Latest news with #RiverCafe
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Daily Mail
The 'immaculate' West London restaurant offering an escape for a 'downright steal' of £30 per head
Oh dear, I thought, as we stepped into the discreetly minimalist dining room of The Lavery. Here we go again. Because with its polished parquet floor and soaring South Kensington ceiling, its Georgian stucco detail, modernist light fittings, artfully aged mirrors and white – lots and lots of white – I expected fussy, fastidiously plated food served on strange and delicate porcelain, accompanied by pompous paeans about 'Chef's obsession' with sustainability, hyperseasonality and Somerset hand-crafted charcoal. I was, thank the lord, quite stupendously wrong. Because this is a place that gets everything right: the service, which purrs and glides, warm but well drilled. And the light, which today floods through the vast picture windows, holding the whole room in a mid-spring embrace. And the food, from head chef Yohei Furuhashi, who's done time at Toklas, Petersham Nurseries and, of course, The River Cafe. There's a charred slab of golden, buttery polenta with a great blob of mellow salt-cod brandade. Crisp winter tomatoes add sharpness and bite. Asparagus, pert and thrusting, sit atop a puddle of gently pongy fonduta. Roasted artichokes come with silken slices of excellent prosciutto. The dishes may be simple, but are immaculately done. Nettle tortelli are stuffed with ricotta and pine nuts, the pasta, a lushly verdant green, exquisitely delicate. It's like biting into something ephemeral, almost otherworldly: a breathy whisper of barely carbohydrate delight. Then a tranche of sea trout, a fraction overcooked – I crave a little translucence in the centre of my fish, but nobody else complains. With it, a tangle of spinach, the first of the season's peas and a dollop of wild garlic mayonnaise. For something a touch more robust, there's leg of rabbit, stuffed with Tuscan sausage, wrapped in pancetta and served with lentils studded with baby broad beans. A few sorrel leaves add acidic aplomb. You might expect the prices to be suitably stratospheric but while not exactly cheap, they offer serious value. You could come in for pasta and a glass of wine, and escape for under £30. For cooking this accomplished (and in this particularly gilded part of South Kensington) that's not so much a deal as a downright steal.
The Guardian
29-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Guardian
Wanted: new sauces and dressings to jazz up weekday cooking
What sauces and dressings can I make to rejuvenate weekday meals?Sauces and dressings give dinner life, making even the simplest meals taste better. The formula, says Gurdeep Loyal, author of Flavour Heroes (published in June), goes something like this: 'You need two things: a really good fat and a really good sour.' Sure, that fat could be oil, but it doesn't have to be. 'It could be an egg yolk, it could be avocado, but if it's oil, go for a flavoured one,' Loyal says, and in place of the usual acid suspects (vinegar or citrus), try the likes of gherkins, capers or preserved lemons instead. 'My go-tos are preserved lemon whizzed up with a bit of their brine, some garlic-infused olive oil and maple syrup. Or avocado blitzed with gherkins, gherkin brine, a bit of sugar, if you want, and perhaps herbs such as chives or tarragon. Or chilli-infused olive oil blitzed with a teaspoon of tamarind.' These powerhouses are a dream on pretty much anything, he says, from a roast kale salad with chickpeas to baked butter beans or even as a dip for pizza crusts. For William Gleave, chef-patron of Sargasso in Margate, meanwhile, 'Something with anchovies is always nice, because it goes with so many things'. For him, a 'classic stolen/borrowed from the River Cafe' comes out tops: 'It's essentially a dressing with lots of chopped anchovy, grated garlic, red-wine vinegar, lemon juice, oil, black pepper and chilli flakes,' which is to say it's bright, umami-rich and versatile. 'Spoon that over everything from grilled fish to lamb or pork to crunchy veg, and it will feel as if you've put in a load of effort, even though it's super-simple.' Another shortcut to big flavour is zhoug, says Marc Summer, founder of Bubala, which has just opened a third restaurant in London's Kings Cross. 'Whizz up a load of different herbs – coriander, parsley, mint – with oil, garlic and hawaij [a Yemeni spice blend with lots of black pepper, cumin and coriander].' That will transform meals in seconds: 'Add it to pasta for an amazing herby sauce, or to fried onions, much as you might a curry paste.' Summer is also a big fan of crunches, especially when apricots are involved. 