Simon Hulstone is a man in demand. As well as running Michelin starred restaurant The Elephant in Torquay, he led the UK's 2011 Bocuse D'Or team, does extensive television work (rumoured by Caterersearch to include GBM 2012) and recently won British Airway's Great Briton category for food to create the London 2012 Olympic menu for BA.
Put another way, Simon is in demand because he's bloody brilliant and we are honoured therefore that he chose to come to London and create a very special one off menu for our Chefs @CriticalCouple dinners.
Helping Simon in the kitchen was Sous Chef Craig, as well as Jordan and Elly. Out front, we were delighted to have Jason Poore join us, the excellent and knowledgeable front of house manager from The Elephant, as well as Charlie, both dressed to theme; read on.
Readers of our Chef Dinners series will know that chefs who cook here have a free hand in devising the menu, and Simon told us that on account of him being situated on the English Riviera, his menu would be themed around a day at the seaside. On receiving an early copy of a cryptic menu, and seeing 'jelly fish' and 'Big Mack and seagull shit' as courses, we wondered what we had let ourselves in for.
Guests were told to arrive promptly on the evening for we had our own surprise planned: after following signs to the beach and entering to the sounds of seagulls, what could be more British seaside than a Punch & Judy show. This 350 year old tradition was excellently performed by Robert Styles and got everyone in the seaside mood ahead of the main event.
During the show we are treated to Seaweed fritters which prove a real hit with their salty crunch, Whitebait and River Teign oysters keeping the Devon/seaside theme intact. With Punch & Judy over, we take our seats at the table and everybody else gets their first look at the menu; the usual degrees of fear and excitement envelopes the table - what after all is Brits on the beach and Sunburn midway through the menu?
Put another way, Simon is in demand because he's bloody brilliant and we are honoured therefore that he chose to come to London and create a very special one off menu for our Chefs @CriticalCouple dinners.
Helping Simon in the kitchen was Sous Chef Craig, as well as Jordan and Elly. Out front, we were delighted to have Jason Poore join us, the excellent and knowledgeable front of house manager from The Elephant, as well as Charlie, both dressed to theme; read on.
Readers of our Chef Dinners series will know that chefs who cook here have a free hand in devising the menu, and Simon told us that on account of him being situated on the English Riviera, his menu would be themed around a day at the seaside. On receiving an early copy of a cryptic menu, and seeing 'jelly fish' and 'Big Mack and seagull shit' as courses, we wondered what we had let ourselves in for.
Guests were told to arrive promptly on the evening for we had our own surprise planned: after following signs to the beach and entering to the sounds of seagulls, what could be more British seaside than a Punch & Judy show. This 350 year old tradition was excellently performed by Robert Styles and got everyone in the seaside mood ahead of the main event.
During the show we are treated to Seaweed fritters which prove a real hit with their salty crunch, Whitebait and River Teign oysters keeping the Devon/seaside theme intact. With Punch & Judy over, we take our seats at the table and everybody else gets their first look at the menu; the usual degrees of fear and excitement envelopes the table - what after all is Brits on the beach and Sunburn midway through the menu?
That's the way to do it Mr Punch
We start with 'Oooooh crab paste', a little bon bon treat of brown crab served on a pebble on seaweed; it set the scene wonderfully well. 'Crab sticks' follow, though here it's the watermelon as the stick with the white crab wrapped in a herb gel, served with cucumber ketchup and brown crab balls. This is a brilliant dish, strongly reminiscent of Simon's crab & lovage gel that we adored at The Elephant earlier in the year. Here, the crab and watermelon provide a clean freshness while the crab balls weigh in with a deeper, crunchy fried impact. Beautiful.
Scallop sand castle follows, and since every castle needs a flag, here the Union Jack is firmly planted atop the scallop; everybody is smiling. We have lemon sand, made from dashi, lemon oil, dextrin and even some gold giving the sand a real shimmer to it, together with the tiny shirasu fish, sourced from The Fat Duck where Heston uses the same in his classic Sounds of the Sea dish. On top of course is a Torbay scallop really highlighting that Torbay's local seafood can match any on quality.
