It is not often that I embark on a 500 mile round trip to visit a single hostelry but such was my anticipation at the reopening of this lavishly refurbished and lovingly revived inn that I was prepared to schlep all the way from south-west Wiltshire to northern Norfolk last week. The Gunton Arms (www.theguntonarms.co.uk) lies on the edge of the Gunton estate, near the village of Thorpe Market, and is home to a 1000 acre deer park that offers spectacular views and a plentiful supply of prime venison. Fortunately the Gunton Arms is the sometime local of world-renowned art dealer Ivor Braka and his artist wife Sarah Graham who have expediently secured its future by purchasing the property. After 18 months of building and renovation it is now open to the public and is well worth a visit.

The Gunton Arms

With 8 comfortable, beautifully decorated and refreshingly individual bedrooms named after local characters, such as game keeper James Ellis (a wonderful, Flashman-esque figure who coincidentally was to be found propping up the bar telling tales of tracking elk and dispatching mambas with the air of one who would happily be doing just that), the Gunton Arms is well-equipped to cope with further flung visitors. It also functions very well as a proper pub offering a fine range of draft beers such as Adnams’ Spindrift and Broadside as well as bar snacks, sandwiches and tea and coffee. There is a pool table and dart board and for a meagre £1.50 you can get a portion of pork crackling and gooseberry sauce.

All of the above is commendable and, in an era when rural pubs are dropping like nine-pins, should be celebrated but what really puts the Gunton Arms on the map and justifies the journey is its restaurant. Presided over by Stuart Tattersall (who was head chef at Mark Hix) the Gunton Arms boasts a menu of deftly-cooked, robust British dishes that illustrate a consummate knowledge and care for ingredients coupled with commendable restraint. A choice of 6 starters, all between £6 and £8, included ‘Rabbit, chestnut and chanterelle soup’, ‘Deep fried cod cheeks with caper mayonnaise’ and ‘Game dumpling with creamed leeks and juniper’. Main courses are equally appealing and modestly-priced. ‘Whole roast gurnard with cockles and chorizo’ and ‘Barnsley lamb chop with bubble and squeak’ both looked delicious but a superlative mixed grill of Gunton venison, cooked by Stuart on an open range, had the lowest food miles and made a fine foil for a toothsome bottle of Bandol: Mas de la Rouvière 2005. The short but well-balanced wine list (in which I should declare a commercial interest) and front of house are skilfully overseen by Stuart’s partner Simone Baker, who is also a Mark Hix alumnus and clearly knows how to run a tight ship.

The Gunton Arms - Stuart Tattersall

It would be remiss not to mention the Gunton Arms excellent art collection which boasts some hilarious photographs in the Gents loos (sadly I didn’t get a chance to check out the Ladies), fine ink depictions of Norfolk livestock and some provocative Paula Rego pictures in the dining room that won’t go down well with the blue rinse brigade.

After dinner I joined Mr Ellis in the bar and enjoyed some improbable stories, some well-kept beer and inept pool. Fortunately, Stuart and Simone let me inaugurate one of their bedrooms and I slept like a lamb. Stuart even made me a bacon sandwich ‘to go’ in the morning. I can’t wait to revisit the Gunton I just wish it was much nearer here!

Bistro du Vin, Soho

To Dean Street in Soho last Wednesday for the opening of the latest outpost of the Bistro du Vin and Bar. This is a simple but ingenious concept which is basically the same well-tested offering as the Hotel du Vin but without the bedrooms. The emphasis is on simple menus using great quality ingredients coupled with a well-chosen wine list with plenty of interesting selections by the glass. So far the site locations have been spot on – the first Bistro opened on St John’s Street in Clerkenwell in March and its Soho sibling is in an equally buzzing locale. There are plans to open several more in the near future so do keep an eye on the HdV website to check on developments: www.hotelduvin.com

