Food for Sir: La Trouvaille
As the name implies, La Trouvaille is a great French culinary find bringing you the best in contemporary French dining in the heart of Soho.
Perfect for entertaining clients, ladies and friends alike, the Philip Starke transparent chairs and clean creamy interior provides the ideal
backdrop for what's on your plate.
Try a starter of pan fried foie gras and smoked duck breast with Jesuralem artichoke, main course of Herdwick
mutton fillet, lavender sauce and grilled courgettes with garlic and for pud a famous chocolate fondant.
La Trouvaille is recommended by the
Michelin guide (1 fork), and includes a champagne and oyster bar on the ground floor if you're looking for a quick lunch or dinner.
Expect to pay around £100 for a dinner for 2, including a nice bottle of wine, aperitif and service.
Find it at 12a Newburgh Street, Soho London W1F 7RR. Closest tube Oxford Circus. To book, call: 020 7287 8488 or email: contact@latrouvaille.co.uk
To book via TopTable.co.uk and get the latest deal, click here
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Things for Sir: Cigars from Davidoff
Cigars are like wine, and choosing the right one is very much a case of taste, occasion and experience. If you don't know your
Havana from your Dominican we'd suggest visiting Davidoff on St. James (London) to get advice from Edward Sahakian, one of the UKs leading cigar experts and connoisseurs.
To get the most out of a cigar it is best to have a good meal to fill your stomach, and then accompany it with a fine cognac, whiskey
or port. Port is recommended as the tipple of choice for an inexperienced smoker, as the sweetness will help balance the taste of the cigar.
The beginner's cigar: the Davidoff No. 3 is the perfect cigar to get you into cigars. The No.3 is average in length at 5 inches, but is nice and slim with a ring gauge of 30. Expect to pay around £15
The everyday cigar: the MonteChristo No. 3 is a good all rounder, and ideal to smoke after a client lunch or whilst relaxing at the weekend. Not too strong or too heavy, the No.3 is 5.5 inches long and has a ring gauge of 42. Expect to pay £15 - £20.
The big deal cigar: at 9 inches, and with a ring gauge of 48, the MonteChristo Aniversario No. 1 is a real monster and one of most expensive cigars around at £45. Ideal for celebrating after a big deal as long as you've got time to smoke it!
For more info, contact Edward Sahakian at Davidoff of London, 35 St. James Street SW1A 1HD. Call: 020 7930 3079. To buy Davidoff on the net, visit their online shop here. |
Gifts for Her: NellyRodi's Scent Factory
Buying an original perfume for a lady is always a bit of a minefield due to the delicacies of female taste. French fashion and fragrance guru NellyRodi
has invented the "Scent Factory" as the perfect solution to address this perennial dilemma.
The Scent Factory is the first ever perfume compilation, allowing you to mix your own fragrance using different scents.
Similar to a musical compilation, it explores 8 extreme, olfactory creations conceived by 8 perfumers curated by NellyRodi.
For this 1st compilation, NellyRodi decided to explore an "Oriental" olfactory family, proposing a radically luxorious, contemporary vision.
Each perfume has been elaborated on an especially refined oriental base with practically no budgetary restrictions, emphasising a specific note
that signs olfactive identity of each creation.
Scent Factory costs around £85 and is sold in only a few select international concept stores around the world.
To buy in London, visit Start, 42-44 Rivington Street, EC2A 3BN (5 minutes walk from Liverpool Street). Call: 020 7729 3334 email: info@start-london.com
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Something for the weekend: Cadaques
If you're thinking about a long weekend away in May / June, Cadaques is definitely worth a thought. An hour or so's drive north of Barcelona,
Cadaques is exactly not what you'd expect from a Spanish seaside town. Often compared to an unspoilt St. Tropez, Cadaques is the premiere spot
for the Barcelona set to hang out at weekends and was made famous by Dali whose house is in the neighbouring bay of Port Llagat.
Spend the days exploring the national parks via winding coastal roads on a scooter, or hire a yacht / motorboat and tour the numerous bays along the coast.
If you're up for some serious fine dining there's the el Bulli restaurant in Roses (20 minutes away), recently voted number one restaurant in the world.
For a more fun and eclectic dining experience check out the family run Casa Anita. Located in the back streets of Cadaques, Casa Anita is famed for its
alcoholic but friendly owner who takes great pride is plying guests with free alcohol whilst waiting for the glorious fresh seafood platters.
Fly BA or Ryan Air to Barcelona (Girona Airport).
Get more information on places to stay here.
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Food by Sir: Spaghetti Carbonara (a la Heston Blumenthal)
Spaghetti Carbonara is a cast iron week day dinner favorite. Quick, tasty and easy to master - plus plenty of scope for creativity for the more adventurous.
As with all great recipes, there's a big debate on how to best cook a good Carbonara. The one I've always found the best is a bastardised Heston Blumenthal version.
N.B. if you don't have any spaghetti, all pasta types work well as a Carbonara.
The following ingredients are for one - multiply depending on taste and number of additional guests. Preparation and cooking should take no longer than 20 - 25 minutes.
1/2 small onion - chopped
1/2 a clove of garlic - chopped
Extra Virgin Oil
100g of smoked bacon (preferably streaky) - cut into 1cm strips
1/2 a green chilli - chopped
200g (ish) of dried pasta
1 egg - large
25g fresh parmesan -grated
Salt and black pepper - ground
Pour a good slug of oil into a frying pan and slowly brown the onion on a low (ish) heat for about 5 minutes. After a while, add the garlic and green chilli.
Once lightly browned (after 5-10 mins), add the strips of bacon and cook up together. The key is to make sure you don't burn the onion whilst crisping up the bacon at the same time.
In a saucepan, boil up some water with a good helping of salt. When it comes to a boil add the pasta and cook until al dente. Keep stirring the pasta to make sure it doesn't stick together, and try not to over cook the pasta as it will turn into a stodgy mush.
As the pastas cooking, mix up an egg with the grated parmesan and season with black pepper. Once mixed add a few table spoons of the boiling salted water from the pasta.
When the pasta is ready, toss it together with the bacon and onion etc. in the frying pan - making sure the stove is off, but the pan is hot. Finally pour the egg and parmesan on top, and toss together.
Serve in a large pasta bowl, and accompany with a glass or two of red wine. Chianti is preferable.
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