Pre-theater at Pied a Terre

Just some impressions, not a full blown careful review, about a short pre-theater December dinner at that long-standing bastion of Michelin excellence, Pied a Terre.

An impressive, generous, intricate amuse, whose list of ingredients is sufficient for a meal: pea pannacotta, toasted almond foam, jerusalem artichoke (right), foie gras in a sandwich of poppy seeds fillopastry (centre), onion and chorizo cake (centre left), parmesan and tomato gnocco (communist)

Sculpted flavours, multidimensional, and much unctuosity.

Wood pigeon in Madeira Consomme' and salt-crusted celeriac:

Deep flavours, dark flavours. Pity that the salt of the celeriac crust dissolved in the soup, defeating the purpose, we believe.

A beautiful Tempura prawns and butternut squash risotto

which stunned us for the idea, mixing two traditions, and the excellent execution of the risotto (and the toasted pumpkin seeds a perfect touch). Much unctuosity.

A brill:

perfectly cooked material of absolute quality, in a pungent reduction. For its (partly just apparent) simplicity, one the best dishes.

A lamb,
a dish of literally towering complexity whose naturally explosive flavours could have spoken for themselves even better, we think, with a simpler, lighter, less fatty preparation. But that caramelised chicory was a beauty, and that tender fillet, dreamy. Much unctuosity.

We were certainly happy, very impressed, though for some reason not totally ravished by this cuisine, in which we found expressed a flamboyant imagination and technique knowing no boundaries, yes, but which also struck us as somehow lacking lightness and the killer punch of simplicity (such as we recently found, for example at Heinz Beck's place). It's probably just a matter of subjective taste, as Shane Osborne is obviously a great professional. Dare we say it? To us it seems almost as if he is, after all these years, still trying too hard.

We were ravished, however, by the service, so friendly, charming and willing to offer all the time and attention in the world even to customers of the least profitable or least refined variety (like the guys who made a sandwich with the butter on the table). We'd like to compete for the least profitable competition, as we were there for a quick bite of the pre-theater two course offer at £32.50.

It would be nice to be back. But at full prices, and even at lunch/pre-theater prices, there's a long list of possibly more immediately compelling competitors...

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Trento December Pillgrimage n.1

This is the first of three sketches on our autumnal Trento pilgrimage...which commenced with our beloved Menestrinas, at Osteria Fior di Roccia.

We had the amazing Gran Bollito misto

in which even the humble potato becomes a rich treat, imbibed as it is with all that meaty delight.
Accompanied by the 5 prodigious sauces...

and this time also by pickled cherries

of wonderfully tart intensity.

But we could not let the chestnut menu go...

Chestnut gnocchi with walnuts and sultanas:


where the yummy materials are bound together so smoothly.

The Chestnut stuffed Hen:


Delicious, look at that golden meat.

Menestrina has the soul of a master patissier...

With the Bollito misto menu came

Bread and apple pudding with Schiava reduction:


And with the chestnut menu,

Chocolate and chestnut 'cupoletta', sharon fruit coulis

Chesnut and sharon fuit, that eternal autumnal combination, found on all tables from trattoria to multistarred (remember Hibiscus for example?)....but not everybody has a knack for it, nor the right raw material. At 2* Hibiscus, for example, the sharon fruit (and we must say, the whole dessert) was vastly inferior to the one we had here (at a small fraction of the price).

And have a look at the chestnut cremy triumph inside the gracious crunchy cupoletta, please :


As ever, in this simple and friendly trattoria, one finds materials of stunning quality cooked with passion and integrity, and, incredibly, with the precision and imagination of high cuisine. Menestrina modestly says: 'I'm not after masterpieces, I only do things as they should be done'. And he does!

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food miles

Now in agricultural Fife, driving past fields of wheat, broccoli, sprouts and pigs, you very much visualise what ‘from the field to the table’ could mean. And who cares if not all specimens look the same, flavour should be king!

so no points for who can tell the local carrot from the supermarket one...

Happy New year to everybody!

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