Unless you have been living under the proverbial rock that requires abstination from evil things such as sex, alcohol and greasy chips, you would have otherwise heard about the gospel of The Meatwagon. Unfortunately, the wagon was stolen late last year, so in early 2011, Yianni Papoutsis – aka Blighty’s one true burger king – had reassigned his team at the first floor of a closed down pub, in New Cross Gate. The pub had offered its space, as it is in the middle of its refurbishment plans. Yianni’s intention is to be able to secure enough funds to get a new van to roll out for the summer.

And thus, #MEATEASY was born. And it’s fucking brilliant. Very rough around the edges, but we don’t mind of course, because we love quirky and egalitarian, rage against the guerilla dives. Upon arrival, you are given a ticket, and then it’s a mad scramble to find a spare seat at the cramped space, as you study the menu scrawled across the wall.

The first time I went was a Thursday night at 9, and we didn’t eat till 11. So we spent all our cash on the £7 cocktails and £3 beers. Rum swizzlers aplenty. But when the food arrived, oh my giddy Uncle Bob, it was certainly worth the long wait.

As expected, the menu is not for vegetarians, their famed cheeseburgers are said to rival the In-N-Out and even the Shake shack. Purists love Yianni’s burgers, and I have no choice but to cave in and agree with the zeitgeist. It really is fast food’s finest hour.

Then again, a burger is a burger is a burger right? Afterall, a patty can only be flipped in so many ways. So sue me burgersnobs.

Joining the superburgers are the schnitzel breaded, tender, juicy and fleshy chicken fillet burgers, chilli cheese smothered hotdogs, Philly cheesesteaks, faux-buffalo wings, gigantic onion rings and McD’s style soggy fries and bad bad ‘slaw. Everything oozes first rate fast food appeal, redolent of the first time you ate at McDonalds, though everything else pales in comparison to the beef burgers (plain, cheese, bacon cheese, chilli cheese and the dead hippie).

I think the real winner with #MEATEASY in particular, is the rocking ambiance. And probably the people who go there. Equal measures of travelling burger lovers, trend chasers, people just looking for cool place to hang out. Everybody has an iPhone and checks their FB account while their partners order food when their number is up.

#MEATEASY is only trading under next Saturday, that’s 16th April 2011, because that is when Capital Pubs will resuscitate their refurbishment plans to remake the currently closed Goldsmith Tavern to the New Cross House.

I am not entirely sure what Mr Collins plans to do with the new pub, but whatever it is, I am certain he won’t be pulling in the crowds like Yianni is doing right now. My 2nd visit was at 5.45pm on Saturday, and we were number 44; the doors had barely been open for 15 minutes, and already there was a queue!

This is pure speculation of course, but this make-shift business must have been raking it in, enough for a new burgervan, or two, or three?

The thought must have crossed Yianni’s – and potential investors’ – mind to create a permanent spin-off as a result of this project. If Spuntino is anything to go by, I think a relocated #MEATEASY will continue to be a hit. Afterall, Yianni already owns a burger recipe ( and a customised and ideal burger bun ) that is the envy of the industry. Whether or not stakeholders can come to an agreement, or if what I am suggesting is unadulterated blasphemy to Yianni is another issue. But we live in hope.

For now, the speakeasy-esque diner/bar, serving great grilled fast food, is very attractive. This is something we can keep going back to. It may yet be the best thing to come from the entire internet fueled, pop-up generation of eateries.

Anyway, if you haven’t already, I do highly recommend you try and get to New Cross Gate before 5.45pm, any day from Tuesday to Saturday, if you don’t fancy queuing up or risk not being able to grab a table, or missing the last train back to whence you came. Have £40 on your persons, a small tupperware box, order one cheeseburger, one dead hippie, one chicken burger, one Philly cheesteak, and stuff whatever you can’t finish in the plastic box for lunch the day after. I promise it’ll be a night to remember.

