Cutting-edge icecream at Selfridges

The innovative food and beverage team at Selfridges, under the jurisdiction of sharp-suited director Ewan Venters and savvy drinks buyer Dawn Davies, has been quick to recognise the appeal and embrace the concept of the ‘Pop-up’. Not content with Pierre Koffmann’s audacious ‘Restaurant on the Roof’ the store is also playing host to the ‘Icecreamists’ in the basement until November 1^st. This cutting-edge icecream bar manages to fuse ornate gothic with urban graffiti chic and offers a diverse range of contemporary ice-cream flavours. The pick of these is probably the ‘Molotoffee Cocktail’ a ‘twisted toffee apple’ icecream made with Julian Temperley’s superb Somerset Cider Brandy – subtle green apple notes give way to beguiling caramel flavours followed by a delicious Calvados kick. Don’t take our word for it head into town for some pre-Christmas (pre-crowd) shopping and taste for yourself.

Further good news is that after a protracted legal battle Selfridges ‘Wonderbar’ should shortly re-introduce its ground-breaking 25ml sipping measures. The big question here is:  Will we see the return of the ‘affordable’ 1996 Pétrus?

Hosiery, haberdashery or the restaurant on the roof?

The hot dining ticket of 2009 has to be Pierre Koffmann’s ‘pop-up’ that is open in October to coincide with the lamentably under-promoted London restaurant festival. Not simply for the sheer audacity of craning the restaurant on to the roof of Selfridges, but for the chance to enjoy the wonderful cooking of the man himself.  Pierre Koffman arrived in London in the seventies and, following stints under the Roux Brothers at Le Gavroche and The Waterside, he opened La Tante Claire in Royal Hospital Road which he ran throughout the eighties and nineties before selling that site to Gordon Ramsay in 2002.  During the last six years of this reign, La Tante Claire held 3 Michelin stars.  The list of chefs who worked under Koffman reads like a Who’s Who of British talent – Gordon, Marco, Toms Aitken & Kitchin, Eric Chavot, Phil Howard – I could continue, but you get the picture?  

Could there be any better way to pass a wind-swept afternoon than Friday lunch at such a venue in the company of three pals?  Sudden panic as I left home – is there a dress code for a former formal 3 star or does the ‘pop-up’ element overrule?  I hedged my bets and went jacket, no tie.  Fine, as it turned out.  Selfridges F&B Director, Ewan Venters has done a cracking job to pull this off, although a lot of the front of house credit belongs to Dawn Davies who has tapped into her extensive network of contacts to build an effective team – most of whom appeared to be ‘on holiday’ from other London establishments.  The welcome was warm, the Gascony-biased menu was a treat and we got right stuck in – pan-fried foie gras with potato galette & sauternes jus, pressed leek and languostines with truffle vinaigrette, saddle of hare, kidneys with girolles, challons duck roasted with herbs & spices and (the signature dish) pig’s trotter with veal sweetbread and morels.  I am sure I’ve missed something.   The wine list has been well put together, although diners seemed to be drinking it as quickly as they could get bottles up from the wine shop on the ground floor.  Yapp Crémant de Limoux, followed by a straw-coloured but much-appreciated Savoie Chigrin 2008.  Reds came and went – Pic St Loup Arbouse 2007, Chasse Spleen 2003 (we love this atypical vintage for current drinking) and Montrose 1995 – bien classique and a terrific finale.

We did justice to pistachio soufflé, apple tart and toyed with some cheese.  Digestifs were threatened, but good sense prevailed so we downed coffee and split.  If you get a chance to go (and tables are like gold-dust), don’t hesitate.  For a field kitchen with a supporting cast of moonlighting waiters on an Oxford Street rooftop, it’s a joy.

Clive Greenhalgh, patron of The Ambassador

At Yapp Brothers we are blessed with a spacious boardroom which is used for many meetings but few of them are as convivial as last night’s dinner for Accenture and Vodafone Business Intelligence. Our old friend Clive Greenhalgh, patron of the Ambassador restaurant (www.theambassadorcafe.co.uk), cajoled us into opening our cellars after hours while he set up a field kitchen to cook a magnificent feast.

