Finally after months of anticipation, the great Tom Kemble has unveiled his next move in his culinary career.
As you know, I was a loyal fan of Bonhams Restaurant, and in a state when Tom decided to leave the restaurant (and London) in the Summer of 2018. For a brief moment, he transferred head cheffing duties to his old sous, Theo Clench, which was absolutely the right choice as he ran shop like a bomb with Charlotte at FOH. Unfortunately the new owners at Bonhams had a change of heart and rather abruptly decided to shut the restaurant at the end of 2018. Only to have another change of heart, to (puzzlingly) put in something apparently trendy (at least it isnt skewers and sandwiches, I suppose), less ambitious and in the process had consciously dumped one of the few worthy michelin restaurants in London that practiced proper classic technique and bought in whole fish and poultry.
Will Lander and the Portland crew have now recently settled in for their little Italian bistro, and while i like my tortelini il brodo, I wish Will and Dan all the best with their latest gig of course, but I will now turn my attention to Horsham (of all places), as that is where the great Tom Kemble has decided to take the next step in his culinary game.
Some of you will know the hotel, South Lodge belonging to a group of country hotels with capable chefs attached, such as Matt Worswick at The Latymer. While others will no doubt have visited The Pass at Southlodge, when it was run by Matt Gillan, formerly of GBM fame and also recipient of a michelin star.
Tom inherits Matt’s old digs, its USP being the relative borderless gap between the diners sitting on high table top banquettes and the kitchen, separated by carefully placed glass panels (installed by Tom and co).
Having started here since the start of 2019, he has settled in with the new kitchen, new team and rather refreshingly his cuisine is now evolving, or more precisely, left unshackled by Bonhams’ rather conservative clientele tastes. He is now more freely injecting his wholly minimalist style with touches of Japanese methods, as well as developing new cooking techniques which were otherwise impossible in the Bonhams basement kitchen.
Product quality and insistence on a la minute cooking is still the focus of his cuisine, to this point, since Tom is now closer to the South coast, he’s taking full advantage of this by sourcing from relative proximity – seabass and scallops being two examples.
At Bonhams, there was always the careful preservation of natural flavours, today, he layers with a sleuth of rice vinegars, dashis and other layers of flavours to progress the overall delivery of his dishes. One other fundamental new string that Tom has incorporated in his repertoire is premium smoke in the form of a new konro grill that takes binchotan. He showed us a few dishes, of the ones that stood out for me, were the oyster with smoked Chantilly cream as well as the lobster – cooked in shell to a perfect mi-cuit centre, and imbued with a very subtle lacing of smoke. Lovely cuisson, but it gets better as he matches the lobster with a heart racing bone-marrow and madeira sauce – Tom’s idea of a surf and turf.
To finish, Tom demos his latest pudding developments, a homage to Stephen Harris’ much loved chocolate mousse. Tom extrapolates the chaud-froid effect with a super clean milk sorbet, passionfruit gel and pump street chocolate thats been fried to a crispy sub-cooled temperature by liquid nitrogen (which he also inherits from Matt G). As with The Sportsman, the warm chocolate mousse is very light, as it is pushed through a whipper.
Coffee is by Difference Coffee, Tom is offering either the stock beans or blue mountain (though I personally like the Hawaiian stuff), and caviar is Attilus, just like at The Latymer. Wine will take some time to come along as its part of the Hotel’s charge, but all in all, it is very exciting.
If you are like me, and have also enjoyed his restraint cooking at Bonhams, I recommend popping down to Horsham to give the new Kembler a spin. The man is excited in his new kitchen and has furiously developed his cuisine. He does taster menus at three price points, £50 , £70, £90pp. We opted for a longer carte blanche and was charged £120pp + drinks + service for the meal.
Pictures and descriptions of the taster menu below (i excluded the canapes), taking place in Early April 2019.
1. Porthilly Rock Oyster, plankton juice, scmoked creme Chantilly and Attilus baeri caviar
I loved this. It appears simple but the whole is certainly greater than the sum of its constituent parts. He’s basically assembled ocean minerals of the oyster, caviar and plankton, to contrast with the plushness of the chantilly having taken up the essence of binchotan. Smoke has the effect of deepening flavours, both savoury and the sweetness of the oyster.
2. Chawanmushi with pickled shiitake
IMG_6910
Seamless, silk smooth and perfectly delicate savoury custard, served warm and at the start of the meal (which is how I prefer it). We have indeed arrived at the craftsman Tom Kemble’s new digs.
