There’s something enthralling about the concept of the power couple - twice the celebrity, twice the talent and twice the Instagram following.
In the restaurant world, Margot and Fergus Henderson are the closest thing it gets.
Margot is the co-owner of caterers Arnold & Henderson and the Rochelle Canteen, a legendary and well-hidden Bethnal Green restaurant.
Fergus is the father of Nose to Tail cooking and owner of Michelin-starred St John.
Last year, Margot opened a second branch of Rochelle Canteen in the Institute of Contemporary Arts on the Mall in central London. The modern and minimalist space is a good fit for Margot’s confidently simple British cooking.
The menu is a belter - seasonal, to the point, and packed with dishes with ingredient combinations which you know are going to be full of flavour.
A bunch of refreshing radishes (£5.50) were served with a compellingly savoury and smooth anchovy mayonnaise. This is a dish I’m going to attempt to replicate at home.
Hunks of soft sourdough (£1.50) were served with a big slab of creamy butter.
Oily and meaty smoked trout (£8.50) was served with deseeded cucumber dressed with a sinus-warming mustard mayo speckled with dill. All the textures and flavours balanced beautifully and it was a clever use for this ubiquitous salad vegetable.
A cold beetroot soup (£5.50), dotted with chives and a blog of creme fraiche, was a super springtime dish. Thick, sweet, earthy and cooling, its richness was punctured by a delicate note of acidity.
Onto mains (£16), and a handsome puff pastry-capped pie was filled with tender guinea fowl in a light, delicately sweet, meaty and buttery cider sauce.
This was a very generous dish for one and if Margot Henderson says it’s a pie, even if it has no bottom, then I’m not arguing.
A whole shrubbery of verdant, buttery and peppery greens (£4) defeated us.
Crisp-crumbed, deep fried rabbit (£16.50) was a proper guilty pleasure. The flesh was a touch on the dry side but it was a great match with crunchy, citrusy, palette-cleansing kohlrabi and cabbage shavings flecked with punchy capers and parsley. A big dollop of aioli honked of garlic.
A trifle for two (£10) was a handsome devil. Layers of thick whipped cream, decadent vanilla-fragranced custard, soft rhubarb without a hint of tartness, and brandy soaked sponge fingers were an awesome combination.
It was made even better by a generous scattering of Frostie-like nutty almond clusters.
Lunch at Rochelle Canteen was my kind of meal - seasonal, flavour-packed and uncomplicated. This is a big central London winner.
The Details:
Address - Rochelle ICA, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH
Web - http://arnoldandhenderson.com/rochelle-ica/
Web - http://arnoldandhenderson.com/rochelle-ica/
Telephone - 020 7729 5677
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