June, 2010

Slipping seamlessly onto the London dining landscape, a newish kid on the block looks and acts like its been around forever. Zeren Wilson takes a seat at the bar.

4pm and the place is buzzing. Bustling and brimming with bonhomie. I feel like I’ve gate-crashed a private party. I grab a seat at the bar and feel pretty chuffed with myself – no-one has noticed this interloper, and I feel that maybe, just maybe, I can pull this off. Have a meal and a drink and leave without anyone noticing – it’s worth a shot anyway.

A joint venture between Richard Caring (Scott’s, The Ivy, J Sheekey et al, darlings of Caprice Group Holdings) and Nick Jones of Soho House, this prolific and acquisitive pair have landed in a beautiful Grade II listed building dating from 1732, the site of the Gargoyle club which hosted artists and intellectuals, such as Francis Bacon, Graham Greene, Dylan Thomas and Lucian Freud in lavish interiors which had Henri Matisse casting his design flair within. Fred Astaire tip-toed his way through regularly . A place of decadence and creativity, closing its doors in the late 1970′s.

Given a lavish make-over, shed-loads of cash, and a good lick of love, the building has quickly become a relevant fixture again amongst places to eat and drink in London.

Dean Street Townhouse is cocky, classy, and almost infuriatingly slick. A highlight of my last visit included a sausage roll of buttery, flakey goodness, simple, perfect – and warm too, surely the best way to find a sausage roll? My mind flashes back to what is surely the most perfect sausage roll ever cooked in London, Claude Bosi’s outrageous effort in his Michelin starred Hibiscusaround the corner in Mayfair, as part of a sublime pork dish in two stages. This is a sausage roll mixing it with the big boys. Is it the Keen’s Cheddar in the pastry that elevates it? Sneaky, very sneaky – and great.

Smoked Haddock soufflé – is a joy, densely savoury, with a punchy cheesy finish.

Minced Meat and potatoes - a dish of cheeky puritan cockiness, lovingly rendered down from veal stock and red wine, a splash of Worcestershire sauce, and some ketchup to keep things real. New potatoes sprinkled with some parsley complete the dish.

Fish Fingers and Chips - lovingly made, some unremarkable chips, and a tartare sauce lacking a vital caper driven punch, but made in-house nonetheless.

Crumpets with Keens Cheddar - Is this a joke? Not at all, because some good soul is virtuous enough to keep an eye on the tricky crumpet/cheese timing, and this is pulled off admirably. Keen’s Cheddar perfectly melted atop a yielding crumpet.

Gloucester Old Spot Sausage Roll - Flakey, buttery pastry, judiciously spiced coarse meat singing with sage, and perfect meat to pastry ratio, making it far better than the Ginger Pig’s fat, gauche, monolithic effort. A triumph of sausage roll.

Another visit reveals further cute touches, such as radishes placed at the bar with small dishes of celery salt for dipping , and another bowl of parsnip and root vegetable crisps.

The only time I sit down for a “proper” meal, we are delivered the following:

Roast Banham Chicken with sage and onion stuffing - Succulent, yielding bird with crisped skin, and crunch-perfect roast potatoes that have spent time kissing some tasty fat. Only the gravy disappoints, a miserable, weedy, industrial tasting, sad apology of a gravy. I shunt it aside and dig in to the fine chicken. Macho stuffing with a twang of chicken liver to it.

Wine is from the same stable (and hence largely the same one supplier) as the rest of the Caprice Group, so throw in some decent Burgundy (Hubert Lamy, Saint-Aubin), some passable rest of the world (Dog Point, New Zealand) and a smattering of New World stars (Au Bon Climat, California), and you have a competent list – nothing here will make you wet yourself with excitement. I will reveal these particular lists to anyone who asks.

Front of house and bar staff are professional, intelligent, and eager. On one visit I’m particularly pleased to see George behind the bar, who entertained and made pristine mint martinis from the opening of Hix Oyster & Chop House in Farringdon. The man is the incarnation of Jim Carrey, complete with comic-double takes. The Mask makes an excellent martini.

The long bar is perfect to idle away a Saturday afternoon, spilling into early evening, the room feels conspiratorially convivial, and the whole set-up feels as if its been there for three hundred years. Oh, and then there’s the small matter of the 39 room hotel attached next door.