'Make it as you would a chilli crunch, with lots of fried shallots, garlic and Sichuan peppercorns, then add hot oil, dried apricots and harissa for a really amazing, smoky-sweet oil.' Drizzle over yoghurty roast carrots or blanch some noodles, add tahini and top with the crunch: 'That's so tasty.' And remember, it's the small things that count, so while the harissa's out, Summer suggests combining it with honey and using as a marinade for vegetables before roasting: 'That adds flavour quickly and puts a stop to same-old weekday meals.' Tahini sauce, meanwhile, is Xanthe Ross's salvation': 'It feels indulgent,' says the author of Stay for Supper, 'and it'll instantly jazz up roast veg and salads, or use it as a dip.' You'll most likely have all the ingredients (tahini, lemon, olive oil, sometimes honey and water) knocking around, anyway. That said, you can't go far wrong with a classic vinaigrette, either, but mix up the vinegar element to keep things interesting. 'It's hard to make in small quantities, so have a batch in the fridge for the week,' she says. 'That's good on so many things beyond a green salad, such as tomatoes on toast for lunch, although the French might hate me for saying so.' Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@
The Guardian
27-04-2025
- The Guardian
The Lavery, London SW7: ‘One of London's loveliest new places to eat' – restaurant review
One of the main challenges of writing a weekly restaurant column is finding new ways (and at least 11 times a year) to describe the experience of eating Mediterranean small plates in a room painted in Little Greene's Silent White. Other food – and, indeed, paint colours – are available, but in recent years, whenever you cast an eye over some hot, hip new place, you need to brace yourself for polenta, coco beans, galettes and neutral furnishing. The Lavery, just opposite the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, is by no small margin the new emperor of this style of cooking and decor, with a former River Cafe, Petersham Nurseries and Toklas chef, Yohei Furuhashi, serving up gnocchi with fresh peas on the upper floors of a dreamily restored, Grade II-listed Georgian townhouse. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. This room is white – let's call this shade John Lennon Imagine Video White, or Ascending To Heaven And Sitting At The Right Hand Of The Father White. It's all very heavenly, anyway. There are gilt-edged, floor-to-ceiling mirrors, original fireplaces and expensive wooden flooring. It's modern minimalist with a glut of leftover grandeur from fine times past, when the Irish painter Sir John Lavery and his wife Lady Hazel lived here. The Lavery is not only beautiful, but useful, too, being close enough to the museums to make it a fine place to pop into after a trip to the V&A, or after enduring the half-term scrum around Hope, the blue whale skeleton, at the Natural History. Would I take children to the Lavery, though? I'm not too sure. What are your kids like? Will they eat blood orange and puntarelle salad with taggiasche olives? Do they say things like, 'Mummy, can I have the Isle of Skye scallop with cime de rapa, tomato and cedro, please!' If the answer to either of those questions is no, it's possibly not the brightest idea. But the Lavery is very definitely suitable for people who have glanced at the menu and prices at Furuhashi's former haunt, the River Cafe, and thought: 'Ha ha ha! I must get my eyes tested. For a moment there, I thought that read £49 for an antipasto of grilled langoustines and £68 for a sea bass and artichoke main! Oh …' The fact that Furuhashi is now in South Kensington, overseeing this wholesome, rustic, yet semi-decadent modern European cooking for a fraction of those prices is reason enough to skip over to this side of town. Take the monkfish main, a generous portion, with perfectly cooked flesh on white alubia beans with marinda tomatoes and a pleasingly rough-and-ready mojo verde for £36. Absolutely delicious. We started with a plate of fluffy, pungent salt cod with fried polenta (of course) and Iberiko winter tomatoes of sublime quality. Then there was also some excellent, balm-like, soft and runny burrata with fresh peas, pea shoots, fennel and a scattering of bottarga, which we ate with ciabatta dipped in Two Fields Greek olive oil. I can't lie: before we started to eat, I had felt a bit lukewarm about the Lavery, because, despite its culinary pedigree and sumptuous location, I failed to see how it might be outstanding. But that thinking was way off. There is a precise, exemplary method to the cooking, plating and sourcing that elevates it into one of London's loveliest new places to eat. The main course choice featured rabbit leg stuffed with Tuscan sausage and Castelluccio lentils, and artichoke ratatouille with chickpea farinata, but we were both swung by Swaledale lamb with jersey royals, courgettes, chilli and mint, and an elegant, multi-leaved 'little salad' on the side. Service was polite but formal. An Instagram influencer pest turned up in the middle of our meal, began waving her camera about and was firmly told to sit down twice, which I wholly respect. More of this please: sit down