It’s painfully slow and procrastinated approach to blogging for me when I don’t find inspiration. It’s been one of those weeks, where despite a wonderful friend filled weekend getaway, a music festival, lots of monopoly deal and wine, champagne popcorn, and I’m back feeling un-inspired and lacking creativity, which is strange given that its only less than a week away from Diwali, which is one of my favourite holidays. Last month, BBC Good Food Magazine celebrated its ‘Good Food Day’. The theme was ‘Try Something New Today’, celebrated by a seven course sit down Sunday lunch at Hornby’s Pavilion, cooked by celebrity chefs Pooja Dhingra (Le 15), Gresham Frnandez (Smoke House), Jaydeep Mukherjee (Indigo Deli) and Viraf Patel (Cafe Zoe).
After (im)patiently waiting for nearly an hour to be seated on a communal table, we were pleasantly surprised to be seated near an old college friend of SS, along with his wife. The first two courses were prepared by Chef Fernandez. First up was a crunchy gazpacho, with hints of bell peppers and celery, topped with a fat drop of olive oil.
The Roasted Beets, Chevre and Raspberry Salad was gorgeous, light and packed with bags of flavour. It had all the elements of a winning salad- sweetness of the roasted beets, the tartness of the raspberry glaze and the savoury and smooth chevre rounded it off perfectly. Reminded me of one of my favourite roasted beet, orange and goats’ cheese salads at the Table.
Chef Mukherjee dished up the next 2 courses. Indigo Deli for me signifies an extremely dependable restaurant with perfectly executed and comforting meals. Unfortunately, this didn’t translate into the pastry of the Tart of Roasted Tomato & Sherry Shallots. The pastry was tough and dry, lacking the lightness and flakiness that makes any tart delectable. But Chef Mukherjee managed to please with the perfectly roasted tomatoes dressed with basil oil, the cheesy crème and fresh basil that filled the tarts.
The lasagne of Wild Mushrooms & Grilled Artichoke was a roulade of individual dry pasta sheets filled with cheese, crème, mushroom and artichoke. While the flavour was rich, I found the overall dish sinfully cheesy.
Contrasting the general direction and flavours of all the preceding courses was Chef Patel’s Couscous with Ratatouille Vegetables. The dish was flavourful, perfectly cooked and a light and welcome change from the mainly European inspired courses.
The last of the savoury was the Milanese Risotto with Vegetables, which unfortunately was over sweetened (maybe due to the peppers) and thoroughly over-flavoured with saffron, instead of allowing the delicate saffron to be detected by a discerning palate.
Le 15 has definitely changed the accessibility of good quality French deserts in the retail space. And if I could give a standing ovation for the Pistachio Opera, I would. It was a slice of heaven, a fantastic six layered cake, light, with the perfect amount of chocolate and pistachio. What’s not to adore? The other option was a beautiful banoffee-esque Vanilla Genoise with Caramelised Bananas and Milk Chocolate Ganache. The Genoise was delicate and packed with toffee banana, making it a childhood memory awakening desert.
Saving the best for the last were the exquisite and delicate mini tarts. We sampled the Coffee & Caramel and the Fresh Strawberry and Crème tarts, which stole my heart away. I am definitely going to try doing them at home. A bite into the coffee and you feel the oozing salted caramel at the bottom just waiting to burst out. Wonderful meal, followed by a wonderful little gift bag, with all sorts of odds and ends, from muesli to olive tapenade. Good going Good Food!
