Pied-à-Terre (2nd Visit) – Review

Tags

1 Michelin Star, French, LONDON, Michelin Star, Review, Shane Osbourne

Pied-à-Terre
34 Charlotte Street
London W1T 2NH
Tel. 020 76361178

Food type: French

Food rating: 7/10

Nearest tube: Goodge Street or Tottenham Court Road

Website: Pied-à-Terre

I do apologize in advance for my lack of posts recently. To say the past couple of weeks have been pretty hectic is perhaps an understatement – during this time I have moved houses to beautiful Surrey, obtained gainful employment (or at least joined the work force) and bought a car. Not too much going on then. Although I may be slow with future posts, rest assured that I will keep them coming at a steady rate… I do have quite a few posts backdated.

The last time I visited Pied à Terre was the around the same time last year. There were two things I remember vividly from my initial visit – one was a magnificent poached and seared foie gras, one of the best renditions of fattened liver I have experienced this side of the pond, and the other was the abysmal service. We were put in the corner and ignored for the best part of our meal. To be honest, that second aspect grated the most and till this day that had to be the single worst dining experience ever. Yet, what is the saying again? Oh yes… “to forgive divine” and I thought it would be worth a punt one year on to see if things have improved. Incidentally my sister who was visiting from Australia so this visit could not have been more ideal. Head chef, Shane Osbourne is a pretty well known back in his homeland.

In typical fashion, my sister would arrive late (a good hour as well) so I spent most of that time drinking glass after glass of champagne while nibbling away at some very addictive green Sicilian olives. From the get go there was a noticeable improvement in the service – whenever our plate of olives  were nearly empty, someone would always be at hand to replenish  them with a new plate. All this done, without anyone hovering over our table watching us like hawks.

Prices are still the same as I remember them from my last visit. The ala Carte menu is £56 for Starters and Mains with Desserts at £13.50 – not the cheapest at 2* level in London but definitely not the most expensive either. The trade off however is that they are not as generous with the freebies (e.g. there is no amuse bouché). The degustation (tasting) menu is priced at £85 with two wine flights available. Lunch is £33 for 3 courses and there is the ever popular pre-/post-theatre menu at £39.50 for 3 courses. We decided to opt for the tasting menu, substituting the main course for one of the day’s special.

Menu Degustation:

Marinated Scallops with Brandade Mousse, Cauliflower and Truffle Salad, Lemon Oil and Baby Wood Sorrel
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Tuna Seared with Acacia Honey and Black Pepper with a Salad of Walnut and Celery, Walnut Mayonnaise and Puffed Wild Rice
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Seared and Poached Foie Gras in a Sauternes Consomme with Borlotti Beans, Smoked Bacon and Fresh Almonds
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Poached Lemon Sole with Petit Pois a la Francaise, Smoked Eel, Lemon Thyme Veloute and Pomme Souffle
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Roast Gressingham Duck Breast, Cumin Crusted Tenderloin, Duck Sausage, Plum Tarte Fine, Celeriac Puree and Port Jus
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The Cheese
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Alfonso Mango and Ginger Bread Terrine, Nutmeg Mousse and Honey Jelly
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Bitter Sweet Chocolate Tart, Stout Ice Cream and Macadamia Nut Cream
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Café and Petit Fours

Canapes

A few nibbles were brought to us once all my guests had arrived. A pretty in pink watermelon foam with black olive and crumbled feta was as appetizing as it sounds. I was not impressed with the technique and use of foam in my previous visit and I still remain unconvinced – pink frothy sputum is not something I would want to be starting the meal with.  (5/10) Poppy seed feuille de brique with foie gras parfait was significantly better (and more sensible) – the filo pastry crisp and light with the foie gras having good liver flavour. (8/10) Equally good was a tartlet of chorizo and onions – the sweated down onions having a lovely sweetness to balance the smoky spicy sausage. (8/10) The last nibble – a tomato fondue had intense depth of flavour.  (7/10)

Bread

Bread, made on the premises and served piping hot was a choice of walnut & pecan, bacon & onion brioche, poppyseed and the star of the show, Guinness slice which had a light, airy, open-crumbed texture and the distinctive burnt flavour of the stout tickling the back of the palate. (8/10 bread)

Marinated Scallops with Brandade Mousse, Cauliflower and Truffle Salad, Lemon Oil and Baby Wood Sorrel

The first official course on the tasting menu was delicate plate of marinated scallops with a brandade mousse garnished with samphire and summer truffles which had good balance and the sweetness of the scallops coming through nicely. I however do question the addition of the truffle however given that summer truffles are pretty tasteless and its presence certainly did not contribute much to the dish. (7/10)

Tuna Seared with Acacia Honey and Black Pepper with a Salad of Walnut and Celery, Walnut Mayonnaise and Puffed Wild Rice