and eat your dinner, lady, we are not your film set. None of this distracted me from the pudding list, though, which may be coyly diminutive, but make no mistake, the Original Beans chocolate mousse with Agen prunes is one of the most delicious things being served on Planet Earth right now. This plump, puckered, glossy quenelle of joy with two fat, boozy prunes makes every other chocolate mousse in the UK taste like Instant Whip. We also managed a slice of loquat and hazelnut tart with chantilly cream, a sort-of-rustic, buttery frangipane tart that very much hit the spot. All in all, then, there's something rather special happening here, even if, on the surface, it may appear to be rather snoozily boring. Apparently, they're opening a downstairs cafe soon, for more grab-and-go-type fare, though I just can't see that myself. I doubt the Lavery has anything as casual as a sarnie or a flapjack in its repertoire. The Lavery 4-5 Cromwell Place, London SW7, 020-8057 1801. Open Tues-Sat, lunch noon-2.30pm, dinner 5.30-9pm (last orders). From about £60 a head for three courses, plus drinks and service
Telegraph
26-04-2025
- Telegraph
French food is enjoying a renaissance – and these three recipes are culinary bliss
When chef Alex Jackson opened his restaurant, Sardine, in London in 2016 I booked a table immediately. I liked the cute name, but my main thought was 'France is back!' Sardine was a love letter to Provençal food and I felt Jackson's passion every time I ate there. Many food lovers and chefs were seduced by France at a formative time in their lives. For me it was an exchange trip at 15 (my first time abroad) and a year working as an au pair in Bordeaux. Fast-forward 25 years and French food – as represented in restaurants, at least – wasn't getting much attention. The River Cafe in London (opened in 1987) put Italy on the map in huge bold letters. Even though most people couldn't afford to eat there it had a huge influence; young chefs who passed through the kitchen set up their own restaurants. The food was easier to make than French food. You could cook pasta – inexpensive and simple – instead of reducing litres of veal stock. Eventually it was possible to find sandwiches of roast Mediterranean vegetables in most British train stations. Then Middle Eastern food – light, pretty, full of vegetables – took hold. Both cuisines are healthy (olive oil instead of butter and cream). At the same time France was having a crisis. Dishes were stuck in the past. It seemed immune to outside influences and arrogant about its position in the culinary firmament. It could no longer reign supreme over other complex cuisines, such as Mexican, Chinese and Indian. Now, gradually, France has crept back. Chefs Henry Harris and Rowley Leigh (decades-long stars in the restaurant world), for example, started cooking French food again. Leigh took over a place (I can still taste the poulet Antiboise) in Notting Hill and Harris (previously in a classy restaurant in Knightsbridge) opened a French restaurant above a pub in East London. Francophiles rushed to Bouchon Racine, feeling suffused with happiness before they'd had a single bite. Reading the blackboard menu – pork terrine, rabbit with mustard, crème caramel – was enough. It became almost impossible to get a table but there was a lull before others opened. Now it's a fast-flowing stream. I came out of hospital after a serious illness last year and went straight to Camille, a new French restaurant in Borough Market. It felt as if it had been there for ever. Regional French dishes, many of which I'm not familiar with, are its foundation. I talked to Alex Jackson about why he fell in love so intensely with French cooking. We were both changed by living there, he in Paris, me in Bordeaux. 'Food is important there and yet it isn't,' he says. 'It's a given that food is an important part of life but that doesn't mean making a big fuss or cooking complicated dishes. And they give proper time to eating.' Weekend lunch at someone's home in France will be several courses including cheese and a green salad (neither of which require cooking). The main might be a good roast chicken and there'd be something as simple as salami and crisp radishes to start. It's hard to explain the sense of wellbeing and ease I felt eating this kind of food on that first trip when I was 15. Lindsey Tramuta, journalist and author of The Eater Guide to Paris (out on 8 May), thinks the resurgence of French food is partly cyclical – different cuisines go in and out of fashion – but it's also the hold France has over many of us. 'The country remains incredibly seductive,' she says. 'And every generation seems to discover its soft power. This highlights how large France looms in our collective imagination whether we're intimately aware of it or not.' French food has an easy deliciousness – butter and cream – and is familiar, a good feeling when so much else is shifting. This menu is three courses of bliss.