The Gist of It

#MEATEASY by The Meat Wagon
Ticketed, Cash Only, Burgers & Cocktails. £15pp
First Floor, Goldsmiths Tavern
316 New Cross Rd SE14 6AF
Tel: 07796 304024
Overground: New Cross Gate

Even more photos on my flickr page.

TimeOut London ; London Stuff ; Campari & Soda ; The Happiness Project London ; thebountifulplate ; No Reservations ; An American in London ; thecriticalcouple

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Eating in someone’s home is both exciting and a little daunting. I never know what to expect and how I should act, especially since the host has graciously opened up their private space. I suppose home restaurants are one of the positive things to come from this recession, or more accurately from the growing awareness of the online social conscious.

This will be my 3rd experience at a secret restaurant.

(Note: Please let me know if you would like me to take down any pictures.)

Twitter is a revelation, I continue to meet like minded food lovers online and it was through the magic of the interwebs, that I had come in contact with Lara. Of course, it was still surreal to have met her and Iain for – in the flesh – the first time. It was at a charity dinner last July – both are down to earth who live for good food it seems, and it was then that she told me of her plans to launch Sheen Suppers in her home. It took me a while to show up, but I eventually managed to squeeze abit of time to keep my promise. For this meal, I joined Euwen who was also planning a visit after reading about it at Essex Eating and Food Urchin.

We arrived as a table of four, somewhere in East Sheen.

The living room fit six tables snugly while we settled into the corner by the window. Lara’s home is exquisite and cosy, as it was a Friday night, I sank into the warmth of the living room. I was ecstatic about the wooden floors. The lights were dimmed and just the faintest hum of jazz in the background. We really liked the romantic ambiance and enjoyed whispering in conversation. Iain – Lara’s partner – was in charge of front of house activities, charming and articulate, he wasted no time in laying on the golden juices. While Lara was in charge of the four course menu, Iain was responsible for pairing each course with a glass of something, something – amazingly, they only asked for a £25 donation for this.

I remembered the first bottle – a gerwerstraminer from Alsace, to go with the first course of Pancettta & Prawn Pate, Cornichon Salad and toasted wholemeal bread.

Iain was generous – he topped up our wine … and I saw him do it for every diner in the room! Wow, I was quite impressed with the pate. Served cold – the hard paste-like pate was surprisingly well balanced in taste. We looked at each other, amazed at the quality of this dish and noted how this could have easily been a hit at a ‘real’ restaurant. The timing of the dishes was immaculate. With but short pauses in between just enough to get engrossed in conversation before the next course came.

Mains: Gnocchi with a Ragu of Shin of Beef, Broccoli with chilli & Sea Salt. I can’t remember the red Iain served us with – I think it was a Grenache (Iain/Lara – perhaps you can chime in?).

The potato gnocchi was superbly pillowy, and the warming beef ragu was divine. It needed just a touch more seasoning, but that’s only because we’re nitpicking, otherwise its perfect. We looked at each other again, in amazement at how slick this home restaurant food was. My my, Lara can cook and then some.

I had seen the photographs of the pink smeg fridge so I thought I’d pay a visit. Her kitchen looks great, Lara has one of those magnet knife holders – attached to it was also an itinerary of the night – very organised.

After a swift tour, we were back in our seats for the cheese course: Blue wensleydale, somerset brie, applewood smoked, oatcakes and crackers.

Iain had prepped four mini glasses of Taylor’s port, which was consumed before the pudding arrived of course. He was kind enough to top it up again. As he ran out of Taylors’ , he poured us an Australian example instead. After about four or five glasses (in total… I think), I was actually tipsy.

And finally, orange sponge pudding, white chocolate ice cream, dark chocoalte orange cup and some chocolate sauce.

The sponge was moist, light and as you sink your spoon into it, a zesty steam fluttered into the air. What a pudding, and what a meal.

I’ve always said that I admire the bravery of living room restaurateurs who are doing it as a pastime of sorts. I believe that it takes tremendous effort to put these things up – not to mention opening up your house to strangers – and for me, it is a precarious thing writing a ‘review’ about it, which I have tried to curb throughout this blog post. What I will say is that I had a jolly great time, the food was delicious, and the wine alone was worth it. About the only thing I regret was not meeting the rumoured fat cat who was hiding upstairs (I saw ‘Yoga for cats’ in the loo and wondered if he was stretching upstairs). Anyway, I expected a comforting meal and I can safely say that my expectations were completely exceeded.

