaujolais at the same price. We had a lovely lunch, it really has everything nailed: great room, great food, friendly and efficient service and very well priced. The food is detailed and delicate but has a lovely homely quality too. It stands up to and beats some michelin starred meals that I have had in London, and I think that the people of Dungarvan are very lucky to have it there.

Just last night they won an award for the Best Restaurant in Munster, Ireland, and the Best Irish Cookery School, so it’s definitely one to visit. Make sure you stick around and enjoy the area and all it has to offer, if you do.

http://tannery.ie/