Having eaten a number of his various chawanmushi in Bonhams days, I thought I knew his cuisine well, but that’s when he surprised me with this sweet vinegar pickle on the shiitake, taking the umami elevator to the next level. The guiding principle of simplicity is still ever present, but the flavour layerings have evolved from the nascent #sushikemble days into cuisine that is both purer and punchier than ever before.
3. Devon scallop sashimi, Piemontese hazelnut, rock samphire, and an incredible sauce made from blood orange, tomato, sake, olive oil, amongst other things.
Tom has now swapped Isle of Mull for fish from the South Coast, taking advantage of the relative geography. The scallops were spanking quality. As some of you will have experienced elsewhere, live scallops are very taut and almost crunchy in texture, and is notable for being incredibly sweet.
4. Devon smoked eel, black sesame bao, green apple, horseradish and kohlrabi
Tom reckons his bao dough is work in progress, but I loved it. With devon smoked eel brushed with tare over coals, and served with Granny Smith and kohlrabi.
5. Spring risotto with Norfolk green asparagus, morels and wild garlic
Essentially printemps on a plate. The seasonal dish that harks back to his days at Bonhams.
6. Norwegian Sea trout , seaweed beurre blanc, monks beard and jersey royals
Grilled over binchotan to a glassy skin, and carefully to allow heat to slowly travel up the fillet. Rested to a medium centre, it cuts cleanly in half after cooking.
Expertly cooked by @greground1 (ex-Umu, think Unagi). Monks beard for texture, and an electric beurre blanc made la minute, with pickled dulse, harmonising to great effect with the grilled fish. Craft aside, it’s incredibly delicious. Wiped the plate dry with bread.
7. Native lobster clow cooked in shell over binchotan, daikon, maitake, bone marrow and madeira jus
IMG_6923
aka Tom’s surf and turf.
Sussex blues, killed and halved la minute, skewered and then low and slow in shell. To plate, it is shelled and quartered length wise, aiguillettes in the flair of Alain Passard. Spot on cook to uniform and beautifully glistening mi-cuit (swipe 👉). The bincho subtly infused, provided a rush of smoke, without masking the naturally sweet and taut lobster tail. The noble shellfish is right at the start of its season here. Claws were also smoked over coals, and then briefly steamed prior to plating. Tom’s favourite endives provide respite from the flavour bombs, meanwhile the maitake, meaty and a bridge to the rim rocking sauce.
The turf part of this surf and turf – diced bone marrow – has amazing gastrique qualities, the madeira, red rice vinegar, providing sweet and sour, meanwhile the bone marrow are globules of flavour that melt on the palate. Layers of underlying deepness in this jus, or a jus gras when spread on the plate with presumably the oils from the marrow splitting it. A revelation of a sauce.
As some of you know, I love Tom’s lobsters, in the past, he had done them out of shell in a pan and cut it with an emulsion of its own coral and blood peach – a pure dish of peak summer flavours. Here, Tom has progressed his thought process, adding latitude and dimension, whilst still keeping the palate clean. Masterpiece. Completely sexy dish
8. Herdwick lamb classically pan roasted, binchotan roasted aubergine and prepared like baba ganoush, komatsuna, black garlic and jus gras
For mains, Tom showed a classic combo lamb and aubergines, which blurred the lines in melding of classic technique with Mediterranean and Japanese influences. Where in the past at Bonhams, he had kept things minimal and flavours classic (with his salt marsh lamb in July onwards), here he has stepped up intensity and complexity, layering up the umami and balancing with the coolness of the yoghurt. Ultimately it’s a dish that embraces flavour, and was satisfying way to end the savouries. I prefer my lamb on the bone of course, but the extra piece of lamb belly on skewers made up for the lost bone gnawing. They were banging.
Herdwick hogget aged for 1 week in salt chambers. Racks have been classically roasted and taken off the bone to medium rare and fat cap on, it sits on black garlic puree, that’s been let down in some sake and mirin. Meanwhile the belly is confit, rubbed with a mint sauce, extra belly skewered on the side. Really tasty, even two wasn’t enough.
And then things gets exciting with Italian round aubergines cooked in over binchotan, then made into a baba ganoush, with mixture of aubergines pickled in rice vinegar and is finally topped with sesame seeds, and nori. For freshness, steamed komatsuna, Neals Yard yoghurt with a vibrant oil made from kaffir lime, ginger, coriander and others. And finally it is finished with a jus gras with big pearls of lamb fat.
Finally after months of anticipation, the great Tom Kemble has unveiled his next move in his culinary career.