I thoroughly recommend it, if you still haven’t done a dinner at a stranger’s home yet give Sheen Suppers a try, you might be just be back for more.

(Not) the Gist of It

Sheen Suppers
(Not) in East Sheen
(Not) in London
(Not) £25 for four courses and flowing wine

More photographs on flickr here.

Also, check out the blog posts about Sheen Suppers by Dan at Essex Eating and Dan at Food Urchin.

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Held at a ‘secret’ location somewhere in London called ‘The Loft’, The Mash-up is the brainchild of Paris-based Gastro-Architect Rachel Khoo. And LondonEater brings you all the sumptious action, from behind the camera.

Expositing the underground dining scene

Much has been talked/written/blogged about regarding the exploding underground dining scene in the capital. At it’s core, it is a noble concept; the idea of someone opening up their home to strangers and offering to cook for them. One can argue that dinner parties have been going on for years and years now, some won’t really understand the fuss around it. I was speaking to a veteran dinner party host who told me the only difference was you ate with strangers who saw a piece on the internet (like this one). Anywho, that’s my John McEnroe about it; the only way to really find out what happens in one of these digs is to go to one.

Meet Rachel, Nuno, Jay-P & T-Baas.

The Mash-up concept is Rachel Khoo’s super cool idea of melding the visual and aural to enhance the dinner and give it an overall mood. The visual side of things is evident the moment you glance over at the table; rich forest green placemats and water bottle labels courtesy of T-Baas, and the audio part of it being taken care of by a mixtape in the background put together by Jay-P.

And the stage is set at The Loft – billed as the private kitchen of Chef Nuno Mendes, but in truth, it’s a really nice home. Everything open plan, with a mezzanine upper area and a ceiling that is very nearly two storeys high.

It’s a little nerve wracking with such events, and one never really knows what to expect. The vital difference between the pros and the alternatives is the mingling at the start. Believe me, it’s worringly awkward showing up to someone’s house expecting them to serve you like a restaurant patron and my conscience telling me that I really should be respecting the hospitality offered by the hostess inviting us into their personal space. This debate, I’ll probably save for twitter.

Fortunately, Rachel is as slick a hostess as they come – an ultimate multitasker, I watched as she gracefully switched gears from manning the kitchen (assisted by the lovely Caroline) to inviting people to the venue, and most importantly, making one feel right at home. (even more importantly, putting a glass of bubbly in your hands)

Garden Salad

I was actually on hand to supply pictures for the event, and I tell you, it was fascinating getting total freedom to roam around the place, photographing everything that caught my eye.

And so we go to the first course: Pick your own crudite pot, potato pebbles and lemon aioli. The pot of garden fresh vegetables in carrots, radish and whole globe artichokes, got the evening off to a rather colourful start, I really liked the lemon infused aioli and I though it was an apt compliment to the pot of vegetables.

Gazpacho!

The all green first course was a refreshing start to the meal, and by then, I was duly acquianted with the diners around the table, we also had a few sips by then, and so became suitably friendly. Something rather magical happened just as soup was served; I could see all the heads pop down, almost in sync with each other and people started slurping away ( ok well, maybe not slurp.. )

Thai spiced watermelon gazpacho with black olive bugs. Now we’re talking. This is yummy, the spiciness is kept to a relative minumum and as the soup was cool, it gave it a subtle tingle rather than a punch. Watermelon is an interesting choice, and it gave way to a smooth, light brothiness which was fruity rather than the vegetable rawness one expects from a tomato gazpacho. The black olive bugs were a kind of iced olive, almost an olive sorbet, it carried an interesting zing and gave the soup an icy spark, which I found rather exciting. Rachel did the right thing here, by seasoning the soup for spice rather than for sweetness, making it a true appetiser , instead of a pudding masquerading as one.

