YES CHEF! Magazine - Issue 14

22-Jul-10 - The new edition of YES CHEF! Magazine is out now featuring Lisa Allen at Northcote Manor, Hélène Darroze at the Connaught, the 25th anniversary of The Waterside Inn's having three Michelin stars and a look at modern Vietnamese food, to name but a few.

Unfortunately, for reason of space, the main part of JOHN RADFORD'S WINEWIRE (the details of the Murcia Monastrell tastings in June) has had to be carried over until the October issue. In the meantime the 'Odds and Ends' section is available here, with the usual rants about minimum alcohol pricing, viagra and some very 'off the wall' tasting notes. More later.

To sponsor a weblink or picture for any post, please contact john@johnradford.com

A Day at the Races

11-Jul-10 - Hazel and Tony are my last remaining aunt and uncle - the last of that generation of the family, indeed, so their eldest daughter, my cousin Gaye decided to mark Tony's 80th birthday with a day at Southwell races, private box, lunch, all that stuff. The family is spread from Hazel and Tony in North Derbyshire, Gaye in London and us on the south coast, so it seemed a reasonably central venue. Trouble is, Tony's birthday was on the 11th January. I'd booked a hotel and an airline ticket to Jersey the following day, but the snow put a stop to all that, and the prospect of a 415-mile round trip up the M25 and M1 was not appealing, so the event was cancelled. Gaye rescheduled it for 11-Jul-10 when we could expect better weather and which, coincidentally was, of course, Tony's 80½th birthday.

Another advantage of this date was that Claire and Evie could join us - in January Evie was just short of four months old, and much too young for such an event. In July, however, she's coming up for 10 months old, is crawling and can pull herself up to a standing position. Indeed, if you hold her hands she can walk, although not yet unaided. Anyway, Claire was delighted to be able to join us, and we went up to Caddington on the Saturday night and stayed over with them. Claire had cooked an excellent steak and ale pie, and James miraculously produced a bottle of 1998 Rioja which I seemed to remember vaguely had once been in my wine rack at home...

Next morning (11-Jul-10) we drove up to Southwell, with Evie asleep for most of the way, and we arrived just in time to see the Red Devils doing their parachute display before the first race. The box was beautifully laid out, with a balcony right opposite the finishing post, and it was good to see so many of the family together for such a happy occasion: brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews, nieces all, as Tony remarked, "getting on with each other and not falling out" which tells you a lot about former family gatherings but, of course, that was when we were all children.

Southwell racecourse - the view from the balcony

The food was excellent - Claire had brought some ham and cheese sandwiches for Evie, but the poached salmon was so good that Evie had it as a 'starter', with a helping of Mr Whippy for pudding. She played happily all afternoon with everybody in the room, and even picked two winners by stabbing a pen on to Jill's racecard.

I know nothing about horse racing and I seldom bet, but you have to have a go when you're there. I always look at a horse's past form and if it looks good, back it each way on the tote. Generally that means I win about £20 over the day, and then blow it all on the last race. This time it was different: my first horse led all the way then fell at the last fence; my second horse led all the way but I could tell that the others were just using him as a pacemaker, and he was duly eclipsed in the final straight. My third horse won, but I didn't get to the window quickly enough to put anything on him (this is starting to sound like one of those fisherman's tales, isn't it?), but it all came good on the last race. The three favoured horses all seemed to have dodgy form, but one of the outsiders had a 2-1-1 so I backed it... And it came in at 10/1. For the first time in my life I left a racecourse with more money than I had arrived with. And I spent most of it on a big Chinese takeaway when we got back to Caddington - it was excellent. A great day out, good company, a generous buffet, lovely to see Evie playing happily with relatives she still doesn't know she has, and a bit of dosh to boot.

 Hard to see but this is Makena coming in at 10/1 - phew - saved the day!

By the way, the horse was an eight-year old French bay mare called Makena. If you see her next time out, her form will be 1-2-1-1.

