Adam Handling. 19th May 2016
Birthdays and Christmas morning the only time it's acceptable to have Champagne for breakfast.
This review is late. Very, very late. So late in fact that the restaurant this review relates to has ceased to be. It is the proverbial dead parrot of a Monty Python sketch.
La Donna HQ has moved premises and my faithful laptop was lost amidst in the aether of boxes, packing materials and kitchen building. It’s all rather exciting, but not really an excuse. My sincerest apologies.
Back to business…
As you may have gathered I am a fan of Adam Handling. Since Masterchef The Professionals 2013 I have been hooked. Visiting numerous occasions for Chefs G&T’s and crab doughnuts, I have reviewed it twice already. It wasn't enough.
I had been encouraged again and again by the man himself to try the tasting menu I finally gave in. It didn't take much in all honesty, the distance is really the only blockade I faced. When I heard Adam was to be removing his name from the Caxton Grill at St Ermin’s Hotel to pursue his own venture it was decided. I would go. Not just that, I went the whole hog, 11 courses. The same as most of my reviews my birthday was nearing and coincidently fell on the final weekend of Adam Handling at Caxton. Perfect.
Adam now heads The Frog in Ely's Yard, London. Unfortunately I've yet to make it there, but a flagship restaurant for The Frog will be opening in Summer 2017 in Covent Garden! (Now does anyone want to help me sneak in to the Grand Opening?)
Taking my trusty companion, LuckyGirlTravel, we first headed to St Pancras Champagne Bar for a breakfast fizz before catching an Uber to Westminster.
For a late Thursday lunch the restaurant was comfortably full, the quiet hum of diners enjoying their meals and each others company. Seated quickly and prosecco ordered we began...
Now firstly before the food I would like to really thank Adam for booking this for me, when I tried to book originally I was told the 11 course menu was not available for lunch so to have this made possible was, simply, amazing. Thank you, Chef.
The meal began and we were presented with a scroll tied with a tiny key on a string. Instructed to not lose it as it would come in handy later.
Course 1: Pork and Lovage.
A beautiful crispy nugget hiding the soft, almost melting meat within and dotted with the bright, fresh lovage puree with its whisper of aniseed.
Course 2: Beetroot, beetroot and more beetroot.
I’ve have experienced this bright pink wizardry before and it blew my mind this time as it did last time. Beetroot panna cotta and beetroot and yuzugel inside the thinnest sugar tube covered by beetroot powder, a snowstorm of magenta. Sharp and sweet and earthy all at once.
Course 3: Liquid Gold.
This cryptically named course arrived inside a wooden box resembling a book, the chef’s name embossed so as not to forget just whose mind could create such whimsy. Inside this box were too small cubes of gold, topped with caviar and a sliver of truffle. The fear of the unknown gripped us, what was in front of us. As instructed we dove in with reckless abandon and what greeted us was unexpected. Sweet white chocolate coated with gold leaf and full of bright, vegetal olive oil. The oil and caviar balanced the sweetness of the chocolate with the truffle appearing at the finish to usher you on. Bizarre yet surprisingly moreish.
Course 4: Crab, Apple, Sea Herbs.
Dishes of seaweed and dry ice appear next, causing the mist of the sea to encompass the table. Balanced above; a dish of beautifully sweet dressed crab, sweet sharp green apple with, both actual and gin and tonic, caviar. Drops of creamy avocado puree are hidden amongst sea herbs and samphire. If I had to choose my last meal on earth this would be in the menu. Twice.
Course 5: Mother.
A wooden box arrives, a tiny heart shaped padlock hanging from its front. Slow cooked egg yolk, celeriac, crispy green apple and truffle greeted me from the inside. I don't know what I expected ‘Mother’ to be. All I knew heading in was this was the dish Adam dedicated to his mother and from previous readings I know that she is a vegetarian. It was delicious, complex and earthy. You could tell this was created with heart.
Course 6: Beer, Beef, Chilli, Yolk
Beef Tatare, but not as you know it. A light cracker topped with minced beef flavoured with Korean red chilli paste, among others, and a grating of cured egg yolk. I found this much lighter than the usual tartare wrapped in soft, unctuous egg yolk. A pleasant change but my hips aren't as wide as they are due to a love of the “lighter touch.”
Course 7: Turbot, Limestone, Radish.
Turbot is a marvellous fish and this simple dish highlights it as the treasure it is. Roasted turbot served with limestone mashed potato, buerre blanc and tarragon oil. Perfectly cooked fish against smooth potato, crunchy radish and the bright green oil. It tasted as pretty as it looked.
Course 8: Cheese & Truffle, Doughnut.
Yes you read that right. A doughnut, loaded with smooth creamy cheese and covered under an avalanche of truffle. It’s the most flavourful blizzard you would ever hope to get stuck in.
Course 9: ‘Burnt Beef.’
Another cryptic course. Hoping not for a plate of charcoal, it arrived, beautifully rare beef, hidden beneath a ‘burnt’ vegetable cracker, withartichoke puree, roasted onions and some lightly fried almost tempura-esque artichoke. The sauce was wonderfully rich without being too heavy, but I would have liked a touch more.
Course 10: Nitro Tiramisu.
I love Italian classics and nothing, to me, is quite as classic as a tiramisu. Adam’s take on tiramisu arrived with a trolley billowing heavy smoke from a nitrogen filled dish and a siphon. No savoiardi, no layers! Instead great clouds were sprayed and dropped into the frosty depths and reappeared seconds later looking, to those unaware, like perfectly baked meringues. They were hastily dusted with cacao and we were advised to pop them in who as quickly as possible to save them melting. Alas my friend suffered a slight tongue burn and ice cream headache as a result. The steam from the nitrogen kept reappearing out of our noses causing us both to laugh like giddy dragons. The taste was just as a tiramisu should be light, eggy, with the back bitterness of espresso and the quick freeze gave an almost chewy texture mimicking the missing biscuits. Very clever.
Course 11: Yuzu, White Chocolate, Burnt Butter, Milk.
Possibly one of Adam’s ‘signature’ dishes, yuzu curd meets aerated white chocolate, burnt butter biscuit and milk sorbet. blobs of smooth singed meringue and a hidden heart of raspberry come together in a marriage of sweet, salt, sour and cream. It ticks every box I ask for on a dessert. The crisp biscuit melts in the mouth. The milk sorbet almost tempers the almost too sweet curd which is bought back down to earth with sharp raspberry puree. After the 10 prior courses its perfect, not too heavy, but packing a punch enough to tell you; stop now, you’ve had enough. It’s the ending the menu needed.
And this 11 course was the ending Adam Handling needed at Caxton.
Thank you and see you very soon at The Frog!