London Restaurants | London Guide

Valentine's Day at Clos Maggiore

Calling love-sick fools and hopeless romantics everywhere: Covent Garden French restaurant Clos Maggiore is capturing the spirit of Valentine’s Day 2011 like never before. The restaurant, already rated one of London’s most romantic (Harden’s London Restaurants 2011, 2010 and 2009), has introduced a Maitre d’Amour to help create the perfect Valentine’s Day occasion.

Whether to celebrate impending nuptials, declare undying love or give a helping hand to unrequited loves, the Maitre d’Amour, Daniel Kapp, will tailor the restaurant, its food, atmosphere and interior to your exact specifications to truly show The One that you care.

He can help ensure their favourite meal is on the menu, work with head chef Marcellin Marc to create innovative and beautifully presented gourmet French dishes that remind you of that special moment, or even help create a menu that’s packed full of aphrodisiacs.

Whether you want your favourite champagne on ice, to fill the restaurant with your favourite flowers or balloons, or to listen to your personal choice of love songs, poetry readings or a live string quartet, the Maitre d’Amour will oblige. If you so desire, hire the whole restaurant!

For the ultimate romantic package, Clos Maggiore can also arrange tickets to the nearby Royal Opera House, or a suite at an exclusive boutique hotel, with chauffeur-driven transport to and from the restaurant.

And if you actually want to pop the question – a common occurrence at Clos Maggiore, which sees at least one pair of diners a week propose in its blossom-filled dining room, where the stars are always shining through the glass roof – we’ll hide your ring in a bespoke chocolate box to surprise and delight your loved one.

Clos Maggiore

36 King Street

Covent Garden

WC2E 8JD

Tel. 020 7379 9696

www.closmaggiore.com

Christmas Party Idea - Clos Maggiore in Covent Garden

Celebrate the festive season at Clos Maggiore. Head upstairs to the secluded private dining room at this hidden gem in Covent Garden.

Capable of seating groups of up to 23, we offer three gourmet Christmas adventures, each compiled by head chef Marcellin Marc, starting at just £45 per person. For larger groups, we can accommodate an extra 50 guests in our beautiful main restaurant.

For lunch, choose from starters including Devon crab and marjoram, chicken liver and foie gras parfait and celeriac and truffle soup; main courses such as oven-roasted sea bass, slow-cooked charolais of beef cheek and honey-glazed Gressingham duck breast; and desserts that include caramelised Braeburn apple gratin and Valrhona chocolate and griottine fondant.

Our dinner menu, at £55 per head, includes additional choices such as chargrilled wild scallops to start, fillet of Cornish cod to follow and black figs in mulled wine to finish.

We also offer a five-course tasting menu, plus coffee and petit fours, priced at £65 (or £100 with wine), allowing you to sample a wider variety of Clos Maggiore’s signature dishes, perfectly matched by Clos Maggiore’s expert sommelier.

www.closmaggiore.com
33 King Street, Covent Garden, WC2E 8JD
Tel : +44 (0)20 7379 9696

Bar Kick’s Beaujolais Nouveau Celebration

For the 3rd year in a row we’re turning our ground floor into a bustling French bistro serving robust typical dishes from the Burgundy-Beaujolais region, such as Boeuf Bourghinon and Coq Au Vin…all washed down with the new harvest of perfectly chilled Beaujolais Nouveau.

Come and join in with us as we eat, drink, sing and sway to the music of our traditional French accordionist, and raise your glasses to Edith Piaf as she returns from the grave… for one night only on Thursday 18th November 2010.

The french spectacle begins at 6pm, so arrive early to get a table, or phone Sian or Lee on 020 7739 8700 to book a table.

L’Histoire du Vin…

At one minute past the stroke of midnight, on the third Thursday in November, the vineyards in the villages and towns of the Beaujolais region pack over a million cases of Beaujolais Nouveau to begin their journey to Paris for immediate shipment to all corners of the world.

A fresh, light red wine made from the hand-picked Gamay grape and produced soley in the Beaujolais region, it is the first harvest of the year and the most popular of all the vin de primeur (‘early product wines’).

Fermented for just a few weeks, then – by strict French law - only released for sale on the third Thursday, the producers race each other to get the first bottles to market and the news is proclaimed: Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!

Traditionally a local event in the bars and cafés of Beaujolais and Lyon, it is now celebrated worldwide, and most importantly…at Bar Kick!

Bar Kick
127 Shoreditch High Street
London.
E1 6JE 
Tel 020 7739 8700
www.cafekick.co.uk

Cafe Des Amis - New Summer Menu

Cafe Des Amis, one of my favourite London restaurants, has just published their new a la carte summer menu. Please see below.

You can book a table online here.