Soho House and Richard Caring, strutting across London, professional, cocksure, loaded. Then stay in their hotel for 95 quid. Clever, clever f**ks.

Dean Street Townhouse

69-71 Dean Street

London W1D 3SE

www.deanstreettownhouse.com

Spend?? Starters from 5.75 – Roast Chicken at 32.00. Choose your style.

Who is Franco Manca?

Those who know about pizza in London, those who care enough to seek out the finest sourdough crust, with the most impeccably sourced ingredients, have known about Franco Manca in Brixton market for some time.

Open only at weekday lunchtimes, this Brixton beacon of a pizzeria has remained under the mainstream radar, despite several glowing reviews – all this is about to change.

Giuseppe Mascoli, Bridget Hugo and co-owner Sami Wasif have landed in Chiswick with their first full-blown incarnation of the Franco Manca brand, in the first stage of a planned seven restaurants over the next three years.

There is a core of integrity running through every element of the restaurants, beginning with the mosaic-tiled, wood burning “Tufae” brick oven built on site by specialist artisans from Naples. Pizzas are immersed in the oven for exactly forty seconds, to achieve the right combination of crispness and chewiness in the sourdough crust.

The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, set up to maintain standards in Italian pizza making, insist on leaving the dough to rise for a minimum of six hours. Franco Manca leave theirs for at least twenty – this is hardcore pizza lore.

The starter culture for the dough is said to have been stolen by a friend of the owners from a bakery on a small island off the coast of Naples, who claims it dates back to the 1730′s. You have to love this story.

Flour is sourced from Naples, organic tomatoes imported directly from Salerno, single-estate organic extra-virgin olive oil brought in also exclusively, along with the bombshell that the Buffalo mozzarella is made in Somerset. An artisan mozzarella producer from the Southern Apennines has taught the Alham Wood organic cheese-makers to refine their mozzarella making skills from their own buffalos.

Obsessive attention to detail? Maybe, but all of this would be nothing if the pizzas didn’t deliver. And they do.

Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil - no room to hide, this is finger suckingly good, a thin crisp edge blackened here and there, and a glorious chewy, cheesy centre, with a decent lick of tangy, sweet tomato.

Tomato, Cured Organic Chorizo, Mozzarella - Brindisa chorizo gives this one the necessary garlicky kick, with a smoky paprika vibe, and a decent lick of chilli heat.

Tomato, Garlic, Oregano, Capers, Olives, Anchovy, Mozzarella - Properly punchy anchovies and good capers (the expensive small ones, not the cop-out fat boys), make this suitably grown-up. Anchovy haters should run for the hills.

There are some excellent smaller plates, which are the big addition to the menu from the Brixton original, with an uncompromisingly dense and meatyGloucester Old Spot Salami, spiked with Fennel seeds, and Baked Aubergines cooked to slippery goodness, although small sourdough balls ofZizzi Da’ Regina are a little clunky and heavy compared to the lightness of those cracking pizza bases, so ease off on these and go large for the main event.

Desserts are short and snappy, a wildly successful Raspberry Yoghurt Polenta Torte slapping me about with a zesty, citrus-charged square of soft polenta, a lively Lemon Sorbet is suitably invigorating.

House Lemonade is made with Amalfi lemons, and tastes positively virtuous.

With pizzas between £4.50-6.80, all of this is shockingly good value. Slap in the face good value. Reality check good value. Next time you walk past Prezzo and consider the Spicy Beef for 8.95 a pop, just stop and think a moment. Please don’t do it, just don’t do it. Ever.

Notable mention must go to the wine.

Imported by Giuseppe and Guillaume Aubert through their wine importing business Aubert Mascoli, the one winemaker offered is leading a messianic charge for the natural/bio-dynamic wine movement currently sweeping the London restaurant scene.

This is wine tip-toeing on the edge of what most wine drinkers are used to, occasionally stepping towards unexplored flavour profiles, yet challenging and complex in the best possible way for any wine drinker, whether they quaff Grand Cru Burgundy, or Friday night Pinot Grigio on draught at the local All Bar One.

Ottavio Rube, whose winery and farm Valli Unite in Piemonte is making wine bio-dynamically, with little or no sulphur added (the preservative added to virtually all commercial wine), is the only wine you will drink here – genuinely thought provoking, alive, wine that invites you to engage with it and take a stance.

