Hospitality Action Charity Dinner with Michael Caines, Nigel Haworth & Paul Heathcote

With an incredible history spanning over 170 years, Hospitality Action is a charitable organisation that offers vital assistance to all who work or have worked in hospitality in the UK and who find themselves in crisis. In the forward of the current Hospitality Action magazine, Michael Caines reminds us how, ‘Hospitality Action strives to help individuals experiencing life crises and helps to rebuild their lives.’

The charity’s current principal patron is three-Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal. Fellow patrons include such luminaries as Prue Leith, Raymond Blanc, Anton Mosimann and the Roux brothers – these, along with a long and impressive list of others, work with the charity and its supporters to raise funds to provide grants for those in need and to educate through The Ark Foundation.

Legendary chefs, Paul Heathcote, Nigel Haworth and Michael Caines have come together to host three charity dinners their respective restaurants. Raising over £7000, the first of the three meals was hosted by Michael Caines at his Manchester ABode restaurant. In September at Northcote Manor, Nigel Haworth will host the third meal.

Paul Heathcote hosted at his Heathcotes Brasserie in Preston. The three chefs cooked a wonderful meal helping to raise a figure in excess of £6,400.

Guests in attendance included the celebrity chefs Andrew Nutter (who also acted as auctioneer at the end of the meal) and Aiden Byrne.

Paul Heathcote introduces his first dish.

Another chef committed to the worthy cause, Aiden had also pledged his support to the Michael Caines’ backed ‘At your discretion’ campaign that asks diners to add and extra £1 to their bill in support of Hospitality Action.

My table included: Thom Hetherington (who himself has done a lot of good work for Hospitality Action by being sponsored for his ridiculously quick time on the Great Manchester Run and through his company’s Northern Restaurant and Bar Show) Mark Garner aka Gordo (from Manchester Confidential - the self proclaimed ‘Manchester’s Greatest Food Critic’) and Franco Sotigu from Chroma Knives and Inka Grill (who had kindly donated a Type 301- Porsche knife for the raffle that was signed by the headlining chefs) and, of course me, ‘Manchester’s Greatest Food Blogger’ (Well, if Gordo can get away with the self adulation, why not me?)

On arrivals guest were treated to a glass of Champagne Lallier Premier Cru Rosé Brut NV provided by one of the evening’s sponsors, Boutinot Wines. This went down well with the excellent Canapés by Paul Heathcote including: Parmesan marshmallows, salmon and risotto pie, black pudding, poached quail egg and mustard hollandaise.

The first dish of the evening was a simply sublime Veal Raviolo cooked by Michael Caines. They say you learn something new every day. I learnt two things from this dish. Firstly, the singular of ravioli being ‘raviolo’ and secondly, the fact that I must get myself down to Gidleigh Park to try more of Michael’s food. (Paired with a Domaine Pré Baron Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 2011- Loire Valley, France.)

The next course, cooked by Paul Heathcote, was one of his old favourites: Roast Halibut with Morecambe Bay shrimps, a silky smooth caramelised onion purée and the surprise star element of the dish, the delightful crispy chicken wings. (Paired with a Domaine Boutinot Côtes du Rhône Rosé ‘Les Cerisiers’ 2010 – Rhône Valley, France.)

Paul Heathcote’s Poached loin of lamb crispy breast, pea purée, white and green asparagus and fondant potato was the next dish to wow. The lamb was perfectly cooked and got serious nods of approval from the serious foodie’s around the room. (Paired with another Boutinot wine, a Circumstance Merlot 2009 - Stellenbosch, South Africa.)

For dessert, Nigel Haworth stepped up to the pass to present a technical Liquid Chocolate creation made with Valrhona chocolate with carrot, orange and salted walnuts. (This was paired with a Wiese & Krohn 1997 Colheita, interestingly served chilled.)

Another of the evening’s sponsors and raffle prize donors, Illy Coffee provided a fitting end to the meal to go with the petit fours.

After the meal, Andrew Nutter took to the microphone to conduct the auction. Prizes included a Type 301- Porsche knife and cooking experiences at Heathcotes Brasserie with Head Chef Carl Noller; another Heathcote’s Olive Press and at Michael Caines’ two-star Gidleigh Park.

