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Compliments Of The Chef 3
Ok We Surrender !
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One year into a two year pop up concept, the blogger decided the time was right to visit Simon Rogan's - 'Great British Menu' TV fame and Head Chef and Co Founder of the critically acclaimed L'Enclume in the Lake District - venture Roganic on Blanford Street, Marylebone.
I am going to try and keep this blog short and simple, even though there is a lot to say, so I will probably fail.
This was one of the greatest meals I have had the pleasure to experience in London; greatest in these sense of the greatest abundance of incredibly inventive ingredients and amazing combinations of knock out flavours. It lasted for three hours and the pace and flavours simmered along on the 'perfect slowness' dial.
Simon Rogan is an incredibly inventive and genuine star chef and he has his young master apprentices impeccably well trained.
To give you an idea :
Carrot with ham fat, wild basil and pickled celery.
Grown up egg yolk from the golden egg, celeriac, sorrel and garlic cream.
Mushroom broth with buffalo curds, salsify and water mint.
Raw venison in coal oil, mustard and onions.
Grilled Salmon smoked over embers, truffle custard and cobnuts.
On the other hand - and I am very reluctant to criticise anyone let alone a culinary artist, we had our first experience of conversation ending 'lock-jaw' brought on by the apparently cutting edge 'glazed Beetroot snaps'. Once we had unlocked our jaws we giggled, though others might panic.
While I am on a roll, the head maitre d' also had a rather over embellished candy-floss manner with an intense beaming hollywood smile. The general experience of Roganic's table service was bordering the limits of being a tad too affected, with over inquisitive gems such as 'So guys how are you feeling today?' Thankfully the two female waitress' had the effortless grace of being laid back, attentive, polite and very thoughtful.
The interior decor had the feeling of being unintentionally cobbled together, and didn't seem to know its true self, or reflect the values of the artisan cooking. This might be known as pop up syndrome. The furniture and tables felt uncomfortably heavy in weight and aesthetic and a bit claustrophobic to be pigeoned between pillars. The low hung lighting became a moving target and was accidentally head butted by patrons and the candles floating on pebble stones looked like they belonged in a new age hippy caravan.
A genuine star stand out was the wooden bread tray and dining plates - which were different for each course - and so beautiful they suggested the skilled hands of a Shaker craftsman
The bread was out of this world. You just have to go and taste it. I can't do it justice. Whereas the butter on a rock looked like it had been borrowed from the opening scene of Naff Butter Island. The lemon doughnuts as a complimentary dish from the chef tasted like they had fallen from heaven, but the slab of slate granite they had fallen onto was, well...... just weird.
Essentially the overall experience was a bizarre combination of some of the best, most inventive food I have tasted or experienced, coupled with some of the most cringeworthy accessory bits and bobs.
I loved the actual food experience and would love to go again - if only I could afford it. The ten course menu is £80 and the six course - £55, with is actually good value though with the cheapest bottle of wine starting at £37 this isn't a place to frequent on a regular basis unless you are minted.
A part of me wanted to write to Simon and say if you could just strip away some of the ornamental fluff and sugary service and concentrated on your incredibly creative food, amazing bread, beautiful wooden tray and charming potters plates you would probably have all the elements of the best restaurant experience in London.
Though I didn't. Life is somehow best left to its own devices.