P.S. She won again at  Worcester on the 21st and Southwell on the 23rd, by which time she had become the favourite at 6/4 on. Remember you read it here first!

To sponsor a weblink or picture for any post, please contact john@johnradford.com

The Holy Grail

09-Jul-10 - I mentioned in an earlier post (07-Jun-10) that while I was doing the Murcia roadshow I received an e-mail from The Wine Society. This was on the Tuesday (08-Jun-10), and it said that, in celebration of its 175th anniversary, González Byass had produced 175 dozen bottles of Tío Pepe Fino en Rama (i.e. unfiltered and straight from the cask) and that the Society had bought 100 dozen, in six-bottle cases. It was about £12 a bottle but well worth a look, and when I got home again on the Friday (11-Jun-10)  I rang the Society, only to be told that they had sold out. In three days? I wrote to Martin Skelton, the Managing Director of GB-UK and he told me that the entire 175 dozen bottles had sold out within three hours of the initial announcement, and that there might be some more in 2035, when GB celebrates its 200th anniversary. Since I shall be 88 if I am spared that long, this did not seem a very good option. Martin did, however, point me in the direction of Lea and Sandeman, who, he said, 'might have a few bottles left'. In the event they managed to scrape together a six-bottle case which, with delivery charge, pushed the price up to about £16.50 a bottle. Maybe I should have topped up the order with something else. But no matter. I had the wine!

A word about Fino en Rama: many years ago I was with Miguel Valdespino (now retired) at his eponymous bodega in Jerez (now part of the Estévez Group) tasting Ynocente from the cask. He sighed: "I'm going to have to stop doing this." When I asked why, he replied "because journalists come here, taste the wine from the cask, and then write articles saying that you can only experience the true Fino when you're actually in the bodega... So the customers shrug and say 'well, not worth buying it, then...'"

And, indeed, when I was first in the trade in the early 1970s, the received wisdom was that 'real' Fino and Manzanilla 'didn't travel' and had to be fortified to 17-18% abv, which made them lose their freshness, in order to survive the journey. Technology has moved on quite a bit since then, and Finos and Manzanillas are now routinely 15% abv (but do try the Waitrose Solera Jerezana Fino and Manzanilla at 17.5% abv - they are splendid).

Back to Tío Pepe, however. I rested the wines for, well I usually advocate seven days, but temptation overcame me after just four days and I opened the first bottle. My initial taste was a bit of a disappointment: it was Tío Pepe, of course, clean, fresh, nutty, delicious... But just Tío Pepe. It wasn't until the second glass that I realised what had happened. The whole point about Fino en Rama is that it's coarse-filtered so that the residual flor yeast remains in the wine, but after 48 hours in the fridge, the yeast had sunk to the bottom. The trick is to upend the bottle before opening (as you'd do with a bottle-conditioned beer) to make sure that the yeast is evenly distributed (not something you'd do with any other wine in the world!). The result was sublime: pale gold with a slight haze of flor, redolent of yeast, roasted almonds, herbs, fresh, clean and bone dry. We finished off the bottle with Eversley Chinese chicken (with tarragon, fresh ginger, water chestnuts and chillies) and it was, perhaps, one of the greatest combinations known to gastronomy.

So good, in fact, that Jill (who professes not to like Sherry) asked for another bottle later in the week with Eversley gammon (with asparagus, crushed potatoes, broad beans and coriander in an asparagus sauce). One way and another, we only have two bottles of the original six left, and it has to be drunk by 13-Aug-10 according to the bottling date (the flor starts to grow again after three months). Knowing that there's not the faintest chance of getting any more I really don't know what to do...