As you know, I was a loyal fan of Bonhams Restaurant, and in a state when Tom decided to leave the restaurant (and London) in the Summer of 2018. For a brief moment, he transferred head cheffing duties to his old sous, Theo Clench, which was absolutely the right choice as he ran shop like a bomb with Charlotte at FOH. Unfortunately the new owners at Bonhams had a change of heart and rather abruptly decided to shut the restaurant at the end of 2018. Only to have another change of heart, to (puzzlingly) put in something apparently trendy (at least it isnt skewers and sandwiches, I suppose), less ambitious and in the process had consciously dumped one of the few worthy michelin restaurants in London that practiced proper classic technique and bought in whole fish and poultry.
Will Lander and the Portland crew have now recently settled in for their little Italian bistro, and while i like my tortelini il brodo, I wish Will and Dan all the best with their latest gig of course, but I will now turn my attention to Horsham (of all places), as that is where the great Tom Kemble has decided to take the next step in his culinary game.
Some of you will know the hotel, South Lodge belonging to a group of country hotels with capable chefs attached, such as Matt Worswick at The Latymer. While others will no doubt have visited The Pass at Southlodge, when it was run by Matt Gillan, formerly of GBM fame and also recipient of a michelin star.
Tom inherits Matt’s old digs, its USP being the relative borderless gap between the diners sitting on high table top banquettes and the kitchen, separated by carefully placed glass panels (installed by Tom and co).
Having started here since the start of 2019, he has settled in with the new kitchen, new team and rather refreshingly his cuisine is now evolving, or more precisely, left unshackled by Bonhams’ rather conservative clientele tastes. He is now more freely injecting his wholly minimalist style with touches of Japanese methods, as well as developing new cooking techniques which were otherwise impossible in the Bonhams basement kitchen.
Product quality and insistence on a la minute cooking is still the focus of his cuisine, to this point, since Tom is now closer to the South coast, he’s taking full advantage of this by sourcing from relative proximity – seabass and scallops being two examples.
At Bonhams, there was always the careful preservation of natural flavours, today, he layers with a sleuth of rice vinegars, dashis and other layers of flavours to progress the overall delivery of his dishes. One other fundamental new string that Tom has incorporated in his repertoire is premium smoke in the form of a new konro grill that takes binchotan. He showed us a few dishes, of the ones that stood out for me, were the oyster with smoked Chantilly cream as well as the lobster – cooked in shell to a perfect mi-cuit centre, and imbued with a very subtle lacing of smoke. Lovely cuisson, but it gets better as he matches the lobster with a heart racing bone-marrow and madeira sauce – Tom’s idea of a surf and turf.
To finish, Tom demos his latest pudding developments, a homage to Stephen Harris’ much loved chocolate mousse. Tom extrapolates the chaud-froid effect with a super clean milk sorbet, passionfruit gel and pump street chocolate thats been fried to a crispy sub-cooled temperature by liquid nitrogen (which he also inherits from Matt G). As with The Sportsman, the warm chocolate mousse is very light, as it is pushed through a whipper.
Coffee is by Difference Coffee, Tom is offering either the stock beans or blue mountain (though I personally like the Hawaiian stuff), and caviar is Attilus, just like at The Latymer. Wine will take some time to come along as its part of the Hotel’s charge, but all in all, it is very exciting.
If you are like me, and have also enjoyed his restraint cooking at Bonhams, I recommend popping down to Horsham to give the new Kembler a spin. The man is excited in his new kitchen and has furiously developed his cuisine. He does taster menus at three price points, £50 , £70, £90pp. We opted for a longer carte blanche and was charged £120pp + drinks + service for the meal.
Pictures and descriptions of the taster menu below (i excluded the canapes), taking place in Early April 2019.
restaurant details: website
1. Porthilly Rock Oyster, plankton juice, scmoked creme Chantilly and Attilus baeri caviar
I loved this. It appears simple but the whole is certainly greater than the sum of its constituent parts. He’s basically assembled ocean minerals of the oyster, caviar and plankton, to contrast with the plushness of the chantilly having taken up the essence of binchotan. Smoke has the effect of deepening flavours, both savoury and the sweetness of the oyster.
2. Chawanmushi with pickled shiitake
Seamless, silk smooth and perfectly delicate savoury custard, served warm and at the start of the meal (which is how I prefer it). We have indeed arrived at the craftsman Tom Kemble’s new digs.
Having eaten a number of his various chawanmushi in Bonhams days, I thought I knew his cuisine well, but that’s when he surprised me with this sweet vinegar pickle on the shiitake, taking the umami elevator to the next level. The guiding principle of simplicity is still ever present, but the flavour layerings have evolved from the nascent #sushikemble days into cuisine that is both purer and punchier than ever before.
