Dining in London

Power dining in London, including some of the greats: Gordon Ramsay, River Cafe,etc.

I was lucky enough to respond to an offer for a cheap trip to London (not including the meals). London is a quick 2 1/2 hours away from Paris by train and now that the pound has been devalued, it is a reasonable place to go to relax for a few days. The food in the fine restaurants is stellar. They say English food is terrible, and I am sure that is true, but you can spend your time on French, Italian, Indian, and East-Asian cuisine and be very happy.

On arriving, I made it to my reservation at Gordon Ramsay. It was so difficult to obtain one and I was thrilled that I could share the experience with a college friend, Peggy Czyzak. This restaurant has the coveted Michelin three stars and I think it deserves it. The service is lovely and refined, yet friendly, and the food is superb and understated. Peggy and I both started with sauteed foie gras de canard with my favorite sweet breads. And we continued with a turbot served with a variety of wild mushrooms. Simply delectable. We ordered a great white Burgundy: Chassagne Montrachet of Jean Noel Gagnard 2006. When at Ramsay's no need to be frugal! For dessert we were very inventive and opted for the eggplant for two. This was sweet, creamy, and wonderful. Along with that came a lavish array chocolates and petits fours.

Among other things Peggy and I discussed at lunch was the next restaurant I should go to: Tom Aikens. His name sounds British but the restaurant in truly French with French waiters. I started with a superb lobster confit with rabbit filet roasted in a vanilla butter and served with pumpkin gnocchi. What a mouthful to say and even conceive of. It sounds strange but I loved it. My main course was pigeon with a foie gras mousse and pumpkin risotto. I guess this chef likes his pumpkin. I didn't bother to order dessert as Peggy warned me that the coffee and petits fours choices would be enough for me--including five different flavors of just-baked madeleines. There was enough chocolate among the petits fours and madeleines to keep me happy. Were there not so many other wonderful restaurants in London, I would return again and again to both Ramsay and Aiken.

I LOVE THE RIVER CAFE. But that is because I love trattoria food. I'll go back to that place. The menu has so many delicious offerings that I would not get bored if I went once a week for a year. And dining there doesn't break the bank. They do change the menu daily and there are wonderful pasta dishes, fish dishes and meat dishes. Desserts are excellent--especially the fruit torta, the panna cotta and the Chocolate Nemesis. On the evening I went, I had the roasted calamari to start with--a large salad with huge grilled squid bodies and heads, and pasta stuffed with rabbit and pancetta. The pasta was wonderful--everything was wonderful. I could not decide on a dessert until I promised myself that I could go back there within 6 months. So I chose the rich Chocolate Nemesis. That is a chocolate lover's heaven.

Everyone talks about the Ivy. In LA, the Ivy is the place to see and be seen and that is true of the one in London. I went there after theater and although I didn't have a reservation, I was treated very well and given a table at the bar. The food is nothing spectacular. One goes for the experience. Apparently Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had been there the night before. In terms of the meal, I had a fresh Dungeness crab salad that was very good. After that I had the treacle tart à la Oliver Twist. I was told that treacle is only in season for a very short time and I felt lucky. It was quite sweet and served with clotted cream which cut the sweetness.

After this gastronomic weekend, I shudder to think of what the scale will say about those extra kilos I must have gained. I think I will join a health club, because I certainly can't give up eating!!