Note: This restaurant is no longer operating.

The restaurant at The Double Club

I cannot think of a better word to describe the Double Club other than ‘cool’. No, two words: ‘real cool’. Throw in a movie star and his entourage, which included a swag of beautiful young girls at the table next to us, and it completes the picture as to how ‘cool’ this place is. That, and a fashion-conscious ‘arty’ crowd and you get the picture. Housed in an old Victorian warehouse, the Double Club is a conceptual artistic project which brings together Western and Congolese elements. Created by Carsten Höller, the Swedish-based German artist who was behind the looping slides set up in the Tate Modern a few years ago; and funded by Fondazione Prada, a non-profit organisation based in Milan; the space is divided into three parts to bring us a bar, a restaurant, and a discotheque. Within each space, it combines, but without fusing, Western and Congolese influences through the use of artistic displays and functional elements drawn from both these spheres. The spirit of the project is further enhanced by encompassing the more fundamental aspects of both cultures, that being music and food.

The design is eye-catching and dynamic. It commands your attention without demanding it. In the restaurant, the lighting is dim and demure, and attractively so. The Double Club opened on 21 November 2008, and as all artistic displays tend to do will close after a set run, in this instance after six months.

(Continue reading her story…)

The World's 50 Best Restaurant Awards

If you have ever previously read my bio page ‘Who’s the Girl’, you might have noticed that attending the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards was previously on my wish list. Well, by a pure stroke of luck, I somehow managed to get an invitation to this year’s ceremony which was held last night.

The event at the Freemasons’ Hall in Covent Garden kicked off at 7pm with the arrival of the chefs and a champagne reception. With the who’s who of the culinary glitterati and a plethora of the world’s press coming together, the venue quickly became abuzz with the chatter of anticipation. There were about 400 to 500 people at the event, and when you consider that there are only 50 chefs that could possibly make the list, you can imagine the volume of media coverage this event receives.

(Continue reading her story…)

After a huge winter of excess, brought on in no small part by the launch of this food blog, I have discovered to my detriment that the size of my girth has expanded somewhat. Not hugely, but enough to be a little worrisome.

So to my dearest, darling beloved blog:
While I thoroughly enjoy our love affair, I must now revisit the basis of our loving relationship. Please bear with me over the next coming weeks (no doubt there will be tantrums and grumpy moods on my part) as I try to find a way forward that will allow me to contain, no reduce, this expansion; and at the same time keep you in the plentiful manner in which you have been accustomed…

Pâtisserie display at Yauatcha

Having afternoon tea at a Chinese restaurant might seem like a strange concept, but when that restaurant is Yauatcha, a one-star Michelin Restaurant, it seemed like something worth trying. Yauatcha’s creator is the famous restaurateur, Alan Yau of Hakkasan fame. Alan sold his majority shareholding in both these restaurants in 2007, although he still maintains a management interest. Alan Yau aside, part of my desire to try the afternoon tea at Yauatcha was also due to the spectacular and mouth-watering pâtisserie display in the restaurant front. If you have ever walked past it, you might know what I mean.

Preparing for a spot of afternoon tea at Yauatcha, or any other decadent high tea location, requires a strategy similar to the kind that you might adopt for a major sporting event. Truth be told, I’ve never participated in a major sporting event, nor even a little one, so this is pure speculation on my part. But I imagine that you have to be disciplined in terms of what you eat, otherwise you might not last the distance or perform to your optimum. In this instance, a lack of preparation could have jeopardised my ability to gorge on all the delectable sandwiches and scrumptious cakes, and that was simply not on.

(Continue reading her story…)

Selection of charcuterie

At first sight, Terroirs – a small French wine bar and restaurant – would not appear to hold the secret to anything special. But the moment you enter this homely eatery, you know you will be treated to a dining experience that will resonate with you, for its simplicity belies a Gallic menu filled with some flavoursome, earthy eats. Its head chef is Ed Wilson, whose CV reads with time at Orrery, The Wolseley, Galvin Bistro de Luxe and Sonny’s. Not all dishes work, but those that do are simply superb. And the pricing is surprisingly reasonable given its location in the West End.

But my biggest disappointment with it is that the food has the potential to defeat you. Take the example of my first visit to Terroirs. By the time the two of us had finished the platter of charcuterie and two side plates, we couldn’t make it to the main course for we were already full. How was this possible? And here I was, thinking that I was something of an eating machine with a limitless capacity to chow my way through each course. Fearing that I would be unable to provide a well rounded opinion without having sampled the mains, I gladly went back again. Or at least that was my excuse. Therefore this write-up is based on two separate visits, both within two weeks of each other.

(Continue reading her story…)