Seared yellow-fin tuna coated with Acacia honey was another interesting idea which was executed very well. The flowery, sweet hues of the honey complemented the freshness and oiliness of the tuna with the walnut and celery adding richness and grassiness to the overall composition of the dish. If there was a single component that could have been improved it was the tuna itself although I do not want to stoke any controversy by saying how this could be replaced by the superior (but endangered) blue-fin. (7/10)

Seared and Poached Foie Gras in a Sauternes Consomme with Borlotti Beans, Smoked Bacon and Fresh Almonds

The most memorable dish last time around – the signature poached and seared foie gras which has garnered much praise from food critics (a dish which Campion pro-claimed to be a ‘straight-set winner’ and one which Giles Coren went back for seconds) made an appearance on the tasting menu with a few tweaks. Gone are the pea shoots and roasted garlic puree, replaced by some toasted fresh almonds. I am rather torn with this change because on one hand, the almonds added interesting texture but at the same time the distinct flavour of the pea shoots and garlic helped cut through the richness of the dish. To be honest this was really comparing apples and oranges and arguments can be made for both. What was clear was this was an accomplished dish, and the execution was even better this time around. (8/10)

 

Poached Lemon Sole with Petit Pois a la Francaise, Smoked Eel, Lemon Thyme Veloute and Pomme Souffle

Lemon sole was treated with simplicity – poached and served with a garnish of French-style peas, broad beans, smoked eel and a lemon thyme sauce. On top was the lightest pillow of pomme soufflé. Since I had a similar dish at Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester (which despite the lateness of this post was a week apart) I could not help but draw comparisons. The version here wins hands down with the flavour of the fish accentuated better by the various accompaniments. (8/10)

Roast Gressingham Duck Breast, Cumin Crusted Tenderloin, Duck Sausage, Plum Tarte Fine, Celeriac Puree and Port Jus

I felt the special of the day – a plate of roast duck breast was less inspiring. There were certainly too many components on the plate but ultimately the main focus of the dish (the duck) was lost – a problem I found with some of the dishes on my previous visit. It was not for want of flavours, of which there were many, but that the duck breast itself was both uninteresting and tough. Again as a matter of direct comparison, a similar dish I enjoyed at the Square just two days later was more interesting, with the flavours on the plate more distinct and pronounced.  An opportunity lost. (6/10)

The Cheese

Cheese here is supplied by Premier Cheese and was a plated course of Brie de Meaux and Colston Basett Stilton.  Now I have no qualms of having a plated cheese course but it really annoyed me when the table (of two) next to us who were also having the tasting menu was offered a selection of cheese from a small tray. They did not even enquire about any personal preferences which meant that my sister who does not like blue cheese did not touch her Stilton (nor was this noted by our servers). As far as the cheese themselves go, they were in stellar condition (and perhaps the reason why they were pre-selected for us), with the brie exceptionally runny and the stilton perfectly ripe. (8/10)

Alfonso Mango and Ginger Bread Terrine, Nutmeg Mousse and Honey Jelly

Cheese done, it was time for the sweets and in the height of summer, what better than some beautiful Alfonso mango – presented as a terrine with ginger bread with some nutmeg mousse, honey jelly, fresh slices of mango and a thin wafer of mango tuile. The dessert tasted fine, and the components made sense, but for me it was lacking the intense flavour of the mango with the fresh slices cut too thin for my liking. (7/10)

Bitter Sweet Chocolate Tart, Stout Ice Cream and Macadamia Nut Cream

This is the same dessert that I had last time around and is one of the signatures of the chef. The bitter sweet tart, soft and almost liquid and the nutty, toasty macadamia nut cream (and crunchy toasted macadamia nuts) were a perfect match with the stout ice cream adding a touch of luxury . (7/10)

Petit Fours

Petit fours here tend to be elaborate and expansive featuring various tuiles, chocolate truffles, pistachio fudge, raspberry tart, apple and calvados jelly and hazelnut cookie which were very good. (8/10)

Let me be the first to say that this was a more positive dining experience with staff attentive and topping up with bread and wine flawless. (That said, the same comment on Sauternes being a sweet wine from Bordeaux was heard YET again) What really annoyed me was the aforementioned issue with the cheese.

So what did I make of the cooking this time around? To be honest this was pretty much as I expected – their strengths lie in their home-made bread, top notch starters with diminishing returns with each course. Desserts here, whilst by no means bad, remain their weakest point although the duck main course was ordinary and seriously lacking in flavour. Does it deserve two stars? Maybe in England – while it is certainly better than, for example, Marcus Wareing and L’atelier, it isn’t the strongest either.  The restaurant was bustling although admittedly this was a Saturday evening so they are clearly doing something right.