Fish

So far so good, the waiting time in between courses was about 15 minutes. Rather good for a two person kitchen. Rachel kept up with the wine topping up, which is always a good thing to literally keep the conversation flowing.

On to the Mains: Sustainable Halibut wrapped in banana leaves served with a pepper lime salsa, petit pois & mange tout.

The fish was fragrant, roasted whole in the banana leaves, it had this tropical quality about it. Digging in, I encountered peppers giving in a slight fruitiness to flavour which matched the oiliness and body of the fish. The fish was cooked to well and it carried a silken wetness. Personally, I would have preferred it just abit undercooked, but I’m nitpicking. Beneathe the fish sits a dollop of rice. I was a little distracted with working the camera, and so failed to jot down the details of the rice. Memory suggested a slightly coconut infused long grain and spiced with herby shavings.

And so it appears Rachel can really cook. Overall, there was a slick mouthfeel, with the natural fishiness balancing well against the pepper topping, and the herbiness of the rice provided a foundation to cushion the palette. There you go Rach, not too bad at all.

Cheese before Pud

The next course was Strawberry & balsamic vinegar terrine with Petit Billy Goat’s Cheese.

Oh I loved this one. The sweetness of the strawberries came alive with the vinegar, one which is barely noticeable as it blended so well. I must confess, I’m quite new to the berry and cheese pairings and first experienced that at Sketch. It’s a successful combo with the chalky sour of the cheese meeting the tangy sweetness of the strawberry. A fresh dish that wiped the palette clean.

And finally, finally finally: the last dish of the evening: Pandan frozen frog, multi-coloured frogspawn in a chilled Darjeeling pond.

What a great description of a dish, I suppose Rachel is aiming for a big bang of a finish. Pandan is one of my favourite ingredients, popular closer to my folks than here in the smoke, and its greatest quality is the beautifully sweet and fragrant that has a calming purity, almost like a bamboo crossed with sugarcane and with the smell of forest leaves, and it makes for perfect custard infusions. Rachel has made a kind of iced custard (to make the frog); she has used tapioca pearls (used in Taiwanese pearl milk tea) for the frogspawn and she’s finished off the pond with a warming darjeeling tea. Much like a deconstructed milk tea, the strength of the tea was an excellent compliment to the custardy pandan ice, and yeah, a great finish indeed. If I were being critical, I’d say I want MORE of where that frog came from.

Three times a charm?

This write-up is in danger of sounding too much like a review, which I don’t intend it to since that wasn’t what I was there to do. But my opinion: it was a great night, Rachel was a gracious hostess; the Loft is a great venue and food was visually interesting and tasted great.

This wasn’t your average dinner; Rachel set out to create an electric menu adhering to a thematic backdrop and ambiance. I think the intermingling of the individual elements were successful. One cannot really hold these special dinners to the same set of criteria to judging proper restaurants, and I think one need to describe these dinners as a total experience. And in totality, I think she achieved what she set out to do.

You don’t have to take my one thousand words for it. Here’s the scene right at the end of the meal.

Clap. Clap Clap. I think that quite succinctly summarises the evening.

And here’s my favourite shot from the evening. You can see the entire set at Rachel’s website here.

(PS: Let me know if you need me to take down any pictures.)

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Guys, Rachel Khoo is BACK.

You’ll remember a while back when I put out a post about the latest secret restaurant that is being run out of the Private dining club called The Loft, belonging to Chef Nuno Mendes. Well, Rachel is now back to put together another dinner event called a mash-up which will blend and incorporate various media formats into a dinner event.

I know some of you were keen to try a dinner out at Nuno’s private kitchen and here is your chance to apply again. The event will take place on Wednesday 24th June 2009, 7.30pm and it will be a five course menu plus wine at £65pp.

If you are interested, all you need to do is RSVP with Rachel by email to mashuplondon@gmail.com. .

Places are of course, extremely limited so reserve your seat on the table now.

