Sticks n Sushi

Last night I tried out Wimbledon’s newest sushi restaurant, Sticks n Sushi. Loved it; seriously loved it. The restaurant has only been open a few weeks, and it was easy to see how it has gotten such great reviews. The decor was somehow both spacious and cosy (very Nordic!) and the staff were super-friendly.

The food centred mainly around yakitori (sticks) and sushi. I was curious about how Denmark and Japan would fuse together food-wise. The answer: splendidly.

These ebi bites were sensational:

The marcel chocolate cake with raspberry foam was a slice of heaven. Really. M wouldn’t let me talk to him until he finished his piece (“don’t you dare ruin this by talking!”)

Oh I will most definitely be back soon.

Sons & Daughters

On my last night in San Francisco, I enjoyed fantastic food and company… at Sons & Daughters with Pei, Chris, Dan and Till. The tasting menu was exciting – so much so that my taste buds couldn’t even process some combinations! Really liked the assortment of freshly-baked bread with salted butter in between courses too.

Cardoon • smoked creme fraiche • caviar

Green garlic • turnip • mussel | kampachi • kosho ponzu

Asparagus • quail egg • onion

Salmon • castelvetrano • watercress

Squab • pistachio • fennel | pansy • yoghurt • meyer lemon

Chocolate • coconut • hazelnut | guava • yarrow • pate de fruit

Dan drew us on the menu. Love, love, love!

Union Jacks

K made me swim in the outdoor pool on this fine 3°C morning, so today’s lunch was well-deserved! After 50 laps, we pigged out at Jamie Oliver’s new venture – Union Jacks – which serves flatbread pizzas with a British twist.

I had the Old Spot (roast shoulder of pig, quince & Bramley sauce, Cropwell Bishop Stilton, crackling & watercress) with a lovely fresh ginger beer. And for dessert, 3 scoops of home-made ice cream – Earl Grey tea, Snickers and sticky toffee.

L’Autre Pied

{ Let me welcome my dear friend Mervin as today’s guest writer. I supply the photos, he supplies the words. I cannot wait for his food blog to go public! }

We went to L’Autre Pied this week for the seven-course tasting menu. Testament to the lengths we will go for good food, the outside temperature that night was -30 degrees Celsius, it was windy and I was still recuperating from a spell of The Most Vicious Man Flu.

Charlotte bought us the vouchers from Groupon for my birthday, although she was careful to point out that I, unlike everyone else, do not age but remain fresh-faced and line-free, having sold my soul for eternal youth to the Devil, Estée Lauder.

The visit to L’Autre Pied, incidentally, bumped Charlotte up in my esteem, not that my friendship and love can be bought if any of my other “friends” are reading. Gloves. I need gloves. Dents, Slim, silk-lined brown leather gloves from menswear at Liberty’s. Cashmere-lined puts you above Charlotte.

I digress, back to the food. L’Autre Pied brings fine and Michelin-starred dining to the mass – you people – by stripping it down to the bare essential. They keep: good service (efficient to the point of slightly rushed), French waiters, a good wine list, and understated setting. They dispense with: tablecloths, personal space, Stark champagne flutes, and grovelling host. While this makes it very affordable dining, although not markedly more so than Pied A Terre, it does diminish the experience if only slightly.

The cuisine, however, does not suffer. Everything comes with purées, emultions, reductions, foams, crunchy toppings and copious use of seasonal ingredients with the just the right highlight of exotic and obscure ones to make the food Michelin enough – think Mizuna instead of rocket.

L’Autre Pied does not offer the same amount of gastronomic research and novelty in the menu or presentation as Pied A Terre – it does feel a little “two-years ago” – but the execution of the dishes is excellent, the flavours well-developed and balance right most of the time.

Our first course, an amuse-bouche of whipped pumpkin purée sprinkled with chives, toasted sunflower and sesame seeds amused us greatly indeed. We were also introduced to the breadbasket at this point with which we asked to be re-acquainted often through dinner.

