Hedone met with unrestrained praise from the UK's leading food critics after opening its doors almost a year ago which, as chef Mikael Jonsson admits, was a mixed blessing for the restaurant was immediately rammed, long before Jonsson felt they were properly ready for it. Bloggers have been less enthusiastic in their reception of Hedone however, though Urbanspoon shows just eight posts on it, most likely reflecting its Chiswick location: Mishkins in Covent Garden has already accumulated 38 posts in a considerably shorter time frame.
One suspects Jonsson will never quite feel the restaurant is fully ready, for our impression is that he is a perfectionist of the highest order. After our vastly experienced dining guest told chef Jonsson that the pigeon we had just eaten was the best he'd ever tasted, Jonsson replied that it was good, but not the best, for he was struggling to secure a regular supply of the better pigeon, but this pigeon was okay, good enough (for now). This goes to the heart of the matter of Hedone, for if you don't already know, Hedone is an ingredients led restaurant and while Jonsson can clearly cook, he does so lightly, and therefore the meal, and the restaurant, succeeds or fails on the quality proposition, whether for example the tomato in front of you has more flavour than any other tomato you've ever tasted.
Looking at the reviews and the blog posts from last year, it is however clear that Hedone has evolved considerably since its opening: let's not forget, Jonsson was a lawyer and a food blogger before all this (even though he trained as a chef) and this is his first chef gig and first restaurant, the first year is inevitably the steepest of learning curves. What he's accomplished with Hedone therefore is nothing short of remarkable.
But with all this preamble, we have yet to address the question ourselves: did we like our meal at Hedone? Emphatically yes. After we left the restaurant, when discussing the meal, we asked ourselves how it compared with other London restaurants and surprisingly (??) found many of the benchmarks that seemed most appropriate (eg The Ledbury, Helene Darroze) are London's two star restaurants. Hedone seems considerably more accomplished than almost all of the London one/no star restaurants we have eaten at since starting the blog (Pollen Street Social and Roganic being notable exceptions).
One suspects Jonsson will never quite feel the restaurant is fully ready, for our impression is that he is a perfectionist of the highest order. After our vastly experienced dining guest told chef Jonsson that the pigeon we had just eaten was the best he'd ever tasted, Jonsson replied that it was good, but not the best, for he was struggling to secure a regular supply of the better pigeon, but this pigeon was okay, good enough (for now). This goes to the heart of the matter of Hedone, for if you don't already know, Hedone is an ingredients led restaurant and while Jonsson can clearly cook, he does so lightly, and therefore the meal, and the restaurant, succeeds or fails on the quality proposition, whether for example the tomato in front of you has more flavour than any other tomato you've ever tasted.
Looking at the reviews and the blog posts from last year, it is however clear that Hedone has evolved considerably since its opening: let's not forget, Jonsson was a lawyer and a food blogger before all this (even though he trained as a chef) and this is his first chef gig and first restaurant, the first year is inevitably the steepest of learning curves. What he's accomplished with Hedone therefore is nothing short of remarkable.
But with all this preamble, we have yet to address the question ourselves: did we like our meal at Hedone? Emphatically yes. After we left the restaurant, when discussing the meal, we asked ourselves how it compared with other London restaurants and surprisingly (??) found many of the benchmarks that seemed most appropriate (eg The Ledbury, Helene Darroze) are London's two star restaurants. Hedone seems considerably more accomplished than almost all of the London one/no star restaurants we have eaten at since starting the blog (Pollen Street Social and Roganic being notable exceptions).
In a world where too many mass produced ingredients taste of little or nothing, using the very best ingredients should elevate ordinary dishes to the exceptional and exceptional dishes to the sublime. There's little hiding room with this concept and each dish is going to be held up the most stringent of taste tests. The 'jammy dodger' amuse from the early days is gone, replaced today with tomato crisp, crab, mustard and apricot, an attractive one bite start. Following this, oyster poached in the shell in a vacuum bag (so that it poaches in its own juices) sits on a Granny Smith jelly foam, shallots, topped with a violet flower. Delicious no doubt but we feel the full effect of the concept remains to be revealed. At least we hope.
A gazpacho is the first of the listed menu items and here, Jonsson has indeed struck gold, transforming the ordinary to the exceptional as the tomato flavours causes you to remember or discover what tomatoes actually taste like before they tasted of not much at all. Chilled dill and mustard cream provides addition layers. Heston at The Fat Duck serves a red cabbage gazpacho with mustard ice cream; Jonsson's tomato gazpacho is the more memorable of the two.
A gazpacho is the first of the listed menu items and here, Jonsson has indeed struck gold, transforming the ordinary to the exceptional as the tomato flavours causes you to remember or discover what tomatoes actually taste like before they tasted of not much at all. Chilled dill and mustard cream provides addition layers. Heston at The Fat Duck serves a red cabbage gazpacho with mustard ice cream; Jonsson's tomato gazpacho is the more memorable of the two.
Gazpacho, chilled dill and mustard ice cream
Chef Mikael Jonsson at the pass
Broken duck's egg, fresh peas, girolles, apricot
Hedone has an open kitchen and here we mean properly open, not just a little window for diners to peer through, here the pass is a mere four feet from our table. Mikael can be closely scrutinised as he plates your dish, and with it being so close, on a number of occasions he brings the plates to the table himself and shares with you something of his enthusiasm for the ingredients. Jonsson for example prefers to source his seafood from the south west of England rather than Scotland because shorter journey times means better taste.