The chefs were on top form all night, meeting and chatting with diners and posing for photographs and the food was great – more importantly, lots of money was raised for the worthy cause, Hospitality Action. My ticket is booked for Northcote in September… see you there! 

Tweet

Follow @HungryHoss

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, London

Joël Robuchon is a French chef who has been knocking about for some time. He knows a thing to two about cooking and has managed to pick up a few awards and accolades over the years. During his time he has opened some pretty successful eateries. Oh yes, and the guys from Michelin are quite keen.

I’ve been eager to try one of his dozen or so restaurants for a while. I nearly managed it in Paris recently but plumped instead for the neighbouring Pierre Gagnaire’s Gaya Rive Gauche (see here). We then almost went in Singapore but heard that Fat Cow had taken delivery of some A5 Omi Wagyu (which, I’m yet to blog about). So, upon my return to England, I promised myself a trip to London to check out the two-Michelin-starred L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon.

Since going a few people have asked what I thought about it and my responses have largely been negative – perhaps unfairly so?

I’ve been telling people that I don’t think it ‘deserve’ two stars. There are a couple of main reasons for this – firstly, and most importantly, I didn’t feel the food was on a par with some of the other two-star places I’ve dined at – e.g. The Ledbury, Passage 53, Le Gavroche, Momofuko Ko and Kajitsu.

Actually, I don’t think it’s even up there with some of the one-star places I’ve dined at: L’Enclume, Sketch and Fraiche springing to mind. This does not mean however that I didn’t enjoy it – I loved it – the food was great – but for me, ‘just’ one-star great.

As I’m sure you know, one star indicates "very good cuisine in its category", whereas two-stars warrants "excellent cuisine, worth a detour" – given the choice in London, for me, simply put, it’s not quite worth the ‘detour’.

If this sounds like I’m being picky... I am; but as fellow two-star chef Michel Roux Jr. always says, ‘It’s all about attention to detail.’

Food aside (that I’ll come to) other things that were not right for me included not being served a butter knife (when others were) and a dirty fork (naturally, not wanting to evoke the scene from Monty Python I did not mention it at the time and buffed it myself on my napkin – I’m quite resourceful like this).

Décor wise L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon should be right up my street – it’s modern and has an open kitchen. Whilst I loved the open kitchen thing at say, Momofuku Ko (see here) or Simon Rogan’s Aulis at L’Enclume (here), the L'Atelier version did not really work for me – you couldn’t really see much ‘cooking’ going on (just assemblage) and there was no interaction with, or ‘theatre’ from the chefs.

I was also unconvinced by the red and black theme. I so wanted to think of the décor as sleek and sexy in the classy Folies Bergère style but part of me was unable to shake the thoughts of ‘black ash furniture’ – it all felt ‘a bit eighties’ and passé – like the album cover to Blondie’s Parallel Lines or the tacky red and black underwear that men often buy their wives and/or mistresses on Valentine’s Day.  

The signature, Royale de Foie Gras amuse bouche was an excellent start to the meal - a luxuriously smooth foie gras mousse; a layer of port reduction all topped with a frothy Parmesan espuma.

I opted for the set lunch course of one Entrée, one Plat and one dessert but supplemented with an additional Entrée from the ‘Small Tasting Dishes Menu’.

LA SAINT-JACQUES D’ECOSSE en carpaccio aux oursins et huile d’olive citron   

Delicious as it was, at £18 it did seem quite a lot of money for a relatively small amount of sea urchin and scallop carpaccio. The lemony olive oil was gauged just right and the little dill fronds added hints of anise and beauty.

LES ASPERGES BLANCHES 
en salade tiède de mendiants et jambon ‘Iberico’


On paper I was looking forward to this dish the most. Having recently got back from Paris during asparagus season I had been lucky enough to have some wonderful white asparagus dishes and had high hopes for another.  

Sadly, this one did not hit the mark. Not quite sure of the definition of a ‘warm’ salad – but the only part of this dish that was remotely warm was the soft-boiled quail egg. The asparagus itself was ‘fridge cold’. Each component; the pistachio and pecan nuts; the cheese and the Ibérico Ham were excellent individually but they just did not come together for me.

LE FOIE DE VEAU 
légèrement acidulé et pommes persillées


The calf’s liver, glazed with sherry vinegar was sublime – the dish of the day for me. As a child I did not enjoy liver but cooked to perfection, like this was, I now find it hard to beat.

