There's generally no instruction for when a chef cooks here at criticalcouple, rather, we provide chefs with the simplest of briefs: cook from the heart. It took our delight therefore that some months back, as we discussed with Bruno his dinner here, he suggested cooking a feast from the Loubet family table, back home in Bordeaux. And so the idea was born, Bruno Loubet would bring a very special Bordeaux feast to East London for one night only.
For those not familiar with Bruno Loubet, he is the chef patron of Bistrot Bruno Loubet, the restaurant within the lovely Zetter Hotel in Clerkenwell. We first ate there last year and enjoyed mains of Roast rabbit, and Braised oxtail stuffed with cabbage, and concluded our blog post of that event by saying we were 'smitten' by the wonderful charm of the Bistrot and the full on flavour of the food.
We clearly aren't the only ones to feel that way as Bistrot Bruno Loubet came third in the National Restaurant Awards 2010 trailing only The Ledbury and The Fat Duck. And following Bruno's years in Australia, Giles Coren in The Times remarked on visiting the Bistrot that 'Bruno Loubet's return to Britain is the most exciting comeback since Jesus appeared on the road to Emmaus just hours after the Crucifixion'.
Ahead of the meal, the kitchen remained a sea of calm with Bruno ably assisted by Tim Mckirdy and Alvidas Kovas. Meanwhile, in the front of house, the Bistrot's wonderful Restaurant Manager Edgard Halle assisted by Adrien Kholi made our dining table look simply stunning with gas lamps from the family home in Bordeaux, vine cuttings from vines that grow outside of his restaurant and his Opinel knives.
It follows too that we should aim for the drink to be in keeping with the food and so on arrival, an aperitif of Vin de Buisson, Chambord and soda water was served, a beautifully refreshing drink that made a nice change to champagne though Kir Royale was also available for the thirsty. And then the food started to arrive. Parmesan shortbread with Parmesan mousse, and Roquefort Feuillete with bacon were in abundance and abundantly consumed, more so than we really should have ahead of a feast but too hard to stop. But these early canapes were swiftly followed by Duck heart and Devil sauce, and Mauricette snails (his mother's recipe). For one of our guests at least, it was her first time trying snails, she loved them.
For those not familiar with Bruno Loubet, he is the chef patron of Bistrot Bruno Loubet, the restaurant within the lovely Zetter Hotel in Clerkenwell. We first ate there last year and enjoyed mains of Roast rabbit, and Braised oxtail stuffed with cabbage, and concluded our blog post of that event by saying we were 'smitten' by the wonderful charm of the Bistrot and the full on flavour of the food.
We clearly aren't the only ones to feel that way as Bistrot Bruno Loubet came third in the National Restaurant Awards 2010 trailing only The Ledbury and The Fat Duck. And following Bruno's years in Australia, Giles Coren in The Times remarked on visiting the Bistrot that 'Bruno Loubet's return to Britain is the most exciting comeback since Jesus appeared on the road to Emmaus just hours after the Crucifixion'.
Ahead of the meal, the kitchen remained a sea of calm with Bruno ably assisted by Tim Mckirdy and Alvidas Kovas. Meanwhile, in the front of house, the Bistrot's wonderful Restaurant Manager Edgard Halle assisted by Adrien Kholi made our dining table look simply stunning with gas lamps from the family home in Bordeaux, vine cuttings from vines that grow outside of his restaurant and his Opinel knives.
It follows too that we should aim for the drink to be in keeping with the food and so on arrival, an aperitif of Vin de Buisson, Chambord and soda water was served, a beautifully refreshing drink that made a nice change to champagne though Kir Royale was also available for the thirsty. And then the food started to arrive. Parmesan shortbread with Parmesan mousse, and Roquefort Feuillete with bacon were in abundance and abundantly consumed, more so than we really should have ahead of a feast but too hard to stop. But these early canapes were swiftly followed by Duck heart and Devil sauce, and Mauricette snails (his mother's recipe). For one of our guests at least, it was her first time trying snails, she loved them.
