Mayfair Foodie Newsletter

Fellow Foodies,

Welcome to another Mayfair Foodie newsletter

I promise to keep this one short. I see stats on my newsletters, and it always amazes me how high our open rate is, despite my best efforts to cram too much in.

So, since we last spoke, what has happened in the world of the Mayfair Foodie?

I was privileged to be invited to a special gala dinner at the Mayfair Chippy and Piper Heidsieck champagne. There were 12 guests, and we sat for a 3-course dinner.  In case you missed it, I reviewed this Mayfair institution earlier this year.

We were treated to small plates of seafood to start, followed by Classic fish & chips (Mayfair Chippy Style) and puds. Wash down with Champagne and wine. What a fantastic evening! 

A week later, I found myself in Marylebone for Limor Chens' book launch at her restaurant Delamina. Her book “My Tel Aviv Table” is a food chronicle & recipes based on growing up in Tel Aviv. Her passion for the food she grew up with and now serves at her restaurant comes out on every page. The cookbook is well-written with easy-to-follow recipes, and as Limor pointed out at the launch, a picture accompanies every recipe in the book. It was a pleasure to meet Limor, and I cannot wait to start cooking some of the recipes from the book.

A few days later, we ate at a lovely Mayfair pub, The Footman. The menu had a few nice twists. A full review of the lunch is available on the website.

This week started with dinner at the much talked about Officina 00, a full review to follow soon, but a quick heads up: it is very good and a twist on the usual Italian but without losing the Italian passion for good simple pasta dishes.  They have two restaurants, one in Fitzrovia and the other on Old Street.

Yesterday, I attended a Preview of the forthcoming World Raki Week. The lunch at award-winning Rüya’s was hosted by Douglas Blyde, Raki guru Ayça Budak and head chef Halit Deniz. 

I learned more than you ever thought possible about the Raki and its flexibility as a key ingredient in cocktails. The Raki Berry crush was a revelation. 

We were also treated to a special menu devised for the launch party by the head chef & Douglas; it was delicious. I will attempt to capture the event's flavour with an article, which should be on the website by the end of next week.

Latest News

Connaught Grill

If you have always fancied eating at the Connaught Grill (ground floor of the Connaught Hotel) but thought it might be a bit lumpy, they have their winter season menu available, and a 2-course lunch is £35 and 3 courses £45. The chance to eat and visit one of the world's most iconic and famous hotels for that price represents good value. If you are feeling flush, pop into the Connaught bar after, number five in the best bars in the world and arguably the most famous. For this ultimate experience, you can enjoy a house cocktail, gin, and tonic for £25. Why not treat yourself? I won't tell anybody.

Sketch, London

As is the way at sketch, they transformed the famous entrance of the restaurant into a theme inspired by Robert Frost's poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” It is stunning, and if you are nearby, pop in to take a look, you won’t be disappointed.

Florencio Pizza-Chef Patron Diego Jacquet

Argentinian Chef Patron Diego Jacquet is opening Florencio Pizza in Seymour Place. Diego’s career included working at “Casa Nicolasa” in San Sebastian, the famous El Bulli, under Ferran Adria. Then on to New York and Aquavit, the award-winning Swedish restaurant run by chef Marcus Samuelsson, so these are not going to be any ordinary Pizza’s.

Claridge Christmas Tree by Louis Vuitton

We mere mortals must endure the annual chore of putting up the Christmas tree. My job is to feed the Christmas tree lights to my wife whilst spinning around the tree. This usually takes two attempts, but one year, we managed a record-breaking four attempts. Fingers crossed that this year; we can achieve the desired effect in one go.

Meanwhile, if you are Claridges, you have Louis Vuitton to provide your tree. Well, the word tree is probably stretching it, as from looking at the picture, there is not a spruce in sight; nevertheless, it does look very impressive.

 Coming Up

As we head into December and the busy Christmas season, I have only one restaurant visit in December, which is the ever-popular Guinea Grill, and it is a good way to end the year. The Guinea Grill is closing its doors for January & February for major renovations, including adding additional much-needed by taking over the next-door premises.

I know you have heard this from me before, but I will get my apron on and cook some Christmas dishes to add to our popular recipe section. So far, google reviews have given our recipes 5-star reviews. It's a good job they did not taste my versions😀

While discussing recipes, my favourite cookbook article has some lovely cookery book suggestions which might give some inspiration for Christmas gifts.

I will publish the review of Officina and Raki-inspired lunch at Ruya. 

I will add a few new Christmas cocktail recipes; I need to get down to some serious tasting for this project, as I know you would expect me to research this thoroughly🍹🍸. 

I almost forgot the lovely Sherry from Hedonism has an exceptional wine of the Month for December; it’s not to be missed. Check the website next week for some great selections.

So, I hope you enjoy the next few weeks and try to stay calm with the Christmas prep. Take time to enjoy the season and spoil yourself.

As always, please send any comments or let me know your dining experiences. I’m also looking for Christmas leftover recipes; I’m working on one based on Dishoom’s Lamb Raan, using Turkey leg instead of lamb. I’ll let you know how it goes.

There will be one more newsletter this year (mid-December), and then I will leave you in peace until January.

Thanks as always for reading. It would appear I’ve failed to keep it short again; I love writing the newsletter.

 I hope you have a great weekend.

Speak soon,

Martin

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www.mayfairfoodie.com

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