Starters    

soup of the day - £5.00   
french onion soup, toasted gruyère croûton - £6.00   
normandy style rope grown moules marinières - £7.50   
cannelloni of grison dried beef with brousse cheese, mango and ginger dressing - £8.50   
classic steak tartare, hard boiled quail’s egg - £8.50   
salad of confited tomates with san daniel’s ham, parmesan dressing - £8.50
half dozen oysters marennes d’olérons no.2, shallot & moscatel vinegar - £11.50   
anti pasta salad - £6.50   
crab eblysotto with cardamom - £7.95   
tartare of scallop with citrus and avocado, horseradish cream, dill & rice vinegar - £9.50   
aubergine and ricotta ravioli, sundried tomato dressing - £8.50   

Main courses

normandy style rope grown moules marinières - £12.50   
crab eblysotto with cardamom - £13.55   
classic steak tartare, hard boiled quail’s egg - £16.00   
red mullet fillet, niçoise bohemian vegetables, pumpkin seed oil - £14.50   
“waterzooi” of chicken, seasonal baby vegetables - £17.50   
veal with sauce gribiche, vegetable “pot au feu” - £16.75   
simmentale beef sirloin, sauce bordelaise, mashed potatoes with marrow and herbs - £21.50   
cabbage and vegetable parcel, beetroot dressing - £10.50   
red tuna steak, tomato salsa, crushed sweet potatoes with argan oil - £14.50   
roasted lamb rump, tapenade infused sauce, aubergine cake - £17.50   
roast duck breast, sauce griotte, polenta with dried fruit - £18.00   

Café des Amis Restaurant & Wine and its two private dining rooms are available for hire
visit our website www.cafedesamis.co.uk for more information.

Bel Canto Restaurant - a unique opera and dining experience

Recession hit opera buffs are abandoning their boxes at Covent Garden in London’s West End and heading to the Square Mile to feast on Mozart, Puccini and Verdi - accompanied by different arrangements of Medaillions, Confit and Chantilly.

Bel Canto restaurant is proving to be the perfect antidote to the £600 seats at the Royal Opera House. For £55 a head diners can enjoy some of the best arias, duets and choruses in town.

The restaurant – which serves French cuisine - attracts young opera stars from around the globe hungry to make their singing debut in the Capital.

Already famous in Paris, Bel Canto ‘opera dinners’ has now found a stage in London and a growing reputation as the place to hear the best opera up close and personal.

Located near the world famous Guildhall School of Music and Drama Bel Canto offers music students the chance to gain precious live performance experience as well as earn a crust.

Every performer has to be invited to audition by the owner Jean Paul Maurel and his and artistic director wife Antonina.

At regular intervals during the evening up to four of the performers will burst into song, moving between tables while belting out popular arias from Verdi, Puccini, Mozart and many more. 

“The effect on our customers is a joy to see. Even those who are experiencing opera for the first time are visibly moved by the evening,” says Maurel.

“It’s not just a business for us, but a passion. Many people have an image of opera as being elitist and expensive.  Well here we are proud to offer affordable fine dining combined with performances which are unique.”

Christina Petrou is a Guildhall music graduate, making ends meet teaching singing by day and performing opera by night while she acts as a waitress at Bel Canto’s.

“Bel Canto offers me the chance of live performance - which is invaluable in my line of work. It’s very intimate, and very exciting,” says Petrou.

“This is the best bit, we really feel like we connect with the audience, and when it’s a full night, everyone has a really good time.”

Bel Canto can be found at:
Mark Lane off Fenchurch Street London, EC3R 7AA
Website: http://www.lebelcanto.com
Telephone Number: 0207 444 0004

Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley - information and reviews

Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing opened his eponymous restaurant ‘Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley’ at the hotel in mid September 2008. The new restaurant replaces Petrus, of which Wareing was chef patron for nine years.

Marcus Wareing has built a loyal following and distinguished reputation as one of the country’s most respected chefs and ‘Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley‘ continues to offer guests some of the capital’s finest culinary experiences, displaying his technical brilliance in the creation and execution of French cuisine that has already won him two-Michelin-Star acclaim, as well as countless other acclaim and accolades. His menu offers modern, light cuisine evolved from his classical French background using the best seasonal produce available.

Commenting on his new restaurant Wareing says: “My name is on the door for the first time, but I remain in familiar surroundings with the same loyal and dedicated team around me. That brings a new sense of energy that will help us to produce ever better dining experiences for our guests and I am determined to make this London’s finest restaurant.”

Marcus Wareing is one of the few top chefs in London restaurants who is actually in the kitchen for every service. A key element of Marcus’ culinary philosophy is to focus on the main ingredients of each dish and employ techniques to intensify their natural flavours. His is not molecular gastronomy but superbly executed haute cuisine.

At the heart of the restaurant lies the Chef’s Table seating up to 8 guests. It is intimate and luxurious, strategically positioned to oversee the workings of the kitchen and the theatrics that each service brings.

Restaurant Manager is Giancarlo Princigalli who has worked with Marcus for 7 years. Head Sommelier James Lloyd formerly of Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road has recently joined the restaurant to oversee its impressive wine cellar. His philosophy for the restaurants’ extensive wine list is for it to evolve into a more accessible and rounded collection. Predominantly French with an emphasis on Bordeaux and averaging at xx bins, the list now reflects the current appetite for more affordable varieties as well as continuing to celebrate the special rare vintages for which it is well known.

Set lunch is available at £35 per head for three courses, an a la carte menu at £75.00 for three courses with a Tasting menu at £90.00, and Chefs Table at £1000.00 for 8 guests (excluding wine and water). Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley is open Monday to Saturday, and offers a Chef’s Table in the kitchen for up to 8 guests. The reservation line is 020 7235 1200.

You can read reviews of Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley on The London Restaurant Review