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Adulation for Aikens.
by Daniel Darwood, Co-Editor

After a month’s wait and an awkward car
journey – the place is not the easiest to
find - we were part of the “feeding frenzy”
that is now Tom Aikens’s Fulham
restaurant. More formal, spacious and
comfortable than Pied a Terre, his current
eponymous restaurant oozes style, from
the tiny mother of pearl salt spoons to the
discrete louvred screens that prevent
outsiders from gazing in at his culinary
creations.

And what stunning creations they are. Our
sight, taste and smell were engaged by
the variety, complexity and beauty of the
dishes. The balance of tastes and
textures continued to surprise and delight.

As we had to take a 9.00 pm booking, we
had written off the possibility of being
offered the tasting menu, as is the case
in other – lesser – establishments. To
our delight this proved no problem, so we
jumped at the chance.

After an excellent trio of amuse-bouches
– themselves miniature works of art - and
a deeply comforting tasse of celeriac
soup, our first course of Caramelised
roast scallops had a sweetness and
texture almost matched by a cauliflower
puree of perfect smoothness. This
richness was balanced by the piquancy
of a sherry jelly and pickled raisin garnish.

The cured foie gras with pain d’epices
came with a garden of delicate herbs
spiked with apple jelly and chutney and
tiny vegetables. Stunning in its Tolkien –
like presentation, this dish produced an
explosion of taste sensations, the
melting smoothness of the foie gras
being awakened by the acidity of the
apply jelly and pickled shallots.

Warm baked seabass came in slices of
carpaccio thinness lifted by a sharp
lemon vinaigrette and balanced by a
black olive emulsion, shitzu and basil
and coriander cress.

Roast chicken breast was shrouded in a
cappuccino like Sauternes sauce which
also enrobed the parsley macaroni,
chervil chiffonade and lettuce ravioli of
chicken confit. This complex dish, like the
others, succeeded because each
component retained its individuality,
enhancing the taste and balancing the
textures of the others. The roast chicken
retained a depth of flavour and moistness
of texture that came from perfect timing in
its execution.

The French cheese board was
impressive in its scope and maturity: a
real embarrassment of riches.

The two puddings were veritable artistic
and architectural creations: a coffee and
hazelnut cake of exquisite lightness was
dominated by a chocolate tower of coffee
mousse and offset by an intense coffee
parfait. As a refreshing contrast, the
“Lemon” dish combined rice pudding,
pannacotta, sorbet and a white chocolate
cigarette encasing lemon mousse.

Nor did the flow from the kitchen end with
the puddings. The chocolates and
crystallised tuiles served as petits fours
continued the contrast of tastes and
textures. Then, when we thought all was
over, warm, moist and light madeleines,
arrived, fresh from the oven.

Overall, the service was efficient and
unobtrusive, with a wine list of good
range and mark ups that would not break
the bank. The pouring of the water and
wine was not as aggressive as would
seem to be the norm nowadays. For £70
of seven courses plus coffee and petits
fours and two freebie dishes to start, this
must surely be the gourmet’s bargain of
London. We emerged into the night
contented but not bloated, eager to
arrange our next visit.

Genius and Insanity Tread a Fine Line.
by Simon Carter, Co-Editor

Nestled between the King's and Fulham
Roads, central to South Kensington,
Chelsea and Sloane Square, you might
expect to find an eaterie packed with
Lacroix clad clientele. And you do. But
after the hype of awards, reviews and
media adulation around Tom Aikens'
eponymous restaurant , numbers of
traveling foodies are attracted in equal
measure, eager to experience the reality.

Before setting off for our 9pm table
(booked a month in advance), we watched
a video of their Tom Baker narrated fly-on-
the-wall. As an appetizer it was a
disappointment; more interested in
presenting personalities than food - how
many times will Tom say Fuck? Will Laura
have a nervous breakdown? Will either of
them have a fight? (With each other or
anyone else). We wanted to see real food
and the inspirations behind the dishes,
not reality 'junk' TV.

Nonetheless we arrived in good spirits,
and having eaten at Pied a Terre when
Tom was head chef, with high
expectations. I liked the dining room; full
but not crowded; a buzz but not noisy; well
lit and just about the right staff to
customer ratio. We opted for the £70
Tasting Menu, inclusive of coffee and
sweets. The wine list was diverse and
started at reasonable prices.

So to the business end, the food: the
canapés were nothing short of
sensational, each a taste and texture
sensation that lingered like a fine wine:
The two puddings too were a labour
intensive triumph - rich in flavour, packed
with imagination, ingenuity and creativity.

Similar adjectives could be applied to
what came in between but with a caveat:-

A particular technique was evident
throughout; that of taking an ingredient
and presenting it several different ways on
the same plate. The effect was to deliver
a striking flavour across multiple textures.
While the practice itself is not new, the
execution here was a step of innovation
far beyond.

This is not about a roast with a confit. The
forms took a jelly, a froth, a mousse, a
vinaigrette as well as some that defied
regular description. They used to say the
true test of a kitchen was in the
consommé, perhaps now it is in the
clarity, cleanliness and depth of flavour of
the jelly?

It didn’t stop there, in a single dish (Foie
Gras Terrine for example), the kitchen
delivered contrasts in multiple flavours
across multiple textures, and this is
where things got a little tricky.....

At times I found my palette bombarded,
overloaded with tastes and textures. I felt
as though the food was screaming
“genius” a little too loudly; the kitchen
sweating just a tad too hard to say "and
look I can do this as well!"

Along with this complexity comes the
challenge of delivering cooking with
consistent, clinical precision. When all
the hype is done, Michelin will look for this
in the award of two stars. Proving their
scope to excess at this stage is not
necessary, I finished my dinner in no
doubt that within the kitchen were a team
of rare talents, headed by a master, that
had the expertise to tone down a couple of
notches and comfortably prove their two
star worthiness.

So perhaps the television cameras will
revisit to see how Tom is getting on, and
just maybe the focus on personality was
shrewder than I first thought. I'll watch it
more closely next time.