Wednesday 9th July and halfway through my five day stage at Restaurant Ramsay. Unfortunately my lips have to stay sealed due to a confidentiality contract I signed upon arrival in the kitchen. I can however say that I was talking to Clare Smyth during service that evening (you know just casually chatting to Clare Smyth, no big deal!), and she asked where I had dined over my time here in London. When I had finished telling her the different places, she said that was “boll*cks” and I should be seeing more of what London has to offer. So as a result, I was given a half day off to have lunch at Hibiscus; a two Michelin starred restaurant run by Claude Bosi, a personal friend of Clare’s. What could I say? I simply replied with “oui, Chef” and it was all organised.
The next day upon my arrival at Hibiscus, I was welcomed into a small 40 seater restaurant. It was cosy and intimate, with wooden interior and gold furnishings. Very suave! For my arrival at the table I had Hibiscus’ own personal bottled water, marinated olives and cashews dusted with a white balsamic powder, fantastic start!
You know you’ve made it when you have your own water.
The canapé followed shortly after, accompanied by house baked rye and white sourdough. An egg shell was nestled in hay within a Hibiscus egg carton, and contained a warm pea emulsion with a coconut froth and curry powder. It was so rich I couldn’t finish the last mouthful. The combination was very pleasant though and was perfect for dipping the crusts of the bread into!
For the entree I decided to have the ravioli (I think I had a craving as they have one on the menu at Restaurant Ramsay). This was pork pie ravioli with new season broad beans and dried pickled eggs. Pork pie is a traditional British pie of chopped pork and pork jelly. Usually eaten cold or as part of a meal. In this case it was served warm in a bowl beckoning me to eat it as fast as possible. It was a delicious and generous portion of pork meat, with the egg an unusual complement, managing to cut through that rich pork meat. Now as much as I loved this dish it was very heavy. This photo does not do the size of this ravioli justice- there was a good palm full of meat here. Admittedly I was quite satiated upon finishing my starter and grew nervous for my two courses to come. But I didn’t want to let my readers down, so don’t worry I pushed through!
For the main I ordered the poached Cornish cod a la Grenobloise. Cooking Grenobloise (in the Grenoble manner) involves a “wet crouton” garnish – so croutons in brown butter with capers and lemon. Then a foam of this sauce covered the entire plate. So simple but all the flavours perfectly balanced. The croutons were under the fish and had created almost a solid component, quite like a textured mash. This dish was delicious and I appreciated the less is more approach.
Again I had three choices of dessert. I decided I couldn’t walk away without trying the blond chocolate tart with lentil ice cream and a bergamot gel. Surprisingly the tart wasn’t rich at all, in fact it was very light and almost cleansing. The lentil ice cream was the creamy rich part of the dish and the bergamot gel cut right through it.
To conclude my amazing meal, petite fours were brought out with my coffee. Three different flavoured friands, and a bowl of aerated chocolate served on top of cocoa nibs. The aerated chocolate came in mint white chocolate, 50% and 84%. This has inspired me to go back to Cobar and have a play with making some aerated chocolate of my own – how fun!
That was the end of my lunch at Hibiscus, and it was amazing of Clare to encourage me to dine there. Well worth it!
Signing out #carlitaabroad
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