The ‘bed of’ parsley potatoes and accompanying veg in the little cast iron Staub cocotte were also served too tepid for my taste. They were cooked well enough and tasted good could but could have done with either being warmed through more or served quicker from plating up – a down side of an open kitchen meant that I could see my dish sitting ‘on the pass’ for too long before it was served.

LE MANGO-MANGO
onctuosité aux fruits exotiques, coulis de fruits jaunes


You couldn’t really go wrong with a dessert made from textures of mango and the enigmatic Joconde biscuit; and they didn’t – good tropical flavours, wonderful textures and beautiful presentation topped with decadent gold leaf (it even included some ribbon seemingly taken from some of that gaudy Valentine’s lingerie).

A hard one to win – I know if this was a one-star restaurant I’d be raving about it but as a two-star the higher expectation has sadly left it open to closer scrutiny from me. I want to rave about it; I want to be able to say it’s up there with the other two-star places I’ve dined at but… what do I know? 

Tweet

Follow @HungryHoss

Tippling Club, Singapore

Before I go on to 'big up' the Tippling Club on Dempsey Road in SIngapore and tell you how it ranks alongside the best of my dining experiences, I feel the need to start with a disclaimer.

Some readers may know that my stepson once worked there but let me assure you, this has in no way influenced my opinions - if anything, I should be promoting one of the venues that he has since go onto consult for or be telling you about the bar that he is soon launching, The Cufflink Club.

That said, back to the subject at hand - the Tippling Club. Whilst many UK readers will probably not have heard of T.C. or Ryan Clift, the hugely talented English chef that presides over the open kitchen, many South East Asian or Australian diners will be much more familiar.

Prior to opening the Tippling Club in 2008, Ryan earned three hats (Melbourne's equivalent to Michelin stars) as head chef of Shannon Bennett’s Vue Du Monde and has worked alongside some of the region's most respected talents, including Raymond Capaldi and Peter Gordon. Closer to home, Ryan's early career including stints at London’s prestigious Claridge's for Marco Pierre White.

When last in town, we did visit the Tippling Club but did not have time for the full dining experience. We did however see enough to put it at the top of our hit list for this year’s gourmet trip.

In Singapore many of the big named restaurants are housed inside malls, but a vanguard of forward thinking chefs and restaurateurs realise that the best way forward is to open up in heritage sites around the island. Notable venues including: André in a 1920s shophouse in the Bukit Pasoh area; Jason Atherton's Esquina in Jiak Chuan Road and The Tippling Club in a former army barrack building in the Dempsey Road area.

Although Dempsey Road is a little way out of the city centre and is not ideally placed on the MRT network, a cab ride from the central Orchard Road area will cost just a few S$ (easily under £5) - a price that is well worth it to see another part of town and to sit, drink and dine overlooking the lush tropical rainforest.

As guests step inside TC they are confronted with a large glass window that looks into a state of the art kitchen and development 'laboratory' - used to create progressive and imaginative dishes, with many dishes showing Ryan's skills and understanding of molecular gastronomy and of course his classical training.

In my experience, many chefs who use molecular techniques in their cooking often do so at the expense of taste. In my opinion, Ryan, like say Heston Blumenthal, manages to pull of fun, quirky and inspired dishes that demonstrates skill, creativity and technique without compromising on flavour. This has earned The Tippling Club worldwide recognition and a listing amongst the Miele Guide’s Top Ten Restaurants in Asia.

After our 'taster' last year, this time we knew we wanted to experience the full shebang and therefore opted for the ten course 'Gourmand' menu over the five course 'Classic'. One thing, we did miss out on though is the cocktail pairings that the Tippling Club is particularly famed for - I'm not much of a drinker and my wife who usually enjoys the odd tipple was not feeling 100% (at least we have an 'excuse' to go back again!)

Although stating ten courses, The Tippling Club do like to surprise and delight and in fact we ended up with some fifteen courses - the 'Amuse' coming in four parts:

Amuse one: Vichyssoise served in a ‘glass shooter’ topped with a cube of apple, the Caviar substitute ‘Avruga’ and dill flowers – to be knocked back in one, great fun and great tasting.

Amuse two: Carrot and curry spiced espuma in a jar topped with freeze-dried yogurt and coriander moss – good spicing and textures.