Chef Bruno Loubet
We start with sardines and Bruno relates how his mother would buy them salted from the market and eat them with a touch of lemon. Slightly jazzed up for us today (he spoils us), we have a sardine tartare with lime mayonnaise that sits on a bed of compressed salted watermelon with fennel seeds, served with a whipped seaweed and grain mustard butter. The watermelon has the texture of tuna, the seaweed butter the taste of the sea and the sardines, well, simply fantastic. This is paired with the new Billecart Brut Sous Bois NV providing an additional edge of acidity to cut through the sardine. The ever amusing @winechapUK Tom Harrow again takes credit for putting the wines together.
sardine tartare, watermelon, seaweed and grain mustard
It's langoustine next: Langoustine a la bordelaise. The langoustine here are sauteed, and finished with coral butter, made with the coral of the langoustine, the sauce is made with the shell of the langoustine and cognac, together with a duxelles that has been sweated in butter with thyme and garlic. On top is some lovely Bayonne ham. The beans are 'ges beans', they grow wild in the area around Bordeaux but are very rare, even in local Bordeaux markets; we're lucky, Bruno brought these back with him from France following his recent holiday there. We're pairing this with a Puligny Montrachet JM Boillot 2004.
This is very much what I have personally come to expect from Bruno, a fantastic dish with huge bold flavours, hearty texture, satisfying to the core and a wonderful use of a popular ingredient to produce a differentiated and special dish. There was no one round the table I believe who didn't absolutely adore this dish. And the sauce, langoustine and cognac; heaven of course.
This is very much what I have personally come to expect from Bruno, a fantastic dish with huge bold flavours, hearty texture, satisfying to the core and a wonderful use of a popular ingredient to produce a differentiated and special dish. There was no one round the table I believe who didn't absolutely adore this dish. And the sauce, langoustine and cognac; heaven of course.
Langoustine a la bordelaise
The next dish has deep roots into the Loubet family history. First, Bruno reminds us that Bordeaux was in the past a big port for cod, and the tradition of salted cod had come up through Spain. There's also cep mushroom, and Bruno tells the story of how, when he was young, his mother would pick ceps locally such that as children, it was cep overload for the young Loubets. And truffle, a currency his mother was often paid in for making the local duck and goose pates.
So here it is together, Roasted salt cod, gratin dauphinois sauce, sautéed ceps. The gratin dauphinois has been crushed and is deliberately loose such that it is both a garnish and a sauce (and utterly yum). The cod meanwhile had a magnificently firm yet succulent texture, pulling apart in big meaty pieces with the truffle adding but not over powering. This was a tremendous dish and if you see anything like it on the menu at the Bistrot, it comes highly recommended.
Keeping in the Bordeaux tradition, the cod is paired fantastically well with a Lynch Bages Blanc 2007.
So here it is together, Roasted salt cod, gratin dauphinois sauce, sautéed ceps. The gratin dauphinois has been crushed and is deliberately loose such that it is both a garnish and a sauce (and utterly yum). The cod meanwhile had a magnificently firm yet succulent texture, pulling apart in big meaty pieces with the truffle adding but not over powering. This was a tremendous dish and if you see anything like it on the menu at the Bistrot, it comes highly recommended.
Keeping in the Bordeaux tradition, the cod is paired fantastically well with a Lynch Bages Blanc 2007.
Roasted salt cod, gratin dauphinois sauce, sautéed ceps
Ducks and Bordeaux, it caused Tom Harrow to woefully borrow from Churchill, 'never was so much owed by so many to so many ducks'. It's charcuterie de canard, fig jam and walnuts. The plate looks a treat and in the picture below, going clockwise from the 12 o'clock position, we have stuffed neck of duck, pate of duck liver, foie gras ballotine, rillette of duck and finally, pastrami of duck. Served with fig jam and quince jelly. It's all beautiful, but for me, the pate of duck liver and the rillette were stand out. It's paired with Chateau Belair 2001, a great Saint-Emilion to accompany the essence of Bordeaux food.
charcuterie de canard, fig jam and walnuts
On the menu, it's described as 'My Dad's cote de boeuf'. Together with pumpkin gratin and Tomme des Pyrenees macaroni, salad. Bruno tells how in his family, this very traditional Bordeaux dish would be cooked on the floor, metal over coals and vine cuttings, and indeed, some of these vine cuttings found their way to our own outdoor Weber, and so rich was the smoky aroma, it did lead one neighbour to knock on our door to check that our shared block was not on fire.
