Note: This restaurant has now closed. It was really bad anyway…

Scallops over mushroom puree

My latest lunch adventure was at Aubergine Restaurant, which is perhaps most famous for the fact that this was where Gordon Ramsay won his first Michelin star in 1995 and a second in 1997. A desire to own his own restaurant coupled with differences with the owners resulted in Ramsay leaving shortly thereafter to open what we now know as Gordon Ramsay on Royal Hospital Road. In Ramsay’s place stepped the current Executive Head Chef, Billy Drabble. He too soon attained a star which he has managed to hold onto ever since.

So I came to Aubergine with an element of curiosity, inspired by its history more than anything else. But under Drabble, Aubergine has also collected its share of accolades. Since 1998, along with its Michelin star, it has also continuously held onto 4 AA Rosettes. And in 2006 it won the ‘Grand Prix of Gastronomy’ as awarded by The British Academy of Gastronomes.

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1901 @ Andaz

Isn’t it funny how when you are running late, there is always a problem on the London Underground? Or maybe there are almost always problems on the Tube, but it’s just that such delays are much more noticeable when you’re in a rush. I was in a hurry to get to lunch, and readers who have read my Viet Noodle Bar post will know that when food is on the cards, I like to try and be on time, although admittedly only with varying degrees of success. Therefore, I started to fret as the train was held up first at one station, and then again at the next. “Lunch is waiting for me. Is my entire journey going to be like this?” I thought, gritting my teeth.

But somehow, I managed to arrive at Liverpool Street exactly 3 minutes before my lunch reservation at 1901 at Andaz. Wow, how about that for miraculous timing! I rounded the corner out of the station and saw my lunch companion (1) head into the restaurant, and (2) then come straight back out. It seems that from a distance he had spotted me and decided to wait for me outside instead. Later he would tell me he saw me out of the corner of his eye and that he recognised me from a distance by my ‘walk’. My ‘walk?’ I know a supermodel I resemble not, so what about my walk could be so memorable? Did it resemble a waddle, like the side to side action of a penguin in motion? But I did not ask. I didn’t want to. Some things in life you are just better not knowing.

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There was lots of drama and excitement at Cookery School this week. We had barely set up our work stations in the kitchen when the fire alarm went off. It wasn’t quite as loud as the piercing, tortuous wailing noise that emits from the alarm in my kitchen when I smoke it out (and which simply refuses to stop sounding no matter how hard I try to fan it), but it was still pretty loud. A mass evacuation ensured, and when I say ‘mass’, I mean the entire school. So here we were, hundreds of cookery students and chefs in whites lining the streets outside the college.

A sea of students

At one point, a fire engine turned up.

The fire engine

And then a police car.

The police car

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Bocca di Lupo

Up until recently, I was probably one of the very few foodies left in London who had yet to go to Bocca di Lupo. I know. Most people love it, and there has been an endless stream of great reviews that sing its praises. So why have I been so slow to go? Well, I was trying to let the excitement die down first before venturing there, or so I liked to tell myself. No, in truth, I was just flat right rejected for a reservation the couple of times I tried calling for a table at short notice. It seems that a lot of advanced planning is required if you want to eat at Bocca on a Friday or a Saturday night. So I decided to call early, weeks ago in fact, to secure a spot at the Chefs’ table (at the counter right in front of the chefs), and just prayed that I would happen to be free. Before you know it, the evening approaches, and to my surprise I actually find myself walking through the door of Bocca di Lupo.

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Action Against Hunger is running an auction on eBay for a chance to dine at one of San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Lot One of the auction ran between 21 April to 1 May. The second set of lots opened last week and will run until 14 May. There are dinners to be had at Per Se, Daniel and The French Laundry in the US amongst other countries, so get clicking.