Oh, and I’ll be tagging along for this one as event photographer, so if you’ve always been curious about secret restaurants, there ain’t a better chance than this one. As usual, I’ve included the full press release to this post (keep reading..) and read this post about how it went down the last time. Hope to see you there guys!

Full Press Release from Rachel

Photo by Bronia Stewart

After the debut success of her first mash up, Rachel Khoo is back with another mouth-watering installment.

The mash up* concept is about creating a dining experience for all your senses (sight, smell, sound, taste, touch). For this scrumptious supper, T. Baas will be offering a visual feast with some delectable designs and Jay-P will be tantalising your earbuds with some toothsome tunes.

This will all be rounded off with Rachel’s creative culinary touch to the 5-course dinner (paired with wine).

The festive feast will be held at the private dinner club The Loft on Wednesday 24th June at 7.30pm.

Rachel Khoo is a Food creative based in Paris. With an Art & Design degree from Central St Martins and Pâtisserie diplôme from Le Cordon Bleu, Paris Rachel brings her unique touch to culinary events.

The Loft is a private supper club and personal test kitchen of Nuno Mendes, one of London’s innovative & revolutionary chefs (El Bulli trained & previous head chef of Bacchus, London). He will be opening his next restaurant, Viajante at the Bethnal Green Town Hall in 2010.

T. Baas originally from Strasbourg but now based in Paris has been creating a visual storm with his illustrations the past 8 years for a range international brands, books and bands. He has a sweet weakness for mirabelle plum tarts too.

Jay-P when not spinning some savoury sounds in the cities Paris, London or New York puts his creative skills to producing multi-layered and heavily patterned paintings. And after all that creativity nothing hits the spot more than a Thai green curry.

Places are limited to ten people. Email mashuplondon@gmail.com. to reserve. A recommended donation made via paypal confirms your place. 5-course dinner paired with wine at £65 pp. Address details will be sent out once reservation has been confirmed.

Click here to take a look at the last event.

Feel free to forward this on to fellow foodies!

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Ok, first question – what’s a mash-up? Maybe if you’re under 30, the answer is obvious. However, I’m not and I had to experience it to understand it. From experience a mash-up is where food, wine, art and music commingle to make a perfect evening. But perhaps it’s better to describe it –

The Location –

The Loft Kitchen in Hoxton, Northeast London, is actually the residence and laboratory of Nuno Mendes, an innovative Portuguese chef in London who is using the lower floor of his loft as the experimental kitchen for his new restaurant (opening in the Bethnal Green Town Centre complex early in 2010). Every Friday and Saturday night he creates multi-course tasting menus to try out some of the dishes he’ll feature in his restaurant. However, Nuno was merely our gracious host on Wednesday night. The dynamo behind the mash-up was actually Rachel Khoo.

The Cast –

Rachel is Malay-Chinese and Austrian by ethnicity, a art-designer/marketer/food stylist/chef de patisserie among other things by training, and her food events are a combination of her multi-cultural, diverse background and her wide circle of friends worldwide.

First, she used the designs of her friends, Zoe Lydia and Miss K of PikPikZoo in Hong Kong for the placemats, tablecards and even water bottle labels on the table.

Then, she asked her friend, Joseph Seresin, to create a musical mix to entertain us throughout the evening (we even received a CD of the mix to take home). Bronia Stewart, yet another friend, was engaged to photograph the proceedings (almost all the photos in this post are courtesy of and copyrighted by Bronia).

Joseph was involved again for some of the wines we enjoyed with our dinner through his family connection with Seresin Estate in New Zealand. Last, but far from least, Rachel was ably assisted in the kitchen by Frankie (Francesca Unsworth). All pictures above © Bronia Stewart 2009

The Mash-up -

Soft lighting, PikPikZoo designs decorating the table, Joseph’s mix playing in the background and the curtain went up on the Mash-Up –

As the participants gathered, we were offered a refreshing glass of Bailly-Lapierre NV Crémant de Bourgogne Exception Brut Intense. It was zippy and delicious and a perfect tool to get conversation flowing among the diverse participants who seemed to have discovered the event either through some connection to Paris and Rachel or via Kang’s post on LondonEater.com (Kang says: thanks guys).

