WE ALL know who he is, and at the time that I am seated in his beautiful restaurant in London, Gordon is busy at the opening of his new Melbourne eatery. Yet this ship is as steady and serene as you could expect of a finely tuned, five star cruiser. There’s no ranting. Certainly no swearing. It is all very, very pleasant (not that I expected anything else).
The room is small; intimate, with little more than a dozen tables and nearly that many floor staff. We’re trying not to ‘room gaze’, but there are clearly some high powered lunches going on and a couple of very lovely Chelsea ladies are having a ‘dessert-a-thon’. It’s all very elegant and, at the time we were dining, London’s only restaurant with three coveted Michelin stars.
There’s no undue grandeur to one of the world’s best restaurants. It’s located in a small group of shops in the inner London suburb of Chelsea. We’ve booked using the handy on-line service that manages the people flow and allows great visibility to restaurant availability across the Ramsay portfolio of restaurants.
Unconcerned by the midday slot, we assume that the timing will take care of itself and a leisurely lunch will be in order. And so it was. We were warmly greeted by the maître’d and shown to our window table. The menu offers three courses for £45 or £90, five courses for £105 or six for £120. They read so beautifully I could have smacked my credit card into orbit on a whim. Common sense intact, we choose the £45 affair. The sommelier had walked us along the wine list. We select a series of glasses through the meal rather than a bottle; he makes suggestions and we follow. All good.
There is humour in the superb presentation of the frog’s leg. Upon a perfect 5mm diced potato and leek sits a crisp, egg shaped leg, deboned and then reformed, crisp crumbed and fried golden, with the bone poking out the top. Around this is poured a ‘pond green’ soup of leek and potato. It combines great colour, theatre and flavour elements to provide a fantastic entry to our Ramsay experience.
I’m a sucker for salt cod and order the brandade with Noir de Bigorre ham. It has a generous dollop of smooth cod and whipped potato circled by this glorious ham from rare bred French pig, with a poached quail egg atop. A couple of charred red peppers for colour and small rocket salad rested beside this beautiful dish. The bride has chosen the tortellini of crab and tiger prawn. One huge tortellini appeared centred on a leaf in the bowl surrounded by perfect squares of tomato flesh in a parsley, chilli and lemongrass consommé. It was art as food and tasted fantastic.
London has turned on freezing weather for us and we are delighted to find proper winter fare in the mains. Beef Cheek for the beloved and Pork 4 Ways for me. The braised ox cheek is a slow braised delight with vegetables, polenta and mascarpone. The veg is cut ‘paysanne’ style. Delicate, and an excellent foil for the hearty ox cheek that falls apart with tender joy. The pork is a selection of loveliness rested on a bed of choucroute (Alsatian sauerkraut) with caramelised apple on the side. Moist, pink fillet slices sat with a fat square of roasted smoked ventrèche (belly), a Morteau sausage (smoked sausage from Jura in France) and a thick chunk of black pudding. It’s all superb and accompanied by ever present staff proffering terrific bread, filling glasses and just being attentive.
Dessert continues to impress. Banana parfait with passionfruit and salted caramel ice-cream arrives as a block of chocolate coated parfait with a drizzle of passionfruit sauce underneath and the ice cream on top. It’s sweet, salty, creamy and crunchy. The pear tarte tatin with walnut ice-cream comes piping hot on a squiggle of caramel. As soon as it hits the table a waiter appears with a microplane and shaves some excellent stilton across the tart. The heat immediately melts the cheese and its aroma lifts from the plate. Fabulous. Smells amazing and tastes better, but we are not done
A spiky contraption arrives covered in silver balls that turn out to be chocolate truffles. This is followed by Ramsay’s signature strawberry ice-cream balls. Coated in white chocolate, they appear in a silver dish which releases a blanket of smoke across the table from the dry ice.
As a meal finisher, it is an absolute killer. You walk out feeling like you have dined as a king.
