Diary of a Culture Hedonist

Very few people know there is a restaurant at the National Portrait Gallery with roof top view. Even fewer know they serve a afternoon tea. I was treated to afternoon tea there on Friday. The place was buzzing with late tea-drinkers and early cocktail-quaffers. We settled on their classic afternoon tea set which arrived as below: The sandwiches were freshly made with lovely soft bread - there was a selection of egg mayo, cheese and chutney, ham and mustard and tuna paste. All very tasty. It even came with a honey-mustard dressed salad. Then there were the scones - they were twice the normal size and warm to the touch and one would feed two easily. Sitting behind the huge scones were two slices of victoria sponge cake with inch-think icing - they were soft to the touch and moist when you bite into them. All very yummy. 

When one is accustomed to so many good and interesting restaurants in Soho, Mayfair and the East End, crossing Park Lane over to Knightsbridge has always been tricky for me - where to eat, what's convenient, and who will be eating there. After a very positive experience at Koffmann's a few weeks ago, I ventured to another relatively new eatery - Bar Boulud. The charcuterie platter to share was quite wonderful - the tastes and textures were well balanced without coming across as too rustic. The burgers and chips turned out pretty well too. The meat was succulent. The size was not too big. One actually got a good choice of options on how the burger could be assembled. My fellow diners had the lemon sole which was fresh and well cooked. The boujoulaise sauges were pretty wholesome too. All in all, it makes a trip to this part of town much more tolerable.

Semyon Bychkov and the National Youth Orchestra kicked start their BBC Proms concert with Dukas The Sorcerer's Apprentice . It was well put together. A good pace. There was a lot of contrast. And clearly the whole orchestra enjoyed this colourful piece. This was followed by Julian Anderson's Fantasias (its London premiere). The first movement gave a bold and staunch start of the work - being scored for just brass instruments. The subsequent movements took the listeners to different naturalistic soundscapes. The most intriguing part was the tapping of the mouth pieces and col legno which created a "tropical rain fall" inside the Royal Albert Hall. All in all it was a delightful experience (and the audience seemed to like it too). Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique argually was the weakest piece. Whilst the players were full of enthusiasm, the first movement took a long time to settle - passion was lacking. The subsequent movements got better. The dance and the march ...

It's a new production. It's a much loved opera at Glyndebourne. Gerald Finley sang the title role.  Having seen him in lighter Mozart roles (such as Figaro) I was not entirely what to expect. He did the athletic and dashing parts of the character well,  but somehow lacked the menacing quality at the darker end of the drama. Anna Samuil's Donna Anna was ok - though I did find her voice uneven in many of the arias. Anna Virovlansky was a feisty Zerlian who partnered well with Guido Loconsolo's Masetto. Alastair Miles was held up in traffic so was only able to take part in Act II. Jakub Hrusa conducted who did a fine job. The keyboard continuo caused too much distraction with a lot of unnecessary page turning. Jonathan Kent's direction was good - with lots of movements in the right places. The best part of the production was the ever unfolding, revolving and imploding set. It started off as a rotating cube. Then it opened up into Donna Anna's house. Then it ...

The last time I tasted Pierre Koffmann's gastronomic creations was back in 2004 when La Tante Claire was in the Berkeley Hotel (the site now occupied by Marcus Wareing). The time when he was on Royal Hospital Road was most memorable for me - as I'd been going since the mid 80s. I knew Monsieur Koffmann embarked on a few short term projects since his departure from the Berkeley Hotel but never settled in one place. So when I discovered he'd opened Koffmann's at the Berkeley hotel, I knew I had to pay a visit.  The deco of Koffmann's was a blend of modern British and French brasserie - laid back to be comfortable, with chocie decorations to remind you of its gastronomic heritage. The menu was relatively short - a la carte and a prix fixe. I could not help but gravitate towards the former - the heritage tomatoes and goat cheese basil sorbet salad was full of flavours. Quite refreshing especially as an appetizer before the main course.   The Pied de cocho...

Business trips seldom offer the opportunity to eat well. So it was a pleasant surprise to be taken to Liviano which was a Italian / Slovak restaurant on the edge of town. I ordered a cold tomato soup - which came in a lovely rich red colour full of tomato flavour with a strong kick to it (perhaps paprika or chili). The main course was loin of venison - which was beautifully done. What looked like roast potatoes turned out to be potato dumplings pan fried. They had a lovely chew to it.

When in doubt, ask about! I was in Amsterdam for a day en famille and needed somewhere nice to have lunch. So I thought I'd consult a trusted friend who worked locally. After a lot of "where's that again" and "no I didn't see it", I eventually found Gartine which was in a narrow alley off a main shopping street. It's dinky and cosy. The menu was full of wholesome sandwiches made with locally sourced ingredients and beautifully dressed salads. I tried the tartare of marinated mackerel. Others had the freshly laid hen eggs in mayo. May be we were hungry, may be we were impressed, it all went down just too quickly. Then came desserts ... I asked our lovely waiter whether I should go for the white chocolate mousse or dark chocolate cake - he recommended the latter and you could see what arrived below! It's simply presented but packed full of flavours!