From the subtly sparkling Brut & the Beast 2008, made with the Piemontese Favorita and Cortese varietals, to the rustic, savoury Vigna del Barbote 2005, from a single-vineyard of just ½ a hectare of unknown old vines, you are pulled and pushed down untrodden vinous paths – truly exciting.

Prices start at £9.80 for the Organic Dolcetto and Malvasia Secca entry level wines. Value and integrity of product is a killer combination.

The night we went it was the official launch party, Giuseppe, Bridget and Sami were seen carousing the invited, and I’m told it was the first time winemaker Ottavio had ever been outside of Italy, a cute fact that says much about the artisan producers that have been gathered within the Franco Manca stable.

So who is Franco Manca? He’s someone and no-one. Franco is the name of the owner of the Brixton pizzeria before Franco Manca evolved, and the Manca is “missing” in Italian.

Franco’s missing, but the pizza’s are all there.

Franco Manca

144 Chiswick High Road

Chiswick

London W4

0208 747 2822

www.francomanca.co.uk

www.aubertmascoli.com

Sam Harris has successfully and quietly run the Maltings Café around the corner on Tower Bridge Road for some time, a lunchtime only gig, and something of a hidden gem of Italian cuisine – now he is mixing it with the big boys with evening service. The wine list is selected by Sam himself, an Italiophile par excellence (he’s been to Piemonte every year for a decade), margins are skinny, and get this – you can take a bottle yourself and Sam is happy for you to drink it for just a £5 corkage.

Style? The River Café meets St John – simplicity, elegance, and integrity of ingredients. Sam lives and breathes Italian food and wine, despite being very English, and has had stints at The River Café, Bibendum, and 4 years as a food inspector for Egon Ronay. He knows food inside out, and understands balance of flavours, the essence of Italian culture, and the beautiful simplicity of Italian food.

The room plays a conscious yet stylish back seat to the food, apart from the open kitchen and bar seating. An exposed brick wall at the back again has a whiff of St John-esque insouciance with home comforts. Edgy, urban, clean lines could feel cold and unwelcoming, austere even, but when the place is full on a Saturday night, it crackles with energy and chatter. There’s excitement in the air.

A short and snappy menu, almost brutally short descriptions, has the aura of St John - concise, no flab, no purple prose – this is a menu that just wants to get on with it. And it does.

You get the feeling that there is something hardcore and uncompromising about the place. Some serious action.

A summary of several visits. Ok I’ll admit it, many visits, lunch and dinners.

Buffalo Mozzarella, Roasted Squash - starkly simple, this sums up Zucca. Impeccably sourced ingredients sing from the plate with clarity.Pumpkin (Zucca) charred here and there, sweet flesh, premier league Mozzarella, drizzle of good olive oil, grind of pepper. Simplicity and beauty on a plate.

Buffalo Mozzarella, grilled fennel - That Mozzarella again, this time playing a riff with a thin sliver of chargrilled fennel, haunting anise note, black pepper, olive oil. Zen purity.

Zucchini Fritti – Perfectly seasoned zucchini fritti, made with a tempura batter (the real deal, made with sparkling water for lightness and deftness). Remarkable, light, airy, fried goodness.

Castelmagno and radish - Piedmontese cheese made in Cuneo, is a tangy, savoury foil for crunchy sliced radish, good salad leaves, sprinkling of parmesan. A signature dish of Zucca? It could well become one.

Carpaccio of Sea Bass - Spanking fresh, clean flavoured, flecks of chilli adding punch, finished off with olive oil and lemon juice. Order two. Each.

Linguine with Clams and Samphire - Classic vongole dish with a twist. Well judged pasta, salty samphire, a touch of chilli, that squeeze of lemon juice again. Lunch-time nirvana.

Tagliatelle with artichokes and lemon – Seriously fine handmade pasta, silken strands amongst a vibrant lemon charged sauce. Startlingly good pasta, ranking with any you’ll find in the top Italian restaurants in London.

Grilled prawns, chilli and lemon - Off the scale. Prawns from the mother-ship, huge meaty Madagascan style swines that crackle with flavour, leaving me crunching through the lot, there isno need to ease the sweet meat away from its shell – suck ‘em and see.