Given the sweetness to these dishes, Jason paired a Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett 2007 to match the food, which it did marvellously well. As Jason duly observed, Simon's food is not so easy to pair wines with given its variety, even on a single plate.
Scallop sand castle follows, and since every castle needs a flag, here the Union Jack is firmly planted atop the scallop; everybody is smiling. We have lemon sand, made from dashi, lemon oil, dextrin and even some gold giving the sand a real shimmer to it, together with the tiny shirasu fish, sourced from The Fat Duck where Heston uses the same in his classic Sounds of the Sea dish. On top of course is a Torbay scallop really highlighting that Torbay's local seafood can match any on quality.
Given the sweetness to these dishes, Jason paired a Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett 2007 to match the food, which it did marvellously well. As Jason duly observed, Simon's food is not so easy to pair wines with given its variety, even on a single plate.
Crab sticks
Scallop sand castle
What came next was one of the most visually impressive dishes any of us had ever seen in our lives - Jellyfish. The fish supported by the jelly is free to stand in the vertical plane which is something entirely new and puts us in mind of Damien Hirst, his tank sized shark in formaldehyde scaled down to a plate sized sardine in fish consomme. It was served here with fennel, carrot, the essential beetroot, and saffron. This was simply brilliant, it has the wow factor, the X factor, every other factor you can think of and had everyone talking about this little sardine for the rest of the night. Stunning.
With the stronger flavours of the sardine, we paired the full flavour of Dom Perignon Rose 2000.
With the stronger flavours of the sardine, we paired the full flavour of Dom Perignon Rose 2000.
Jellyfish
Jellyfish
It's 'Big Mack and seagull shit' next, everyone is intrigued to see what this will be. The extra 'k' on the end of the Mac gives a clue, the burger is in fact squid and mackerel, with a topping of sea lettuce in a brioche bun. The 'seagull shit' is smoked oyster mayonnaise and caviar. What a brilliant idea, served in a genuine Big Mac box, Simon manages to bring real delight and genuine laughter to the table while maintaining the integrity of the food which is real genius. There's French fries going around too which are very useful for scooping oyster mayonnaise and caviar up with. I'm lovin' it.
Big Mack?
Big Mack and seagull shit
'seagull shit' (smoked oyster mayonnaise and caviar)
Brits on the beach - the eternal image of Brits on holiday, lying in the sun turning red as lobsters, there's also mussels though how many Brits have those is debatable. A Royale of lobster then with a Thai green curry lobster sauce (which works on so many levels here), with broccoli flowers and coriander. And following your time on the beach, there's sunburn and blisters, so 'pork with blisters' and Nivea aftersun (mayonnaise) is next. Everybody is laughing at this point, but everybody is loving the food.
The wine choice for these dishes is Kirchberg Gewurtztraminer Grand Cru 2007.
The wine choice for these dishes is Kirchberg Gewurtztraminer Grand Cru 2007.
Brits on the beach
Sun burn
For the main course, no seaside town is complete without stag parties and hen parties, hence we have 'stag and hens'. In Simon's food take: venison with chicken mousseline, Jerusalem artichoke purée, girolles, pancetta and a venison jus with pistachio on top. Again, it's simply stunning. The concept is genius, the execution perfect, the taste spectacular. All the time too, the whole thing is making you feel happy. This main course then strikes you as utterly complete.
It's paired with a Hermitage La Chapelle 1983.
It's paired with a Hermitage La Chapelle 1983.
Stag and hens
The desserts are all 'end of the pier' stuff, first out, salted butter caramel ice cream in a cone with an extra surprise of puffed marshmallow in the bottom of the cone. This ice cream was fantastic, great choice salted caramel, and it was a nice touch to drop in that marshmallow. Then we have vanilla panna cotta, cider poached apples, apple puree and apple juice, and the seaside thing being the toffee apple. The dessert was great, the panna cotta perfect, but humidity in the kitchen however didn't allow the toffee on the apple to set properly but all was fine as it was a pretty forgiving audience.