Telegraph
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Britain's insatiable appetite for food podcasts is mystifying
For an indicator of the state of British culture, look at the calendar for the Royal Albert Hall. The first act in the diary for 2026 is not a touring symphony orchestra or a rickety prog rock act reuniting for pocket money. It isn't even Eric Clapton being plugged back into the mains for yet another twiddle through the classics (that's this May). No, first up, in March 2026, is a food podcast: Off Menu. Hosted by the comedians James Acaster and Ed Gamble, it invites guests to imagine their Dream Restaurant. They choose a starter, main, dessert, side and drink while Acaster and Gamble riff gamely. The podcast has been downloaded more than 200 million times. There have been live tours before, but their triumph is proof that food chat is becoming one of the most pernicious forces in entertainment. Off Menu is only the most famous of dozens of competitors vying to clog your ears with celebrities musing on their school dinners. There is Jessie and Lennie Ware's Table Manners, Angela Hartnett and Nick Grimshaw's Dish, the River Cafe proprietress 's Ruthie's Table 4. The critics have been at it, too: Grace Dent has Comfort Eating, Jay Rayner had Out to Lunch. Just as Desert Island Discs uses music to tease out biographical details, these podcasts deploy food. It is obvious why celebrities and their publicists like the format: food is a nice self-contained subject and they can be confident there won't be too many questions about the divorce. Instead, the game is to have an affable chinwag and use food choices to appear as normal as possible. Hollywood monsters can reminisce relatably about the gravel they used to eat as a lad, as though they had not been on a strict diet of Botox, cocaine and Ozempic since the first paycheck landed. Gamble and Acaster's biggest coup was somehow enticing Robert De Niro to come on. He did not play ball, replying 'whatever they bring me' when asked for his starter. The popularity of food chat is mystifying. Gamble and Acaster are gifted comedians with a great rapport, but I wonder if they are selling out the Albert Hall despite the format, rather than because of it. Not everyone is interesting when they talk about food. Desert Island Discs works because it is punctuated by wonderful music and has a hard-won reputation as a forum where guests are expected to give it a bit of emotional welly. Hearing about a dream restaurant can be like hearing someone describe any other sort of dream. There are practical issues, too. Some food chat podcasts insist on having host and guest eat while they are doing it. Interviewing people over a meal sounds better in theory than in practice, because while it is convivial it puts you off asking tricky questions and everyone spends half the time ordering and chewing. It is important to distinguish food chat from other types of food podcasts, of which there are excellent examples: Lecker and The Full English, as well as the BBC's The Food Chain. All have knowledgeable hosts seeking out experts to discuss specific aspects of food culture. These are more like traditional radio programmes, or even journalism, than food chat. There is one exception: The Spectator 's Table Talk podcast, to which none of the above criticism applies. Far from a shaggy ramble about pudding, this is an unfailingly brilliant and insightful half hour. The presenters are Olivia Potts and Lara Prendergast. I am married to Lara, but that in no way affects this. Not a bit.