I thought I would arrive early at around 7pm, to avoid the crowds, but was misguided on the front as by the time I tipped up the place was packed. Strangely there were a handful of male models clad only in boxer shorts (at least I assume they were models and not just daringly casual dressers) and at least a brace of, fully-clothed, cricketing heroes in attendance – I spotted Ian Botham and Freddie Flintoff but there might well have been others. I also managed to track down head sommelier Romain Auderie and my old friend Ronan Sayburn, the group Director of Wine and Spirits. They generously allowed me to put their pristine new By the Glass dispensing machine through its paces and it is a thing of beauty. I can’t think of anywhere else where you could sample a glass of Dageneau Pouilly Fumé, white Château Rayas, Leflaive Bâtard Montrachet or Jasmin’s Côte Rôtie (in which I must declare an interest) in the knowledge that they would be in perfect condition.

Ronan Sayburn - Bistro du Vin

There was, of course, some terrific-looking food being handed out but the room was too busy to be easily navigated so I didn’t really do the victuals justice. Having previously dined in the Clerkenwell Bistro I can testify that the grills are excellent and the service is both efficient and friendly. I’ll definitely be back to visit under my own steam and although the HdV is a heavily-branded chain it does have heart and soul and the souring of local ingredients and interesting wines is a winning combination.

As I mentioned back in November I’m a sucker for a ‘soft’ restaurant opening because there is a wonderful feeling of dining before the critics descend and pronounce the received view of an establishment, of virgin piste if you like, and, even better, you tend to get a benign bill when it’s time to call in l’addition. I was delighted therefore to visit ‘Chabrot – Bistro d’Amis’ on Knightsbridge Green, SW1 which is a bijou but blithe French eating house in an expensive part of town.

Chabrot - Bistro d'Amis

As ever with me it was the wine list that lured me there in the first place. It has been compiled with care by my old chum Philippe Messy, who is one of the co-patrons, and features over 140 bins focusing mainly on France but with a smattering of other references. Again I should declare a vested interest but it is an interesting list and considering the location a good-value one too. It alone would probably draw me back but there’s more to Chabrot’ than good wines. The food is great too.
 

Head chef Thierry Laborde trained under Albert Roux at Le Gavroche and you can tell – in a good way. The menu kicks off with a great selection of Hors d’œuvres or ‘small eats served as ready’ as they were endearingly translated when I went but won’t be by the time you visit. These are sub-divided into ‘Chauds’ such as: Snails in parsley butter, fried baby squid with piments or griddled duck liver with gougères, and ‘Froids’ which include some good Basque charcuterie, cured fish and inventive salads. The ‘Chauds’ carried the day for me, especially the duck – which merits a visit in its own right. In a momentary attempt at modesty we drank a carafe of the house Bourgogne Blanc ‘Les Champlains’ Domaine Bize 2007 which was blameless and decent value at £25.50.
 
The main courses were terrific too. The cabbage stuffed with veal and chestnuts deserves particular commendation but Tom rated his grilled veal with sage and rosemary highly too. Service was enthusiastic and pretty good considering it was early days and that this isn’t a roomy establishment. It would be immodest to say that the Cornas ‘Renaissance’ 2007 from Domaine Auguste Clape was the high point of the evening and if anything the most memorable part of our visit was the ambience which segued from jovial to demi-raucous over the course of the dinner. We ended up joining up with 2 other tables and splitting several more bottles. Which given ones proximity to fellow diners is perhaps inevitable.

The look, feel, food, and wine are emphatically retro-French but there is nothing wrong with that whatsoever.
 
‘Chabrot’ by the way is the old paysan tradition of adding a splash of red wine to the dregs of your soup. Not something you’ll see every day in Knightsbridge but you may well here.

A recent reunion of an unofficial lunch club saw me dropping in on old friends at a new venue.  Michelin-starred chef, Alexis Gauthier and sommelier supreme, Roberto Della Pietra (ably assisted by Damian Sanchez) have opened Gauthier Soho in the attractive town house formerly frequented by Richard Corrigan.  The layout over four floors and steep stairs is a challenge that must keep staff fit and a few kilos lighter.