Pappardelle with Gorgonzola and Hazelnuts - The most beautiful looking dish of the lot, wide Pappardelle, creamy Gorgonzola that doesn’t overwhelm that excellent pasta. Studded with the odd crunch of toasted Hazelnuts. Earthy, savoury, punchy, soothing, all at once.

Grilled Veal Chop with lemon – Ordered after we had eaten more than we really needed to, the deftness of the meat was surprising. Tender as you could wish for, crisped fat at the edge, brightened with lemon, sitting on well seasoned spinach.

The wine list could well be the best value Italian list in London. Clearly put together with knowledge and passion, some of the wines are from Sam’s own Italian cellar with some top end wines at effectively retail price. 

Bosco di   is a classily dry and focused start, and from there the list unveils a well considered regionallity, including the best co-operative winery in Italy, Produttori del Barbaresco Nebbiolo, fine Northern Italian whites from Borgo del Tiglio and the sublime Miani from Friuli, perfumed Barolo from Mauro Veglio,  Barbaresco from the full throttle, modern styled La Spinetta.

The list reaches stratospheric iconic level with Gaja Barbaresco 2006, and the superstar Tuscan Italians of Sassicaia 2005 and Ornellaia 2003, both at £110, both of which you’ll pay £300 and over in any other restaurant in London. There is plenty between £14-£20, so this really is a list both for fine wine lovers, and those that just want good wine priced so sharply it defies you to resist ordering that second bottle.

Coffee is brilliant, brooding, menacing espresso. Cakes are excellent too, changing daily. You could get almond tart with creme fraiche, you may get chocolate espresso cake. Pastry chef is wickedly talented.

There is a clarity and precision about everything going on here, a focus and vision for the place which is plain to see. No fluff, no bluster, cards on the table.

It reminds me of A16 in San Francisco, an Italian restaurant in The Marina. I was so pleased to get into without a reservation on a Saturday night, that we stayed for 4 hours and refused to leave our seat at the bar – if a place is serving great food and humming with energy, you just don’t want to leave – Zucca has that feel to it.

Two other big Italian openings in London recently have embraced the informality of Italian dining, Polpo and Bocca di Lupo, and have been big successes from the off. Zucca is set to become the most exciting Italian opening in London this year, but in a totally different, unassuming, almost modest way.

Hardcore ethos, unswerving dedication to essence of the ingredient, and carried off with charm and a smile – front of house unfussily do their jobs, pulled together by the affable resaurant manager Angelo Varveri, ex- Osteria Dell’Angelo.

The River Café meets St John, shakes it by the hand, takes the best bits of it, and settles down for the evening.

183 Bermondsey Street

London SE1 3TQ

0207 378 6809

www.zuccalondon.com

Min Jiang, blisteringly good views over Hyde Park, at the top of the Royal Garden Hotel, High Street Kensington.

Pitch perfect dim sum, charming, service, hits every dim sum fetish you may have. Plump, sweet, Prawn Har Gau – as good as they get, the useful addition of bamboo shoot giving it the edge.

Siew Long Bao, the Beijing dumpling with a riot of addictive ginger laden juice, is beautifully judged. Steamed Char Siu Bun doesn’t have the unctuous dark mystery of those at Yauatcha, and is ok, verging towards a cotton wool vibe in the mouth, which is always the risk with this dish.

Steamed crab meat dumpling, on the tame side of judicious seasoning but with decent crabby goodness.

Chinese Chive dumpling, classic prawn and chive combo, ok but better at Royal China Club.

Surprisingly informal, after negotiating the building site in the main entrance, you can dine alone and be attended by smiling, helpful staff.

The short dim sum list breeds confidence in the kitchen, and speaks of a dedicated dim sum chef – the dim sum here stands alongside Royal China Club and the rest of the Royal China group, and while not having the whizz bang of Yauatcha & Hakkasan, you’re more likely to want to come here more often, when the mood takes you – impulse dim sum, quick hit, job done.

High Mountain Dong Ding tea, has the captivating yet subtle Jasmine scent, with a creamy note. Think posh Jasmine. Or 1er Cru Jasmine, in Burgundy parlance. Negotiating the subtleties of Chinese tea, is like understanding the differences between adjacent Burgundy vineyards – complex, subtle, beguiling.