Remember that you can usually find wines at
www.wine-searcher.com (but probably not this one. Ed)

To sponsor a weblink or picture for any post, please contact john@johnradford.com

The Basque Country - Rioja Alavesa and Txakoli

07-Jul-10 - I've done a couple of jobs for the Basque regional government this year, with a tasting at the London International Wine Fair for the generic body which looks after Rioja Alavesa (see post of 18-May-10) and a presentation (well, two) at Lord's on 07-Jul-10 which covered not just the wines of the Rioja Alavesa but also those of Txakoli. There were only four exhibitors in this latter category, but it was a very useful opportunity to taste wines from all three Txakoli zones without driving hundreds of kilometres.

Rioja Alavesa first, though: over the two events I was able to taste current vintages from a number of bodegas. These were those which were part of the presentation, tasted in reverse vintage order, and all mainly Tempranillo:

2007 Inspiración, Bodegas Valdemar (10% Graciano, 10 months oak) - nice, warm berry fruit, some richness and a hint of toasty oak on the nose, lovely 'silky' feel and good warm ripe fruit on the palate, a nice, gentle length on the finish with soft tannins - 17/20

 Notes: Bodegas Valdemar used to be called Bodegas Martínez-Bujanda, based in Oion (Oyón), but it changed its named to main wine brand - Conde de Valdemar - in 2003. Carlos Martínez-Bujanda explained that the Inspiración range was an opportunity to 'do something different' in a new winery. He subsequently sent me sample of the whole of the range which are extremely good, especially the Tempranillo Blanco. They claim that this is the only white Tempranillo in the world: the grape was a mutation of the red, and the bodega propagated it. It has lovely, fresh, crisp fruit and, if there were more of it, would be a serious rival to the Viura (more on the Inspiración range in a later post).

2007 AGNVS Crianza, Bodegas Valdelana (5% Graciano, 22 months French and Russian oak) - smoky, perfumed fruit with a good 'meaty' mid-palate and soft, crispy tannins on the finish - delicious - 17/20

Notes: Valdelana was also showing 2007 Centum Vitis, made from grapes from 100-year-old pre-phylloxera vines (in a vineyard surrounded by sandy soils, which is how they survived) with malolactic plus 8 months in new Alliers oak. This was a magnificent symphony of spice, chocolate, soft fruit and fresh acidity - 19/20

2006 Martín Cendoya Reserva, Bodegas Heredad Ugarte (15% Graciano and Mazuelo, 20 months oak) - fabulous perfume, lovely, subtle aromatics, musky fruit and tannins and a long, delicious finish with fruit dominant - 18/20

 

Notes: Martín Cendoya was a viticulturist and one of the co-founders of the bodega, along with his brother-in-law Victorino Eguren (of that ilk), in 1957.

2005 Fos Reserva, Bodegas Fos (25% Graciano, 22 months French and American oak) - very subtle perfume: classic Rioja Alavesa nose, big, juicy fruit and fresh acidity on the palate, clear, bright and god length with some musky tannins on the finish - 16½/20

Notes: this is a 'château-style' bodega, founded in 2005 and sitting within its own 20 ha of vineyards.

2004 Leteo, Bodegas Heredad de Aduna (12 months French and American oak) - smoky-oaky nose, some dark fruit, but big, musky fruit on the palate and a hint of tannin on the finish - 16/20

 Notes: this is a family company, founded in 1945 and with 30 ha of its own vineyards.

2004 Izarbe Selección, Bodegas Larchago (24 months French oak) - soft, gentle Tempranillo perfume with 'spiky' strawberry notes on the nose, big, warm spice and power on the palate with excellent ripeness and a long finish, still with fresh acidity - 18/20

Notes: another family concern, established in 1968 with a new bodega built in 1998.

The tasting was a great success, and the bodegas (which were all exhibiting at the fair) reported increased interest in the Rioja Alavesa.

Fast forward to Lord's nursery pavilion and a presentation of the wider Basque wine offering, including 30-plus exhibitors, of which four were from Txakoli country. I managed to meet some old friends, including Fernández de Piérola, (who had sent me samples of his new Ribera del Duero wines: the red is excellent, the rosado is spectacular - more on this in a future post), Bodegas Ostatu, which I visited about 18 months ago with a consultancy client from Singapore, Remírez de Ganuza, whose wines are truly exemplary (the 2005 reserva has characteristic hot spice, big structure and crispy tannins on the finish - 18/20 - more on this in a future post), and Marqués de Riscal, whose wines I seem to have known for ever.