Doughnuts are simply the best and here, everybody loved the lemon curd variety and there were plenty to go round. Finally, being Devon, afternoon tea is a must, so scones, jam, and Devonshire clotted cream are delicious and round out the meal.
Doughnuts are simply the best and here, everybody loved the lemon curd variety and there were plenty to go round. Finally, being Devon, afternoon tea is a must, so scones, jam, and Devonshire clotted cream are delicious and round out the meal.
Mom, can I have an ice cream
toffee apples
Don't lick your lips
Afternoon tea
Afternoon tea
And while many of our dinners have offered a goodie bag, this time it was a goodie bucket instead so you can build sandcastles after. Goodies included Torquay Rock, other children's sweets like sherbet dip, the always popular Womersley Vinegar given by Rupert @WomersleyFoods and definitely for the grown ups, a small Glenfarclas whisky.
The Torquay crew also came through from the kitchen to massive applause, showing off their tour T-shirts, Wapping-on-Sea on the front, alternative names on the back: chef, beaker, stud and cuddles.
We also used the event to support Galvin's Chance charity, where the generosity of our guests allowed us to collect in excess of £1,000 to support this totally worthy cause.
The Torquay crew also came through from the kitchen to massive applause, showing off their tour T-shirts, Wapping-on-Sea on the front, alternative names on the back: chef, beaker, stud and cuddles.
We also used the event to support Galvin's Chance charity, where the generosity of our guests allowed us to collect in excess of £1,000 to support this totally worthy cause.
the goodie bucket
Jordan, Craig, Elly, Simon, Jason, Charlie
Beaker, Stud, Cuddles and Chef
Finally for the sports, the cut out board at the end of the pier provided for more fun as the Torquay crew and guests struck a pose a pulled faces.
This was then another very different and very stunning meal. Full of humour, but serious about food. What's also the case, and what came through in many ways and on many levels, is how clever Simon was in putting this meal together. It brought together creativity, a clever narrative, originality, execution, great humour, but also food that was truly magnificent, all set against the backdrop of Simon's remarkably hectic schedule. It's little wonder seeing what Simon did today that he won the BA competition: he brings something so much more than great food to the table, a great mind as well as a great chef.
Everybody agreed, Simon is a hugely impressive talent and we should all expect to hear a lot more about him over the coming years as he piles success on success.
A huge thank you from us and from our guests to Simon and his team for delivering a meal that none of us will ever forget. As days at the seaside go, it was one of the best we can remember, and we didn't even leave our flat.
In the kitchen at Thomas Keller's French Laundry pop up, he has written on the wall so the entire kitchen team can see it the words: 'TO MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY/That is what cooking is all about'. Well, if that is the yardstick for success, Simon Hulstone is the real deal for by the end of the night, there were 12 very happy, very full punters who by universal consensus had an absolutely magic night. That's definitely the way to do it Mr Punch. Thank you Simon.
Return to homepage
related links
The Elephant Restaurant
Critical Couple review of The Elephant
Simon Hulstone on Twitter
Everybody agreed, Simon is a hugely impressive talent and we should all expect to hear a lot more about him over the coming years as he piles success on success.
A huge thank you from us and from our guests to Simon and his team for delivering a meal that none of us will ever forget. As days at the seaside go, it was one of the best we can remember, and we didn't even leave our flat.
In the kitchen at Thomas Keller's French Laundry pop up, he has written on the wall so the entire kitchen team can see it the words: 'TO MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY/That is what cooking is all about'. Well, if that is the yardstick for success, Simon Hulstone is the real deal for by the end of the night, there were 12 very happy, very full punters who by universal consensus had an absolutely magic night. That's definitely the way to do it Mr Punch. Thank you Simon.
Return to homepage
related links
The Elephant Restaurant
Critical Couple review of The Elephant
Simon Hulstone on Twitter
RSS Feed