3. Devon scallop sashimi, Piemontese hazelnut, rock samphire, and an incredible sauce made from blood orange, tomato, sake, olive oil, amongst other things.
Tom has now swapped Isle of Mull for fish from the South Coast, taking advantage of the relative geography. The scallops were spanking quality. As some of you will have experienced elsewhere, live scallops are very taut and almost crunchy in texture, and is notable for being incredibly sweet.
4. Devon smoked eel, black sesame bao, green apple, horseradish and kohlrabi
Tom reckons his bao dough is work in progress, but I loved it. With devon smoked eel brushed with tare over coals, and served with Granny Smith and kohlrabi.
5. Spring risotto with Norfolk green asparagus, morels and wild garlic
Essentially printemps on a plate. The seasonal dish that harks back to his days at Bonhams.
6. Norwegian Sea trout , seaweed beurre blanc, monks beard and jersey royals
Grilled over binchotan to a glassy skin, and carefully to allow heat to slowly travel up the fillet. Rested to a medium centre, it cuts cleanly in half after cooking.
Expertly cooked by @greground1 (ex-Umu, think Unagi). Monks beard for texture, and an electric beurre blanc made la minute, with pickled dulse, harmonising to great effect with the grilled fish. Craft aside, it’s incredibly delicious. Wiped the plate dry with bread.
7. Native lobster clow cooked in shell over binchotan, daikon, maitake, bone marrow and madeira jus
aka Tom’s surf and turf.
Sussex blues, killed and halved la minute, skewered and then low and slow in shell. To plate, it is shelled and quartered length wise, aiguillettes in the flair of Alain Passard. Spot on cook to uniform and beautifully glistening mi-cuit (swipe 👉). The bincho subtly infused, provided a rush of smoke, without masking the naturally sweet and taut lobster tail. The noble shellfish is right at the start of its season here. Claws were also smoked over coals, and then briefly steamed prior to plating. Tom’s favourite endives provide respite from the flavour bombs, meanwhile the maitake, meaty and a bridge to the rim rocking sauce.
The turf part of this surf and turf – diced bone marrow – has amazing gastrique qualities, the madeira, red rice vinegar, providing sweet and sour, meanwhile the bone marrow are globules of flavour that melt on the palate. Layers of underlying deepness in this jus, or a jus gras when spread on the plate with presumably the oils from the marrow splitting it. A revelation of a sauce.
As some of you know, I love Tom’s lobsters, in the past, he had done them out of shell in a pan and cut it with an emulsion of its own coral and blood peach – a pure dish of peak summer flavours. Here, Tom has progressed his thought process, adding latitude and dimension, whilst still keeping the palate clean. Masterpiece. Completely sexy dish
8. Herdwick lamb classically pan roasted, binchotan roasted aubergine and prepared like baba ganoush, komatsuna, black garlic and jus gras
For mains, Tom showed a classic combo lamb and aubergines, which blurred the lines in melding of classic technique with Mediterranean and Japanese influences. Where in the past at Bonhams, he had kept things minimal and flavours classic (with his salt marsh lamb in July onwards), here he has stepped up intensity and complexity, layering up the umami and balancing with the coolness of the yoghurt. Ultimately it’s a dish that embraces flavour, and was satisfying way to end the savouries. I prefer my lamb on the bone of course, but the extra piece of lamb belly on skewers made up for the lost bone gnawing. They were banging.
Herdwick hogget aged for 1 week in salt chambers. Racks have been classically roasted and taken off the bone to medium rare and fat cap on, it sits on black garlic puree, that’s been let down in some sake and mirin. Meanwhile the belly is confit, rubbed with a mint sauce, extra belly skewered on the side. Really tasty, even two wasn’t enough.
And then things gets exciting with Italian round aubergines cooked in over binchotan, then made into a baba ganoush, with mixture of aubergines pickled in rice vinegar and is finally topped with sesame seeds, and nori. For freshness, steamed komatsuna, Neals Yard yoghurt with a vibrant oil made from kaffir lime, ginger, coriander and others. And finally it is finished with a jus gras with big pearls of lamb fat.
9. Crassane pear sorbet, whipped creme fraiche, confit pear and matcha meringue
A classic from Bonhams days – the sorbet made from very ripe pears, simply raw, is a revelation.
10. Hot/Cold Chocolate Variations. with 72% Madagascan warm chcolate mousse, passion fruit and milke ice cream.
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