However, I'd like to major on the Txakoli exhibitors because, as I said before, it's not often that you get the chance to taste wines from all three regions in the same place. These were they, mostly made from the white Hondarribi Zuri (other varieties in brackets where appropriate):

Okendo Txakolina (DO Arabako Txakolina) spent 15 years growing and selling grapes from their own 7 ha of vineyards to the local co-op (which is confusingly named Arabako Txakolina). They founded their own bodega two years ago and have marketed their own wine since.

Okendo Bodega. Pic.: Okendo website

2009 Señorío de Astorbiza (15% Petit Courbu, 35% Gros Manseng) - lovely, soft, fresh, crisp, delicious fruit - 16/20

2009 Malkoa Joven - really bright, fresh fruit, crisp acidity, a real glugger and absolutely delicious - 17/20

2009 Gorabie Joven (20% Petit Courbu, 20% Gros Manseng) - equally fresh and crisp but with some underlying warmth and richness - 16/20

Txakoli Oxinbaltza (DO Bizkaiko Txakolina) has been in business since 2004 and has 23 ha of vines.

 Oxinbaltza bodega. Pic.: Oxinbaltza website

2009 Oxinbaltza (with Petit Courbu) - good and fresh on the foretaste with some warmth on the mid-palate and a lipsmacking length - 16/20

Txakoli Talai Berri (DO Getariako Txakolina) is one of the oldest-established bodegas in the region (1750), now into the fifth generation of the family, and situated on the Camino de Santiago. The modern cellar was built in 1992 in the middle of 12 ha of vineyards.

 Talai Berri Bodega. Pic.: Talai Berri website

2009 Talai Berri Blanco (10% Hondarribi Beltza) - fresh, clean, delicious fruit and a rather lower acidity than some of the previous wines, lovely balance - 17/20

2009 Finka Jakue - 'Jakue' is the Basque spelling of Santiago - this has the freshness and fruit of the blanco, but with an added weight and balance - 17/20

2008 Talai Berri Tinto (100% Hondarribi Beltza) - a real rarity: they have just 1½ ha of this local red variety  and it has a lovely, light, musky, almost 'chewy' fruit, not dissimilar to that of the Cabernet-Franc, with a hint of liquorice on the finish -18/20

Txomin Etxaniz (DO Getariako Txakolina) another old-established family concern, with roots going back to 1649, this winery has had an export presence in the UK for many years. Today they have 40 ha of vines plus 15 under contract, and this was the site of my first ever visit to Txakoli country, in 1995. The DO was established in 1990 and the wines were routinely slagged-off by every wine-writer in the business, but I discovered that I was the first UK journalist who had actually been there.

Txomin Etxaniz - the old bodega in Getaria. Pic.: Txomin Etxaniz website

2009 Txomin Etxaniz (10% Hondarribi Beltza) - lovely soft fruit on the nose, big fruit on the palate with excellent balance, structure and complexity - 17/20 - This wine was selected for the 2010 dinner of the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino.

The title of the Lord's event was 'Seek the Sensational - enjoy a new wine discovery from the old world', and on this showing, for me at least, it certainly achieved its objectives.

Special thanks to Lucia Artaza at the Bilbao Chamber of Commerce, and Claire Felstead of Freshwater PR for organising the events.

