ESTADO PURO

What does one do with 72 hours in Madrid? There is of course a wealth of art to feast your eyes on (think Prado) and the fixtures at the Bernabeu would probably tempt many sports fans. But with the likes of Ferran Adria as one of the forefathers of modern Spanish cooking, I was most excited by the prospect of exploring some of the food options that the Spanish capital had to offer. That and the likelihood of warm and sunny weather had the makings of a very good time indeed.

In the first of a three part series, I will talk about Spain’s national institution, tapas, with the first tapas bar on my hit list being Estado Puro. The chef patron is Paco Roncero, the head chef of the two Michelin-starred La Terraza del Casino restaurant in Madrid. Roncero is not only considered to be one of the best chefs in Spain, he was also one of Ferran Adria’s star disciples and this modern touch showed in his take on the famous Spanish tortilla.

Named on the menu as a ‘21st Century Spanish omelette’ (€4.50), the waiter described the omelette as “like eating soup”, and the comparison rang true with the omelette appearing in a glass and consisting of beautifully caramelised onions covered with two foams, one of which was egg and the other of potato. Each individual component was delicious, but this 21st Century version had no texture. And for this reason the traditional versions, when done right, are in my opinion far more satisfying.

21st Century Spanish Omelette

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In December 2011 Chef Morgan Meunier moved his self-named restaurant Morgan M from its long standing Islington base to Barbican. I really enjoyed the food at Morgan M during my past visits (for my previous Morgan M post, click here). But I did find the trek to the outer reaches of Islington (given its distance from the tube) a little awkward. This move to Barbican seems ideal for making the restaurant more accessible.

The décor is pleasant and safe, but perhaps not as modern and slinky looking as one might expect from a Barbican/Farringdon location. The format of the menu has not changed, and I was happy to see that Morgan had kept hold of his £52 five course tasting menu. It was rather good value when you considered the quality of the cooking, the number of dishes and the fact that you could choose from two alternate dishes for each of the starter, main and dessert courses. And of course, there are the usual à la carte options for the picking.

For spring, the tasting menu kicked off with a warm tomato soup with purple basil and a tomato and olive oil sorbet which was lovely and refreshing. The icy sorbet provided a nice zingy contrast to the soup and promised a tantalising start to spring.

Warm tomato soup

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Soif is owned by the same group who own Terroirs. When I visited Terroirs in 2009 shortly after it opened, I thought it to be one of the most exciting wine bar and restaurants to grace the London stage. Well priced, heartfelt, rustic French cooking in an atmospheric central London location – what could be better? The offerings of ‘natural’ wines at decent prices worked a charm too. The wine bar and restaurant was obviously so successful that it spawned a second, Brawn in East London, and then the third, Soif in South London.

Like Terroirs, Soif offers a reasonable range of tasting portions for sharing and main sized meals, as well as a selection of ‘natural’ wines. We started with the charcuterie platter (£12.50) of pork terrine, rillette and Toscana salami. I loved, loved, loved the rillette at Terroirs and so this was the part of the platter that I was looking forward to the most. Instead I found the version at Soif to be overly fatty and not particularly enjoyable with a disproportionately high ratio of fat to meat. The terrine on the other hand was meaty and flavoursome. The salami was also good.

Charcuterie selection

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L’Autre Pied is the little sister restaurant to Pied à Terre on Charlotte Street. Opening in 2007 under Marcus Eaves, it went on to win critical acclaim as well as a Michelin star in 2009. When Shane Osborne left Pied à Terre last year, Marcus took over the head chef spot at Pied à Terre. I adored the food at L’Autre Pied when Eaves was there, having eaten there on several occasions. His cooking was top notch, and the pricing was very reasonable for the standard of his cooking. His one-Michelin star was well deserved.

But his departure has paved the way for some new blood. Enter Andy McFadden who previously worked at three-Michelin-starred Oud Sluis in the Netherlands and under Osborne at Pied à Terre for four years. A new head chef may mean a new approach, but the restaurant has managed to hold onto the contemporary and relaxed style that has always made L’Autre Pied one of the most accessible fine-dining establishments in London.

We kicked off with an amuse bouche of pumpkin and ginger mousse which was wonderfully light and tasty. But the topping of black olive, sesame seeds and chives was probably a little heavy against the delicacy of the mousse.

Pumpkin and ginger mouse

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Chop House head chef Martin Kroon

The Chop House at Butlers Wharf is hosting a series of butchery masterclasses at the restaurant.
Run by Head Chef Martin Kroon, we covered the butchery of a Blackface lamb from Ben Weatherall’s 6,000 acre estate in Dumfriesshire in South West Scotland.

The lamb

I covered lamb butchery when I attended Westminster Kingsway Cookery College, but I still found it interesting to watch the process again. Most of us tend to stick to best end, leg and shoulder cuts, but Martin proved very informative as he provided commentary during the session on how each cut of lamb should be cooked to achieve optimal results. Martin does all his own animal butchery. Purchasing an animal whole is more economical than purchasing cuts of meat. In this way, Martin is able to buy better quality meat for the restaurant whilst keeping his costs down.

Chef Martin showing off his butchery skills

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Pizarro has been receiving all the same rave reviews that its sister restaurant José also collected when it first opened. But one of the things that make Pizarro more appealing than José is that it is bigger, a huge bonus when both restaurants do not have a booking policy and happen to be two of the most sort after tables in London at the moment. I still imagine there could be long waits, but we turned up around 6.30pm on a Saturday night and managed to nab a spot straight away.

The dining room spells T-R-E-N-D-Y. It feels more formal and less raw than José, but it still follows the bar-seating-around-the-open-kitchen formula of its sister. We sat right near the pass during our visit which meant we got to see José at work. The menu is small, and it has less of a tapas-focus than at José and more main course selections (five).

As we decided on what to order, we were presented with some veggie nibbles of radish and cauliflower dressed with olive oil and cava vinegar. These are worth a mention as they were lovely with a hint of delicate acidic sweetness.

Veg dressed with olive oil & cava vinegar

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Note: This restaurant has now closed.

Bistro du Vin Soho is the second in the Bistro du Vin chain of restaurants, the first being in Clerkenwell. Situated in the ‘Mecca’ of Soho, Dean St, it has as its neighbours Dean St Townhouse and Quo Vadis (which coincidentally has installed a new chef since I last went). A French Bistro, its menu is simplistic in its approach but reasonably appealing.

The décor suits its French Bistro status and its location well. The restaurant has a rustic and stylish appeal with cream coloured wooden panels and lots of comfy leather booth seating.

An ox tongue, beetroot and walnut salad (£6.50) with a ravigota vinaigrette containing capers, shallots, parsley and gherkins was lovely. The ox tongue was well cooked and tender, the walnuts gave the salad crunch, and there was a nice balance of acidity and sweetness coming through from the dressing.

Ox tongue, beetroot & walnut salad

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A recent Sunday lunch at Sophie’s Steakhouse in Chelsea revealed it to be a noisy family affair with swarms of children flying around. I adore kids, but if you’re looking for a quiet relaxing Sunday lunch, the Chelsea branch of Sophie’s Steakhouse might not be the best place to head. The fact that service wasn’t at its most efficient didn’t help either. The restaurant could probably have done with more front-of-house staff.

We kicked off with some pan-fried king prawns (6) with chilli & garlic (£14.95) which were of a decent quality. But the prawns were under seasoned and not particularly garlic-y.

Pan-fired king prawns

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