Delectable duck, a speciality, was carved beside me, and smelt wondrous. Served in two, staggered servings. Next time.

Dessert? No, two Siew Mai. Chicken and rice was so so, more rice, non-existent chicken, but by the third one I’m persuaded their savoury goodness is worthy. Pork & prawn is textbook, juicy, with yielding sweet filling, slightly oversalted but great.

One of the best spots in London for quality dim-sum, the view topping it off and winning me over.

Come here and do some Dong Ding – you won’t be disappointed.

• Min Jiang
• The Royal Garden Hotel
• 2-24 Kensington High Street
• London W8 4PT
• 0207 361
1988 www.minjiang.co.uk

£35.50 for 7 assorted plates of dim sum, 1 Chinese Tea, service not included.

This Venetian style bàcaro in Soho was already being talked about, blogged, hyped, PR’ed, and buzzed about months before its opening, and I have floated around and about Polpo since it opened, dipped in on its second day, returned the same week, and trawled through much of the menu since then.

Russell Norman, ex-Caprice holdings veteran (The Ivy, Sheekey, Scott’s et al), has created a zeitgeist in an instant, where people clamour to go, are happy to queue, and feel part of a scene simply standing at the bar.

A stripped back, exposed brick-work, urban vibe has the feel of New York rather than Venice, but no matter – this is Soho, and the edgy, casual feel is in perfect keeping to the whole concept. A flavour of my last visit:

The house drink is a Venetian spritz, a cherry scented, gently sparkling blend of prosecco, with Campari or Aperol, a plump green olive skewered with a cocktail stick within – this is a good way to start a meal, a civilized take on a Negroni.

Crostini and small plates are the vibe of the place, piggy backing on the current London trend for doing “tapas” style, small plates, one bite morsels, credit crunched dining. Don’t mention the “T” word to an Italian however, these are cichèti, small plates found in the bars of Venice.

Prosciutto and Mozzarella di buffala crostini on crisp bread has good, chewy and milky mozzarella, a decent tranche of prosciutto, and fragrant olive oil.

Spratti di Saor delivers tangy, marinated sprats, a pleasant mouthful layered with some almost caramelized onions.  A delightful Arancini ball begins to show the real skill in the kitchen (Tom Oldroyd, ex Bocca di Lupo), a fluffy, greaseless rice ball, with a gorgeous melting cheesy centre. Two arrive, but these you could happily pop away by the mouthful with several of those fizzing Aperols.

Cotechino Sausage, Savoy cabbage, mustard is a wicked combination , three medallions of a sausage oozing with trotter meat, on a sprightly bed of cabbage given zing by some vinegar. Proper Dijon mustard too, cutting through the richness of that sausage.

Fritto Misto is the killer dish here, no doubt. I’ve ordered this winning plate on almost every occasion, and it doesn’t disappoint this time. This is a kitchen that knows the subtle art of frying with expertise – and with a degree of love. Yes, love. Perfect prawns that urge you to crunch away, head and all, the shells quite edible having flirted with that fryer. Tender rings of squid, cute little sprats, and here and there a curl of baby Octopus (and lo, the Polpo makes an appearance), a pleasing suckered leg hiding amongst this pile of goodness.

The Polpette are simply outstanding, epic meatballs of dense, hedonistic proportions, a thrilling porky mouthful, seasoned boldly and nestling in a wonderful tomato sauce – this is ballsy cooking, no nonsense, and speaks of Norman’s own forays to Venice, trawling the bàcari for inspiration. The idea for the dish I hear is from Ca’ d’Oro – Alla Vedova, a bàcaro in the backstreets of Venice.

The place is rammed by 6.30pm, and coming here in the evening requires military timing (they don’t take bookings in the evening), and so I’m there at 5.30pm, and out by 7.30pm. Get there at 6.30pm and you’re screwed with a forty-five minute wait at least. And like I said, people are happy to queue.

Dishes are from £1.20 for the Cichetti and Crostini, with most dishes between the £4-6 mark. I got carried away, as its easy to do, and with drinks this came to £35. Can you get away with less? Yes, but if you’re enjoying yourself, go crazy and order the entire menu.

So come here and queue, come here and don’t, but do come here and try that Fritto Misto – it’s bellissimo.

Polpo, 41 Beak Street, W1F 9SB – www.polpo.co.uk