Remember that you can usually find wines at 
www.wine-searcher.com
To sponsor a weblink or picture for any post, please contact john@johnradford.com

Lunch at The Lanesborough with Manuel Fariña

30-Jun-10 - To the Lanesborough for Lunch with Manuel Fariña, widely regarded as the 'father' of the modern wines of Toro. I first visited him in November, 1988 when his main bodega was out of town and called Bodegas Porto. He had to change the name since Spain had joined the then EEC in 1986 and it clashed with the DOC Porto in Portugal. Also, in order to claim the DO Toro (established in 1987) he had to move inside the city limits, and was in the process of building a new bodega. We were able to look at his new stainless steel tanks, one of which had a large dent in the top. I asked him whether this was some experimental topological aid to fermentation, but it wasn't: "It fell off a lorry" was his remark. My other abiding memory of that visit was meeting his father, Salvador (then retired), who had founded the family estate in 1942, and his youngest son (now in his 20s) who was then a toddler. Tragically, his eldest son had died in a road accident, and I still have a photograph of the family as it then was.

Since then Manuel's wines, under the 'Colegiata' brand (named after the collegiate church in Toro) have become benchmark wines for Toro quality - not necessarily the best nor the most expensive, but expressive of Toro's terroir and its native grape, the Tinta de Toro (a sibling of the Tempranillo).

So, it was a great pleasure to be invited to lunch to taste his new vintages, and meet again Nicola Thornton, who is the bodega's export director. A quick word about her: I first met her in 1993 when I visited Bodegas Bajoz, where she was the export manager. Bajoz was a co-op in Toro and gradually increased its quality levels to get into the export market, largely due to Nicola. Then, a few years ago, the management decided that they were now firmly in the market and didn't need her or her team any more, and she was made redundant. She was snapped up by Fariña immediately. Since then Bajoz got into serious financial difficulties and was eventually sold to the Félix Solís group as part of their 'Pagos del Rey' empire, which some might say is a bit of poetic justice, although the bodega is very likely to thrive under the Solís banner.

Anyway, back to the lunch. I'd interviewed Heinz Beck, who is the executive chef at Apsley's at the Lanesborough, when he relaunched the restaurant in September, 2009 so I was looking forward to the combination of Manuel's wines and Heinz Beck food. I don't know if you've been to the Lanesborough, which used to be a hospital, but Apsley's restaurant is in a towering atrium (it used to be a courtyard where the ambulances turned round) with a décor that is, well, I think you could kindly describe it as 'eclectic' - not to everyone's taste.

Apsleys at The Lanesborough - 'eclectic' décor. Pic.: Lanesborough website

The service is, however, impeccable. I had lunched there for the Beck interview nine months previously and not been back since, but the headwaiter greeted me saying 'glad to see you again, Mr Radford', and had also remembered my mustard allergy (I'd asked for one of the dishes without mustard-seed dressing the previous September) when it came to the main course. Either he had an astonishing memory or had been extremely well briefed, but in either case it was very impressive, even to a cynical, pissed-old-hack like me.

Anyway, we kicked off with Dueba old-vines sparkling Malvasía, which I had never had before. It's classified as Vino de Mesa Espumoso as the DO Toro doesn't include sparkling wines. He's been making it for five years from Malvasía and Albillo and it has a good, clean fruit, fresh acidity and a pleasant, if rather lightweight finish - 15/20

Next up was the 2009 Colegiata Malvasía Joven which had a bright, herby fruit, some richness on the mid-palate and a 'soft-fruit' finish - 15/20
The food began to arrive at this point, so the marks for the wines have to be viewed in that context: an amuse-bouche of seafood salad with lobster, prawn, leaves and a kind of fish sausage which was delicious, if a little indeterminate, with octopus and a mango dressing.

With the Colegiata Malvasía we had black ink squid fagottelli with Atlantic fish and peppers. The head chef here is Massimiliano Blasone, who has worked with Heinz Beck for many years, and his pasta is legendary. This was no exception, although I wrote in my notes 'good but fishy'. I'm not sure what that means in retrospect, or quite what I expected a fish dish to taste like, but these are the things you think of on the spur of the moment.