After a reviving aperitif of Vouvray Mousseux Brut from Domaine Aubert we enjoyed a rapid ‘Tour de France’ wine tasting in our shop in Mere. We then adjourned to the boardroom where Clive and his trusty assistant Harry served us Lobster ‘Two Ways’ (classically poached with a garlic mayonnaise and with a lime and avocado Ceviche). With the lobster we drank a Condrieu: Terrasses de l’Empire 2008 from Domaine Georges Vernay – which was a heavenly pairing. The aromatic, mid-weight Viognier married perfectly with the firm Brixham lobster and coped well with the slight chilli kick in the Ceviche. Here at Yapp Brothers we crash on (at length) about food and wine matching but it seldom gets better than that.

Our next course was a Foie Gras Terrine with Quince Compote and Toasted Brioche which we partnered with small glasses of Montlouis ‘Côte Saint Martin’ 2003. This apple-scented, gently honeyed wine was a terrific foil for the rich goose liver and met with universal approval.

The great thing about the onset of Autumn is that one can start to appreciate some warming red wines from the Rhône valley. With some wonderfully tender Fillet of Longhorn beef served with Pommes Anna and Cep Gratin we broached some of our library stock of Patrick Jasmin’s 1998 Côte Rôtie and a 2004 Châteauneuf du Pape from Le Vieux Donjon. The Côte Rôtie was starting to mellow with age, exhibiting some attractive sous bois scents and briary fruit flavours but the Châteauneuf’ was the real crowd-pleaser with a core of blackberry and cassis tastes over tannins that were beginning soften and sweeten. We followed the same estate on to our cheese course with a 1986 Vieux Donjon that was served with an enormous chunk of our local and the finest Montgomery Cheddar.  Some purists argue that one shouldn’t serve red wine with cheese but there were no complaints and the 23 year-old Châteauneuf’ held up very well tasting fully mature but by no means over the hill.

We rounded the evening off with a chocolate mousse and a Banyuls Cuvée Réserva from Domaine la Tour Vieille. The chilled, sweet, dark wine made a fine accompaniment to the rich chocolate flavours and everyone agreed that Clive and Harry had excelled themselves. If only all our board meetings were so pleasurable!

Somewhat to our chagrin it is Bordeaux that sets the public perception of whether a vintage is good, bad or indifferent. This isn’t a major problem in vintages like 1990 or 2005, which were excellent in Bordeaux and most of the rest of France but in can be frustrating in years that weren’t so good around the Dordogne, Garonne and Gironde but were terrific elsewhere. Say – 2002 in Burgundy or 1991 in the Northern Rhône. The point here being that generalisations are all very well but a sharper focus can pay dividends.

There is a saying amongst Gallic winemakers that ‘août fait la moût‘ or ‘August makes the harvest’ (literally ‘grape must’) and it is true that August is a key period in the ripening season. That said, I would argue that September is an equally critical month especially because bad weather, particularly hail or heavy rain, can be devastating while sustained sunshine can dramatically improve the quality of the fruit. There is also a French cliché that ’3 weeks of fine weather in September saved the vintage’. Of course that is plausible but it does begin to sound like a broken record after a while and the boy who cried ‘wolf’ springs to mind.

Contemplating the above and wanting to get a belated, mid-life, handle on bordelais ripening myths (and hopefully some half decent photographs) I hot-footed out to Bordeaux last week on any Easyjet flight out of Bristol. Having left our cloud-enshrined isle in Autumnal garb I was surprised to find the heat shimmering off the tarmac at Mérignac airport. I picked up a hire car and headed out to Saint Emilion and accosted a team of vendangeurs toiling in the sunshine. How has the weather been? ‘Fantastique’. Ah, yes but you must be in a hurry to get the grapes in now. ‘Not at all. The forecast is great and we are set fair.’ Of course, it was the same story all over the left and right bank – blue skies and sunshine and wonderfully ripe grapes.

2009 is going to be a superb vintage in Bordeaux and the rest of France and you heard it here first!