Gauthier Restaurant, Soho

We had unintentionally booked in the middle of London Restaurant Week and were taken aback by the jaw-dropping deal of £25 for four courses that they were running for this festival.  I can’t cook at home on this budget, so we immediately re-channelled the funds into a bottle of Gosset Champagne as a succession of meticulously-prepared plates appeared -   foie gras with apples, sultanas and a Calvados reduction; scallops and langoustine with girolles, welsh lamb with Autumn vegetables and pommes dauphines and a sensational truffle risotto.  All this was washed down with rare white Trévallon and La Landonne 2006 which showed surprising integration and finesse.  The restaurant even managed to squeeze several amuse bouche and a bizarre hand wipe that expanded with hot water out of their meagre budget.

Gauthier Restaurant, Soho

I’ll be back soon for sure and note that the £33, three course lunch menu includes a half-bottle of wine.  Exceptional!

In the current doom-laden economic climate it is rather uplifting to visit a nascent restaurant where few expenses have been spared and even the Matisse’s on the wall are original. I’m a sucker for a restaurant preview or ‘soft opening’ as they are known in the industry. There’s always a bit of a distraction with carpenters, photographers or PR gurus plying their trades on the shop floor as the ‘live’ deadline approaches but hey, you get to eat there prior to the dining masses and before the likes of A. A. Gill or Jay Rayner suggest you ought not to bother.

‘cassis’ (yes it is lower case) which is named after the Provençal fishing port and not the soft fruit, is the latest venture of the well-heeled and luxuriously inclined Marlon Abela Restaurant Corporation (MARC), who also own Mayfair stalwarts the Greenhouse, Umu and Morton’s Club. Styled as a bistro offering ‘cuisine de Provence’ cassis is making a spirited effort to cast off the trappings of formal fine dining and loosen up a little. There are no table cloths and the dining area, which incorporates 70 generously spaced covers, is light and airy. The menu has a strong Mediterranean leaning and dishes are broken down into 4 sections: ‘Petites bouchées’ (literally small mouthfuls), Entrées, Plats Principaux and Desserts. The Petites bouchées are an enticing selection of (great value) pre-starters and one could (perhaps should) tarry here and possibly skip a later course. Three small slices of warm Pissaladière were faultless and five snails in pastry flambéed in Pastis were equally delicious with a deft aniseed kick. Most intriguing of all were little stuffed pastries called ‘Barbajuans’ variously filled with goat’s cheese, spinach or chicken livers – hot, tasty and uplifting comfort food to tickle the most jaded of palates.

When we visited on Monday lunchtime young chef sommelier Arthur de Gaulejac was on hand dispensing sage advice and some cracking wines by the glass. Arthur is passionate about wine but not at all stuffy and is well suited to the relaxed environment at cassis. He has assembled a 750 bin list that majors on Southern France but includes plenty of gems from elsewhere and a selection of over 80 wines under £50 – a boast few Knightsbridge restaurants of this calibre could make.

‘Entrées’, which fall somewhere between a generous starter and modest main course, also showed culinary imagination and technical flair. Globe artichoke stuffed with spiced mince and chorizo, was perfectly cooked and subtly seasoned as was a dish of fried squid with pessata, that had also been stuffed, in this instance, with Piquillo pepper.

By this juncture we were fairly well-filled ourselves but we managed to polish off a gamey-yet-soothing bowlful of pappardelle with wild boar and chickpeas – just the thing to accompany a brooding Bandol or robust Corsican red on a chilly winter’s day. A perfectly à point roast Landes duck breast was nicely offset by a sharp cassis sauce but it was greed not hunger that was driving us now.

Selflessly we forwent desserts but those served to the adjacent table did look very good. Service was both charming and efficient and the various breads (a qualitative barometer if ever there was one) were all delicious. Coffee was good and strong but not sufficiently warm – a very minor criticism of an otherwise faultless performance.