Then it was on to the reds, with 2009 Colegiata Tinta de Toro, another joven wine with all the bright, raspberry fruit of the Tempranillo, rich and jammy on the mid-palate with crisp acidity and a clean finish - 16/20

This was served with pappa al pomodoro with beef fillet and avocado which was an amazing tableau with two small 'ships' of avocado mousse with fillet of beef 'sails', passing, as it were in the night, on a sea of tomato purée - presumably the red sea - all on a 'baby pizza'. Delicious and quirky.

The main course was roasted pigeon royal with pearl onions and a mustard seed sauce, and, as I mentioned earlier, before I could ask for it without the sauce, the waiter had already arranged this with the chef in advance. Service, eh? With this we had the 2006 Gran Colegiata Crianza (French oak) which had big, dark 'inky' fruit with some richness, crisp tannins and a musky, subtle finish - 17/20

The selection of Italian cheeses from such as Lombardia and Piemonte was exceptional, served with warm bread straight from the oven. This came with the 1989 Gran Colegiata which was perfectly mature - lovely, ripe fruit, rich, dark hints and a soft, endless finish - 18/20

We finished off with a cremoso dessert with a 'chocolate brownie', toffee and raspberries with orange petals, and Val de Reyes Dulce (VdlT Castilla y León), an unfortified sweet red made with grapes which were harvested as raisins. It had that rancio nose, giving way to soft sweetness on the palate and a hint of tannin on the finish. It was an excellent wine but somehow didn't quite go with the creamy, chocolatey pudding. 18/20, though.
 
So, an excellent lunch, great wines, and good company, and also good to see Manuel and Nicola again. If you find yourself at Apsley's I do urge you to try the pasta - it's among the best I've ever tasted, and the fagottelli carbonara is unbelievable. And look out for Fariña wines: they're widely available in the UK and represent excellent value for money.

Remember that you can usually find wines at www.wine-searcher.com

To sponsor a weblink or picture for any post, please contact john@johnradford.com

Murcia Monastrell Magic

07-Jun-10 - I went to Murcia during May for research for a series of tastings of 'The Real Monastrell from the Region of Murcia' in Edinburgh and Manchester. Or rather off to Alicante as the flights are more convenient, and my hosts, the Regional Government, had put me up in the beautiful Hotel Rural Umbría del Factor, on the outskirts of Yecla, about 100 km from the airport. This is one of those 'in the middle of nowhere' places but, unlike a few I've stayed at recently, has an excellent (and good value) bar/cafeteria and restaurant. It was converted from an old manor house, and the rooms are large, comfortable and well-appointed. The hosts were paying, of course, but I checked on the web and a double room with single occupancy starts from €58, which is a bargain, especially as it includes free Wifi. An excellent place, indeed.

The Hotel Umbría del Factor 'rest, relax, make yourself comfortable'. Pic.: Hotel website

The Murcia Monastrell Roadshow got underway a month later: I took the train to Edinburgh on the Monday - not a bad journey as I managed to get a knock-down first-class ticket from King's Cross to Edinburgh. This used to include a lunch but, alas, no more, although the menu was halfway decent and not expensive to buy on board. It was fortunate, however, as there were repeated announcements before the train departed saying that there were no unreserved seats in second class, and passengers without a seat reservation would probably have to stand all the way (a single ticket is about £100). In the good old days, of course, they'd simply have added a couple more carriages to the train, but with these modern, hi-tech units you can't, apparently, do that.

We were staying at The Glasshouse, which is a splendid place with a beautiful roof garden surmounted by a glass pavilion, lawns and walkways, overlooking historic Calton Hill and with vistas right over the rooftops of the city. Except that we couldn't see them because of a persistent, grey drizzle. The guests, however, in dogged Scottish spirit, arrived anyway and we conducted a blind tasting of wines from the DOs Yecla, Bullas and (mainly) Jumilla, followed by a walk-round tasting to meet the winemakers accompanied by excellent tapas cooked by a team of chefs flown in from Murcia and headed up by Juan-Antonio Pellicer. The details of the tasting will appear on the blog shortly as part of JOHN RADFORD'S WINEWIRE.