The starter of Jerusalem Artichoke Velouté with Burnt Roscoff Onion, Toasted Hazelnuts and Rocket Oil was earthy with varied and interesting textures. The velouté, poured on the accompaniments at the table, was not quite creamy and unctuous enough to be called a velouté at all. Jerusalem Artichokes deserve a splash of cream and perhaps a slither of seared foie gras to fully be shown off. The spring onions at the bottom of the plate although thinly sliced were aggressively raw. Bearing in mind that a velouté is served warm rather than hot, a quick blanching really was required.

The Lasagne of Pheasant with Cep Vinaigrette, Baby Onions, Watercress Puree and Toasted Hay Veloute was our favourite dish of the night. It was exquisite; deeply savoury, with complementary and very well-balanced flavours and textures.

The main course of Roasted Breast of Guinea Fowl, Caramelised Apple Purée, Brussel Sprouts, Black Olives and Thyme Jus fell short of excellent because of the overpowering and bitter black olives – less would have been better – and the sprouts, a sparse garnish, need not have had billing in the headline at all.

Farm House Cheese – semi-matured brie – with Sesame Lavoche – Middle Eastern crispy flat bread – and Fig Compote followed. Served at a dinner party, the cheese plate would have been delightful, here it underwhelmed and a course it was not.

Pre-Dessert was a triumph: Vanilla Panna Cotta with Clementine Jelly and Apple Foam. We conferred and concurred on being fully committed to the concept of pre-desserts from now. If one is good, two must be better.

Dessert was Vodka and Grapefruit Parfait with Citrus Filo and Coconut Foam topped with Freeze Dried Mango. T’was al’right.

Chocolate Spoons

Last week I tweeted this link to hot chocolate spoons, which I said would be perfect in this icy February. Then when I met up with Giulia, she gave me one! What a sweetheart…

You dip the spoon in a mug of hot milk and - voilà - chocolate milk and a gooey, melting lolly. Genius.

Gelato with Giulia

After years of Flickr-ing and months of Twitter-ing, today I finally met the lovely Giulia! Naturally, we geeked out over both food and photography. I took her to Top Of The Town for dim sum, then she introduced me to La Gelatiera.

What a gorgeous little place. The flavours are innovative – saffron, pistachio and rose; honey, rosemary and orange zest; chocolate sorbet with chilli… The owner clearly puts his heart and soul into each flavour. I want them all!

Hi Giulia!

Brixton Village

I live within walking distance of Brixton Village. There’s really no excuse why I’d not explored it before, but now the foodie in me is very, very happy.

First up - Franco Manca for sourdough pizza and lemonade. There’s reviews proclaiming it as the “best pizza in Britain”. And Giulia (an Italian!) raved about it on her blog, so I knew it had to be good. Okay I’m no pizza expert, but it was bloomin’ tasty. I can safely say that, yes, it was the best pizza I have had in this country.

Yesterday, I hit up the Village again. This time, we opted for Honest Burgers, which also had extremely high expectations to live up to. I’ll cut to the chase and say this: they did not disappoint. My cheese burger was full of flavour, with perfectly-done and tender beef. But the real winner was the triple-cooked rosemary salted chips. My mouth is actually watering right now at the mere thought of them.

Phew – I need a second here to recover from re-living that meal. To top the experience off, we finished at Lab G for dessert. I had pistachio and salted caramel gelato. The latter was to die for.

I only brought one lens – the 50mm – which I didn’t feel I could use to convey the atmosphere of the Village. Instead, I used my Vivitar trashcam. Will have to post those after I finish that roll of film!

The Dogfather

I only discovered North Cross Road Market very recently, and already can’t wait to go back. In one visit, I managed to scoff down a pulled pork banh mi from the VietVan, and orange and ginger fudge from Saucy Somerset Fudge.

But this post focuses on The Dogfather. In addition to all the food mentioned above, we couldn’t resist both a two cheeses and fried onions hotdog, and a Boss Hog (with chorizo, bacon, cheese, onions, grilled peppers and jalapeños). Drool…

If you’re ever in the East Dulwich area, be sure to check them out!