On top is Gray Shallots, a strong shallot, a real French chef's choice. There's some crushed marrowbone here too. The sauce is a Sauce Bordelaise. It's all perfect, people around the table are cooing. My choice on the wine this time, a Haut Brion 2004, a part of Bordeaux life for so long, and as Tom reminds us, featuring in the diary of Samuel Pepys: Friday 10th April 1663 'here drank a sort of French wine Ho Bryan, that hath a good and most particular taste that I never met with'. Had Bruno Loubet's beef been put in front of Pepys, we're sure that that too would have been immortalised in lierary history, it is wonderfully good. Again, back to what Bruno does fantastically well, it can't be faulted.
On top is Gray Shallots, a strong shallot, a real French chef's choice. There's some crushed marrowbone here too. The sauce is a Sauce Bordelaise. It's all perfect, people around the table are cooing. My choice on the wine this time, a Haut Brion 2004, a part of Bordeaux life for so long, and as Tom reminds us, featuring in the diary of Samuel Pepys: Friday 10th April 1663 'here drank a sort of French wine Ho Bryan, that hath a good and most particular taste that I never met with'. Had Bruno Loubet's beef been put in front of Pepys, we're sure that that too would have been immortalised in lierary history, it is wonderfully good. Again, back to what Bruno does fantastically well, it can't be faulted.
Cote de Boeuf
And so to dessert, noted as Verveine and lemon 'conversation' for it is indeed supposed to stop the conversation. Raspberries, lemon mousseline, and the biscuit made out of puff pastry, sugar, lemon, topped with Verveine meringue. Lemon jam adds the final touch to the plate. We're pairing this with a Sauternes, what else? We have a Coutet 2002, young and vibrant, zesty and fresh, and was interesting to compare with the older Lafeurie-Peyraguey 1988 that Tom brought with him from his own cellar (how slow Sauternes age!).
The dessert was fantastic and later that night, when everyone had gone home and I ventured back in the kitchen, I discovered a more of the Verveine meringue lids, boxed up, surplus to requirements, and left for our later delight. I wont tell you how many more I ate that night but I simply adored the light pastry crumble and the sweet meringue top crunch and I just couldn't restrain myself.
The dessert was fantastic and later that night, when everyone had gone home and I ventured back in the kitchen, I discovered a more of the Verveine meringue lids, boxed up, surplus to requirements, and left for our later delight. I wont tell you how many more I ate that night but I simply adored the light pastry crumble and the sweet meringue top crunch and I just couldn't restrain myself.
Verveine and lemon 'conversation'
Finally, it's treats. On the menu described as Grandma's gourmandises, Bruno evokes the idea of his grandmother with a biscuit box, and here, two lovely such tins are filled with (left to right in picture below): pate de fruit, Canele de Bordeaux, lemon madeleines, chocolate truffle with Armagnac. It's a beautiful end to the meal, and I snacked on a few Canele de Bordeaux later too.
And of course, being a night in Bordeaux, we ended with a lovely Cognac (sorry George, no Glenfarclas tonight).
And of course, being a night in Bordeaux, we ended with a lovely Cognac (sorry George, no Glenfarclas tonight).
What a stunning meal, from start to finish. We hardly needed the feedback over the coming days from guests about how good the food was and how much they enjoyed it, we could see it in their smiles right there and then. Bruno said at the beginning that it was to be like a night in the South West of France when you are welcoming friends and family from far away with a beautiful meal, and that's how we all felt, in the wonderful warm embrace of Bruno's friendship and cooking, so much and so often intertwined; there's love in the food and it shows.
It's possible that night that we ate the best meal in France right here in London. What an honour for us all to be allowed to share family Loubet's culinary heritage (together with Bruno's contemporary touch). As we said at the start of this post, we simply ask chefs to cook from the heart, and that's exactly what Bruno did, to spectacular effect.
Guests attending the dinner kindly made donations to Action Against Hunger
Return to homepage
Related links:
Bistrot Bruno Loubet: Critical Couple review
Bistrot Bruno Loubet website
The Zetter website
FoodieLoubet on Twitter
It's possible that night that we ate the best meal in France right here in London. What an honour for us all to be allowed to share family Loubet's culinary heritage (together with Bruno's contemporary touch). As we said at the start of this post, we simply ask chefs to cook from the heart, and that's exactly what Bruno did, to spectacular effect.
Guests attending the dinner kindly made donations to Action Against Hunger
Return to homepage
Related links:
Bistrot Bruno Loubet: Critical Couple review
Bistrot Bruno Loubet website
The Zetter website
FoodieLoubet on Twitter
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