Amuse three: these charred green peppers with a miso and wasabi dip may not look all that special but everyone I spoke to who had dined at The Tippling Club asked if we had these – amazing, truly memorable (a reason alone to go back!)

Amuse four: served in a dinky plant pot with snow pea tops ‘sprouting’ from the truffle soil and espuma and a disc of celeriac nestled in the bottom.

Oyster – topped with their in-house-infused parsley champagne, this was a truly indulgent dish. The oyster paired perfectly with the apple, tropical notes of banana and the finest Château d’Estoublon olive oil.

Smoked Eel – a beautiful looking and wonderful tasting dish. The hickory home-smoked eel had just the right amount of smokiness to harmonise with the brown breadcrumb, compressed cucumber, delicate shallot crisp and smooth mustard ice-cream.

Foie Gras ‘Glühwein’ –of the two of us, it’s my wife that generally enjoys foie gras dishes more than I do, but I found this dish stunning. The Glühwein meringues tasted of Manchester’s German Christmas Markets; the Pain d'épices crumb complemented the mulled spices and added crunch. But it was the rich, glossy Glühwein liquid gel centre that wowed.

Easily the best foie gras dish I have tasted. Better than Momofuku Ko’s ‘shaved foie gras with lychee, Riesling gelée and pine nut brittle’ and WD-50’s similarly constructed ‘foie gras with passion fruit’.

Scampi – a simple dish by Tippling standards but one that delivered big time on flavour. Quality Jamon de Bellota, Iberico chorizo, plump mussels, confit tomato, white beans, toasted hazelnuts and a juicy scampi tail - ‘Spain on a plate!’

Meagre – meagre fish is a similar to European sea bass but with a firmer yet creamier texture. Cooked to perfection, it came topped with a Porcini purée, salsify and mushrooms, cloaked in a milk skin and garnished with pea tops.

Wagyu – This dish was absolutely sublime, the most phenomenal indulgent tasting ‘A3’ graded Wagyu steak from Kagoshima (the best production prefecture in Japan) sat alongside a hand dived Hokkaido scallop, topped with sesame seeds, shredded shiso, an umami rich dashi and the green caviar like umi budō (sea grapes) which popped in the mouth releasing a burst of the sea.

Pigeon – the top quality Bresse pigeon breast was cooked to perfection and meltingly tender. The jus made from the bones and wings was gamey and rich. Pigeon aside, the star of this dish was the ‘burnt’ Jerusalem artichokes which had a lovely deep earthy flavour lifted by a lemon thyme emulsion, sweet caramelised onion confit and peppery nasturtiums.

Cheese ‘a daily selection from the pastry kitchen’ – a soft fresh tasting chèrve had been paired with caramelised banana shallot, Muscat grapes, dates and a truffle and porcini soil.

Pre-dessert: Blood Peach Meteorite – blood peach sorbet contained in an outer crust of otherworldly goodness

Second pre-dessert: Fizz Bomb – a fizzy hit of strawberry and passion fruit in a melt-on-your-tongue parcel, reminiscent of ‘flying saucer’ sweets; ‘A taste of childhood’.

Liquorice – a stunningly beautiful dessert featuring an amazing combination of textures, techniques and flavours. There was so much going on, all of it good: mandarin sorbet set in liquorice tubes, freeze-dried rhubarb batons, yoghurt, micro-coriander, nitrogen separated mandarin and blood orange segments all brought together with the swipe of sweet liquorice and a salty lift from dried-black olives.

Textured Milk – following the vibrant attack on the senses of the previous dish, the minimalistic presentation and purity of coconut milk sago and sheep’s milk ice-cream flavours created a beautiful contrast. The only colour coming from the wood sorrel foraged from the rainforest that surrounds the restaurant.

Chocolates - salted caramel, green olive and a rosemary & olive oil ganache.

I’ve read some mixed reviews of The Tippling Club, some are overawed by their progressive, groundbreaking cuisine; others don’t seem to ‘get it’. It’s definitely one of those places that people are either going to love or hate. Personally, I loved it – like I said at the start, this was one of my greatest ever dining experiences. I can’t wait to return to see how much further Ryan and the team have pushed the boundaries. 

Tweet

Follow @HungryHoss