I’m not sure it’s good form to review a restaurant at the rehearsal stage, especially when you have a vested interest as a supplier and you weren’t presented with a bill but cassis represents a welcome breath of fresh air in the capital and – as Arnold Schwarzenegger would say – “I’ll be back!”.

cassis 232-236 Brompton Road, London. Tel: 020 7581 1101

We recently hosted a Trade tasting to launch our release of ‘archive’ vintage wines. Held at the Zetter Hotel, one of our long-standing on-trade accounts in Clerkenwell, London; this event provided our trade customers the opportunity to get together to sample some terrific older vintages as well as a selection from our current wine portfolio.

These tastings are always difficult to get right in terms of scheduling, as, in the competitive world we work in, there are often a plethora of rival tastings, lunches, or dinners for Sommeliers/restaurant managers to choose from. Indeed, on the day of our tasting, there were another three large events on in London, so we were very happy to see so many of our restaurateur friends on the day.

Featuring great wines always helps attendance levels and our line-up showed very well on the day. From the whites it was nice to revisit a Yapp staple (albeit in a new vintage) with the Sébastien Chéreau Muscadet de Sèvre et Main 2009,  a fresh, crisp, citrus flavoured wine with a good body of fruit. A real lip-smacker that leaves you wanting more. For the reds, the Pic Saint-Loup l’Arbouse appeared to be a firm favourite amongst the tasters, quite an earthy wine with rich fruit, warming tannins and touch of spice; it is a great wine for these autumnal months.

The archive table (unsurprisingly) was the busiest. This featured:- Domaine de Trévallon 2000, Jasmin Côte Rôtie 1999, Clape Cornas 1999, Chave Hermitage Red 2001, Chave Hermitage Red 1996 and Jasper Hill ‘Georgia’s Paddock’ Shiraz 2002. All of these wines had a supporter or more on the day, my personal favourites were the Trévallon 2000, which had reached a decent maturity with a nice balance between the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Syrah. Trévallon is never an ‘easy’ wine, it certainly always stands out amongst its contemporaries, and it sat quite heavily against its neighbours on the day. The Clape Cornas also deserves a mention, as it seemed to meet with a broad approval.

That is not to say that everyone had the same view on all of the wines. Whenever you taste an older vintage of any ‘classic’ wines, everyone has an opinion. Some preferred the Chave 1996 to the 2001 whereas others thought the 2001 was more open and ready for drinking on the day than its older sibling. Younger palates varied from those of more ‘mature’ age. The French disagreed with the English (hardly surprising) and the English disagreed with the English (even less surprising).

Bruno Loubet

Eventually it was time for lunch and the debates (and a notable number of open bottles) meandered their way upstairs to Bistrot Bruno Loubet, The Zetter hotel’s buzzing bistro. Here we were treated to Bruno Loubet’s fantastic fare. We have already blogged about a previous visit to this much lauded restaurant so I will avoid being repetitive. Suffice to say, no one left on an empty stomach and there were many appreciative comments passed from our tables. My favourite dish was the Mauricette snails and meatballs with royale de champignons. Plump snails out of their shells, alternated with mouth melting, veal meatballs, all of which surrounded a deceptively light mushroom mousse. Later on after lunch, Bruno popped over for a chat and he explained that this dish was a celebration of his grandmother’s cooking when he was a child. Only he has taken it and given it a modern ‘British friendly slant’ (hence the lack of snail shells on the plate).

The lunch progressed well into the afternoon as bottles were passed from table to table for ‘re-examining’ and ‘updating’ of tasting notes. Eventually, our jolly group of tasters and diners began to dwindle as people ventured back out onto the streets of Clerkenwell. We always tend to finish off with a cleansing ale and quick chat about the day’s events, but this noble tradition was dashed with the appearance of a bottle of Krug Grand Cuvee NV, generously proffered by Roger Jones of The Harrow Inn at Little Bedwyn. Of course it would have been churlish to refuse and so we dallied a while longer as we reflected on the wine and the food of the day.

Many thanks to Bruno Loubet and his front of house team and to the Event Team at the Zetter for their contribution to a successful day. Bruno’s food certainly warrants a visit, with his relaxed, bistro take on some classic French cuisine. I hope you have as much fun matching the Yapp wines that can be found on the wine list to his dishes as we did.