Hot on the Highstreet Week 188

Posted on by

Wondering what to spend your Christmas Amazon vouchers on? Pick a city trip for 2014 and buy the accompanying Louis Vuitton City Guide online at Amazon for £23.

These attractive, brightly-hued city guides offer a stylish overview of the world’s 15 greatest cities according to Louis Vuitton. The best tips and itineraries for: Paris, Sydney, Moscow, Miami, Sao Paulo, Cape Town, New York, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Bejing, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Venice, London, Seoul. The books offer essential insiders’ knowledge, written by 50 of the world’s best travel journalists, writers and high profile figures. There is an emphasis on art, literature, fashion and design, but other themes are covered too. Careful to present a range of options, from top restaurants to the most atmospheric cafes, the Louis Vuitton City Guides focus on quality rather than prestige and price.

Celebrating its 15th year of publication, they are also available in a limited edition collectors’ boxset of all 15 (£375), but with only 3000 limited edition vanished wooden cases made you may have to pay over the odds to get your hands on a set.

The Louis Vuitton City Guides are available in a range of languages. A lovely little gift to inspire stylish travel for 2014.

Shop on Amazon here or direct from the Louis Vuitton website here.

10 Greek Street, Soho

Posted on by

I have always associated 10 Greek Street with feta, olives and tatziki. Stupidly it never occurred to me that this bistro  was named after the address rather than the nationality of the cuisine. After years on my radar I finally tried the Soho restaurant last week. Rain-soaked and fed up with the tiresome response: ‘sure you can have a table, but it will be a 90 minute wait, you can’t leave the premises and there is nowhere to sit,’ we entered expecting the same dismissal from 10 Greek Street. Instead we were pleasantly surprised, there was a lovely table for three available right away at the front of the dining room. Score.

This bistro is perfectly organised but relaxed and chic, saucers of crunchy sea salt and proper pepper grinders are all in their place on each table, as are menus, wine lists, napkins and plenty of cutlery. There are a handful of contemporary French-British inspired dishes from which to choose.

The smells from the kitchen are arousingly delicious, I had a good feeling about this meal. Pumpkin, burrata, radicchio and sage plus Seared scallops with borlotti beans, black pudding and rosemary were both hugely successful starters, fresh and light with perfectly contrasting flavours and textures.

We opted for the special, slow cooked venison with potato gratin and kale, and the Gloucester Old Spot pork with mustard mash, Brussels sprouts and apple chutney for mains, to share. They were really, really good. Each dish had been carefully considered and beautifully composed … clever combinations of ingredients. Venison arrived, the meat falling off the bone and soaked in a rich aromatic sauce. The pork was my favourite, cooked to perfection with a vinegary mustard mash and a sauce worthy of plate licking. It helped too that the white wine was lovely chosen by our waiter to complement the meat.

Desserts didn’t grab our attention so we omitted this course and went round the corner for Gelupo gelato instead. A perfect meal and a perfect evening… another Soho establishment to add to your ‘must try’ list.

More information and book here: www.10greekstreet.com

Ember Yard, Soho

Posted on by

The festive season is about feeling full, all the time. A strange time perhaps for the newest Salt Yard restaurant to open. But loyal to my favourite restaurant Opera Tavern, I felt compelled to try this new member of the collection ASAP. This Christmas, Ember Yard joins the Salt Yard family of Italian-Spanish tapas restaurants alongside Salt Yard (Goodge Street), Opera Tavern (Covent Garden) and Dehesa (Carnaby Street).

And so, after much haggling for a table, my best friends and I arrived at Ember Yard for our special Soho Supperclub Christmas meal. Much like the other eateries Ember Yard focuses on high quality, utterly irresistible Spanish produce (think divine Manchego and rich Iberico ham) and little plates of delectable fish, meat and vegetable recipes. As the name suggests, Ember Yard has an emphasis on chargrilling.

It is a familiar feel… dimly lit restaurant, cosy tables closely packed together and atmospheric bar stools for those who want to be closer to the action. The menu is much like the other restaurants, with a few of its own signature dishes. At Opera Tavern they pride themselves on their mini Iberico pork and fois gras burger, and rightly so, it is unbelievably good. In an effort to repeat this success Ember Yard have created their own interpretation: Smoked Basque Beef Burger with Idiazabal and Chorizo Ketchup. I loved it, though not quite as much as the sweet and indulgent Opera Tavern original. Other highlights included the silky tender Grilled Iberico Presa with rich Whipped Jamon Butter and Grilled Salt Marsh Lamb, with roasted aubergine and salsa verde which was an earthy and exquisite combination of ingredients. We found the Iberico Pork Fat Chips with Chorizo a little disappointing, the tangy ketchup is delicious but the chips were a little too dry and needed more seasoning. For a green kick the Seasonal Italian Greens with Chilli are a fresh accompaniment to the meat mains.

Desserts were tempting but we managed to resist on this trip, they will have to be a treat for next time. As expected the wine list is thorough and fine, the house white and red were both were exemplary and priced very reasonably.

Salt Yard Group have done it again. Unlike the locations of its other members, Soho is already filled with tapas style venues vying for your custom, but with food this good I have no doubt that Ember Yard will be a favourite in no time.

More information and book here.

www.emberyard.co.uk