The scallop he tells us came out the water 'late last night' from Dartmouth, bearing mind this is lunch service, they're maybe only 15 hours out of the water. The focus is on the sweetness of the scallop and Mikael enthusiastically explains the science behind it: the sweetness in seafood is derived from the muscles' energy store of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). When the scallop is taken out of the water, it fasts, so drawing down on this reserve of ATP. The longer the scallop is out the water therefore, the less sweet it becomes, hence journey times for transportation directly impact the flavours on the plate. He also notes that Scottish hand dived scallops when caught are often then placed in cages and put back in the water which he believes also diminishes the flavour.
The perfectly cooked and remarkable razor clam was similarly taken from the water the previous day in Weymouth.
The scallop he tells us came out the water 'late last night' from Dartmouth, bearing mind this is lunch service, they're maybe only 15 hours out of the water. The focus is on the sweetness of the scallop and Mikael enthusiastically explains the science behind it: the sweetness in seafood is derived from the muscles' energy store of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). When the scallop is taken out of the water, it fasts, so drawing down on this reserve of ATP. The longer the scallop is out the water therefore, the less sweet it becomes, hence journey times for transportation directly impact the flavours on the plate. He also notes that Scottish hand dived scallops when caught are often then placed in cages and put back in the water which he believes also diminishes the flavour.
The perfectly cooked and remarkable razor clam was similarly taken from the water the previous day in Weymouth.
Devon scallop, seaweed emulsion, hogs weed buds, yuzu
Dorset razor clam, parsley, Jerusalem artichokes
Tamworth pork shoulder, ceps, tangy peach, fresh almonds
The cuttlefish Tagliatelli with its ragout is tasty and brilliant in equal measure. Offal from the cuttlefish is used to make the ragout, mixed with squid ink while the offal and the squid ink mixed also with lemon juice for acidity is used for the sauce. The body of the cuttlefish is shaved into the Tagliatelli ribbons, steamed for just 40 seconds and topped with confit tomato while a mature old variety French tomato tops the ragout. The dish is a joy, the cuttlefish Tagliatelli forming the finest ribbons, the offal ragout balanced rather than overpowering, a dish with the wow factor no doubt.
Cuttlefish Tagliatelli with its ragout
The beef is another triumph, termed 'crousti-bleu' Mikael explains that he developed it after becoming bored with carpaccio, the beef here being the fillet cut that is crusty on the outside but blue on the inside. The mayo like sauce is actually the beef juice with the fat removed, in which butter has been whisked in over ice until it sets, served together with carrot glaze. The leaves are rocket for peppery, mustard flowers for mustard flavour, wood sorrel for acidity and red chard for earthiness. The crunch on the beef was amazing then the full taste of tender aged blue beef inside. This is like reinventing beef fillets; more wow.
Aged Black Angus fillet served 'crousti-bleu'
as above
Roasted breast and leg of squab pigeon, beetroot and cherries
Lemon variation
Fresh raspberries, cinnamon, horseradish, aromatic vinegar
Hedone's chocolate and passion fruit sorbet
Blogger turned chef/restaurateur who less than one year in, is serving food so well regarded that even the likes of Alain Ducasse has ventured to Chiswick to try it, has to be one of the most remarkable restaurant stories for some time. And it's not just hype, this is a remarkable restaurant and Mikael Jonsson is clearly a remarkable man. Most serious chefs care about the sourcing of ingredients, but Jonsson is in a league of his own it seems, fanatical about quality. The results are apparent on the plate. The cooking too is spot on, perfectly sourced razor clams can still be ruined through shoddy cooking but Jonsson proves he's as capable behind the stove as he is at sourcing.
We're dazzled at the achievement of Hedone for this was a meal that can stand toe to toe with that served by any restaurant in the country. If this is what Jonsson can do after just one year, the future for him and Hedone is very bright indeed. It is still possible to get a table with some ease at Hedone now that the initial furore (following AA Gill) has died down but as the guide books sing its praises (and they will), the clientèle builds and the Michelin stars accumulate, we can imagine a future where a reservation at Hedone is pure gold, so save yourself some grief later on and book today.
Chiswick is not the most convenient of places to get to, it took us an hour and a half to get there, but it was worth it. Hedone is not an also ran, it genuinely moves the restaurant concept forward. Not into lists, we've never created a 'restaurant top 10' for the UK, but if we did, Hedone would certainly be in it.
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Hedone website
We're dazzled at the achievement of Hedone for this was a meal that can stand toe to toe with that served by any restaurant in the country. If this is what Jonsson can do after just one year, the future for him and Hedone is very bright indeed. It is still possible to get a table with some ease at Hedone now that the initial furore (following AA Gill) has died down but as the guide books sing its praises (and they will), the clientèle builds and the Michelin stars accumulate, we can imagine a future where a reservation at Hedone is pure gold, so save yourself some grief later on and book today.
Chiswick is not the most convenient of places to get to, it took us an hour and a half to get there, but it was worth it. Hedone is not an also ran, it genuinely moves the restaurant concept forward. Not into lists, we've never created a 'restaurant top 10' for the UK, but if we did, Hedone would certainly be in it.
Return to homepage
Hedone website
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