Latest news with #PiedàTerre
Spectator
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Spectator
The lost art of late dining
One of the most memorable dinners I ever had was about 20 years ago, at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Fitzrovia called Pied à Terre. It's still going, and indeed remains a stalwart of the city's fine dining scene, but what I especially remember, rather than the food or wine, was how deliciously louche an experience it was. I couldn't get a booking before 9 p.m., and by the hour that I turned up, it was packed to the rafters with well-heeled diners. My guest and I were kept happy with complimentary champagne until we finally sat down for dinner sometime after 10 p.m. In my (admittedly hazy) recollection, we didn't finally leave the restaurant until well after 1 a.m. As we were staggering out, I asked our waitress whether she minded being kept out so late. 'I'm from Barcelona,' she replied. 'This is what eating out ought to be like.' I often think of her remarks, but I was reminded of it recently when I read an interview in the Times with arguably London's greatest – and certainly most courteous – restaurateur, Jeremy King. When he began his career in the hospitality industry in the 1970s, last orders were at 1 a.m. Things have changed. As King lamented: 'Now, it's almost impossible to get anything [to eat] after 10 p.m. I don't fully understand why it happened but I'm determined to redress the situation.' To this end, diners at King's establishments the Park and Arlington now receive a 25 per cent discount if they make a reservation after 9.45 p.m. Forget the miserable, hurried experience of bolting down an early evening prix fixe menu before going to the theatre or to a concert. Instead, have a pre-prandial glass of wine and nibble on something tapas-shaped, and save yourself (and your appetite) for a proper repast afterwards. At least, that's what the discerning man or woman about town ought to be doing. The late-night dinner is a distinctly endangered species, thanks to a combination of increasing puritanism, Westminster City Council (and others) refusing to grant anything but the most basic drinks licences, and society's apparent need to be tucked up in bed by 11 p.m. And this, as any night owl or barfly will tell you, is a tragedy. Granted, there'll always be somewhere to get a drink at pretty much any hour of the night, although you can't guarantee that it'll be up to much past 3 a.m. And there are a few all-night establishments of varying quality, too. Duck & Waffle in the City is the pick of the bunch, but Vingt-Quatre in Chelsea and the Polo Bar in Liverpool Street have their bleary-eyed admirers as well. But they are a distinct minority, and notable by their (often endangered) existence. New York is, famously, the city that never sleeps. Judging by the lack of late-night dining offerings, London is the city that goes to bed early. That said, I'm sympathetic to the wisdom of the old saying that nothing good has ever happened at four in the morning, and I don't think there should be a surge in all-night establishments. All I want is a restaurant that doesn't quietly start closing at half nine, one that revels the excitement brought about by an adventurous crowd, popping by for a late supper. Because eating late it is more fun. There is something thrilling about being ensconced somewhere that you shouldn't be, perhaps in company that you shouldn't be in, and seeing where the rest of the evening is going to take you. Yes, you may have a head on you the next day, and one's digestive system is going to regret the intake of particularly spicy or heavy food at a late hour. But set against this, the feeling of delicious transgression makes the whole experience positively European. Visit Barcelona, Paris or Rome, and you see the streets filled with young (and not so young) people having fun and enjoying the experience for the delightful, life-affirming thing that it is. If you do find yourself leaving a restaurant well after the last Tube, and the only way home is via the night bus or, heaven forfend, a rickshaw driver, then perhaps it's time to remember the immortal words of Lord Byron: 'Let us have wine and woman, mirth and laughter / Sermons and soda-water the day after.'
Sky News
30-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News
Food item loved on Instagram slated by top chef - as he shares cheap pasta recipe
Every Thursday, our Money blog team interviews chefs from around the UK, hearing about their cheap food hacks and more. This week, we chat to Phil Kearsey, executive chef at the London-institution and Michelin-starred Pied à Terre. A top tip for amateur chefs is... acidity is a seasoning! Just like salt and pepper, citrus or vinegar can take a simple thing to another dimension. The most overrated single food item is... micro herbs with no flavour. Yes, it looks lovely on Instagram but if it adds nothing to the dish get it out of there! My secret ingredient I love and use all the time is... sherry vinegar. It adds so many layers of flavour in a sauce, a puree or a dressing. I can drink the stuff! My go-to cheap eat at home is... courgette pasta. It's so simple, so quick and so delicious! Boil some water and cook your chosen pasta (I love penne for this); The water should taste like the sea and take 10% off the cooking time on the packet; Meanwhile, get 100g of a good olive oil heated up to a simmer; Get four cloves of garlic and one chilli sliced thinly and mixed in the oil; Grate a courgette on the cheddar cheese side of a grater and sauté a little; Then, drain the pasta mix in the oil; Add chopped basil, a squeeze of lemon and then season and enjoy. One restaurant that's worth blowing out for is... the French Laundry, in California. After I did a stage there and before I joined, I got to dine on my own there. Chef David Breeden and Thomas Keller cooked me a 22-course tasting menu. A cheap place to eat where I live is... Tooting. I enjoy going for an authentic curry there. I enjoy sitting on plastic garden chairs in a simple restaurant to enjoy authentic Indian food cooked by someone with pride, passion and years of experience, which is unbeatable for me… pass me the plastic fork! My pet hate in restaurants is... when guests book and don't show up or cancel on the day. We would love to be able to give that table to someone else and with it the opportunity to sample our hospitality. The biggest mistake I see in kitchens is… chefs being wasteful, normally due to lack of organisation. Personally, my style is built around sourcing the best produce and celebrating it. So, seeing an ingredient not being used to its potential is very frustrating. My chef heroes are... Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal. I've been very lucky in my career to work for some of the best chefs in the world, but I have to say, as a young chef falling in love with gastronomy I was (and still am) a big fan boy of them. My one piece of advice for an aspiring chef is… work for chefs you want to be like when you're doing a stage. Don't be taken aback by a slightly reduced salary for an hour to work somewhere where you learn a lot more. Work hard and invest in your future. Trust me, it's worth it in the long run. One cookbook I recommended is... The French Laundry cookbook. It changed my life and inspired me so much that I ended up working there and I also worked on their latest book. I've cut costs in my restaurant by... being more aware and ordering smaller quantities daily, as everything is so much more expensive now. To cook with the best produce you have to count every onion. My favourite cheap substitute is... anything that takes longer cooking is always the best way to go when we are talking cheaper products and ingredients. It's the chef's skill that can unlock the flavour potential. For example, a beef fillet is amazing, but a great braised short rib is a fraction of the cost and if cooked well, is miles ahead in terms of depth of flavour. I've given free meals... At Pied à Terre my first ever chef came in for dinner and cooking for him and showing where I've come since the spotty teenager with burns all over him to this was incredible. When we got the bill, David Moore (the restaurant founder) almost brought me to tears when he told me to just drop a note on the table saying we have taken care of it all. Giving back to people who have shaped me through the years is the best feeling ever.