Part of the Glasshouse roof garden, pavilion in the background. Pic.: Glasshouse website

Also on the Tuesday I received an interesting e-mail from the Wine Society, but more of that in a subsequent post ('The Holy Grail'). Edinburgh went well and I hitched a lift to Manchester with Adrian Jones, the Murcia trade department's 'ambassador' in the UK.

The Manchester tasting was at Grado, Paul Heathcote's Spanish restaurant/tapas bar on trendy New York Street, and was something of a sell-out (except, of course, being a trade and press tasting it was free), with more than 40 people for the tutored tasting and several dozen more for the walk-around. This was later in the day than the Edinburgh event (on the assumption that people didn't have to travel so far to be there) and culminated in a tapas dinner accompanied by a guitar duo from Murcia - a very civilised occasion. One of the exhibitors, Pedro Luís Martínez, opened a bottle of his 1925 'solera' Monastrell which will go on sale in the autumn for, he estimates, about €600 a bottle. We queued up to taste it in thimblesful.

The €600 Monastrell Mistela 1925

Grado is an excellent place - I did a presentation there when it opened, and it's a worthy part of the Paul Heathcote 'empire'.

Post-tasting entertainment at Grado

Then it was back home on the Friday and a very comfortable trip to Euston on one of Virgin Trains' Voyagers, which provide free Wifi and an electric socket, even in second class. On the whole it was an excellent week, and the guests seemed to enjoy the wines which, we may hope, will result in new business for the exporters.

Hi, Timber!

01-Jun-10 - Up to London for a two-day DECANTER tasting of the wines of Castilla y León, including Arlanza, Toro, Bierzo, Arribes and Cigales. It was an excellent range with some startling emergent wines. My lips are sealed as to the results until the magazine is published, of course, but we found some very pleasant surprises.

Because of the ridiculous price of railway tickets before 09:00 in the morning it costs about the same to stay in a modest hotel as it does to commute, and I tried out the Travelodge Aldgate East, which is about a ten-minute taxi-ride from the DECANTER building. I quite like Travelodges - even in London you can get a room for about £50 and whilst they are very much no-frills, when all you're going to do is sleep there why pay for more? I was a little disappointed to discover that the bar only opened in the evening, but found my way round to the nearby Princess of Prussia for a late light lunch and a glass, before retiring for a siesta.

This was because I had taken up a very generous offer from Neleen Strauss, who manages High Timber, the South African restaurant beside the Thames, opposite Tate Modern. We featured the project in the January, 2009 issue of YES CHEF! Magazine: ZA wine producer Gary Jordan brought in Neleen from Vivat Bacchus in Farringdon Street, and Justin Saunders from Dukes Hotel in Mayfair, and the restaurant launched in the spring of that year. I was invited to the launch but wasn't able to make it, so Neleen very kindly asked me to come along at some other time and, being in the neighbourhood I took her up on the invitation.

I had arranged to meet my ex-colleague Sam Jones (formerly deputy editor of YES CHEF! Magazine and now working for a publishing house in the city) and her fiancé Glynn, who live nearby. Sam had been able to make the launch and absolutely loved it, so they were very keen to go again. The weather tried to spoil everything, of course, with a relentless, miserable drizzle, but once inside the place is very warm and welcoming, as was Neleen, and Justin came over to say hello between courses. High Timber has been described as 'a steak house' but it really is very much more than that, and Justin has been given a great deal of freedom to create dishes of his own. There's a sample menu on the restaurant's website, but if you're a regular reader of this blog you'll know that I can never resist steak, and the sirloin with braised mushroom, roast vine tomato, onion rings, baby watercress and hand cut chips - served on a plank - was a consummation devoutly to be wish'd. The restaurant also has a 40,000-bottle wine cellar, but we didn't make too much of an inroad into that, in spite of trying. It was an excellent evening.

Fab steak! Pic.: High Timber website