After a bit of bonding time (which worked extremely well as conversation at the table never flagged), we were presented with Rachel’s opening number a plate of Edible Paint, Paper & Pencils. Served on a plain white rectangular plate, were 3 crisp crackers – one with red onions, one of rye and orange, and the third with olives. Set above them were our “pencils”, carefully crafted from a cucumber, a radish and a carrot. Below the crackers were 3 paint tubes (literally!) filled with 3 different “paints” – a spread of beetroot humus, one of butterbeans, and a third of green olive paste.

Edible Paint, Paper & Pencils Playing with your food

Encouraged to use our creativity, we set to work like kindergarten students in art class, busily spreading the paints on each cracker to determine our favourites. This was a terrifically creative idea, if an enormous amount of work for Rachel and Frankie to sterilize and fill all the tiny paint tubes and construct the picture on our plates. If the ice had not already been broken by the bubbly to start, this exercise in free-child fun certainly got things off with a bang. This course was accompanied by a glass of Domaine Lefebvre d’Anselme 2007 “Trilogie” Côtes Du Rhône. All pictures above © Bronia Stewart 2009

Our next course, A Cup of Tea with Beef and Vegetable Carpaccio Stirrers, was again a dish where we could use our own imagination. The tea was a creation of tamarind, soy sauce, lemon grass, galangal, star anise, lime, water and perhaps some secret ingredients. Served very hot, we could either stir the “tea” with our beef and vegetable skewers or eat them raw. My personal favourite was to just give the skewer a quick swirl in the tea to briefly warm it. That gave me the delicate and rich taste of nearly raw beef, the bright crispiness of fresh vegetables surrounded by the slightly spicy savoury “tea”. And the “tea” was pretty tasty all by itself, too! This was paired with a glass of Seresin 2007 “Momo” Pinot Noir. The wine was perhaps a bit ripe and fruity for the dish but nice.

Slow-Roasted Duck © Bronia Stewart 2009

The main course, Slow-Roasted Duck a l’Orange & Plum with Millefeuille of Potatoes, was probably the only course that was fairly traditional (i.e. – no particular playfulness in the dish). Instead of playfulness, we were given something else I really like in food. This was a “Ronseal” dish – by that I mean, “it does exactly what it says on the tin”. In other words, this dish delivered exactly what its description says. I’m not much of a Duck a l’Orange fan normally because I find the orange often overwhelms the duck. Rachel managed to get just a hint of orange flavour not overly aggressive and the plums were outstanding with it. In fact, I think that doing the duck with just plums would really be terrific. As it was, this was full of flavour and very satisfying. We had another Seresin Pinot Noir with this course, a 2006 “Leah”. This wine was much more subtle and nuanced than the previous “Momo” and was really lovely with the dish.

Palate cleanser time – a Fleur de Geisha Granitá made from Japanese Green Tea and cherry blossom flowers. Simple as this was, it was one of my favourites of the night. The crunchy “snow cone” of ice had a delicate flavour, definitely of tea but airily light but an ephemeral cherry sweetness that really wasn’t sweet at all. An excellent touch and a perfect palate cleanser.

Poached Rhubard with Almond & Strawberry Shortbread and Rosemary Mousse © Bronia Stewart 2009

Now it was time for puds. This was another of the highlights for me – Poached Rhubarb with Almond and Strawberry Shortbread and Rosemary Mousse. Rachel suggested that the Rosemary Mousse, which was beside the shortbread in a little cup, would be very good with it. She was VERY right. Everyone around me seemed to be just as pleased with the savoury character of the mousse, just slightly sweetened, against the bright ripe strawberries and the crunchy almond shortbread. VERY very yummy! We had yet another Seresin wine with this, their 2004 Noble Riesling dessert wine. Although the wine was quite nice, it is always difficult to pair a dessert wine with a sweet dish and this wine was just a bit too much for the dish. I’d probably use a less sweet dessert wine like a Brachetto d’Acqui which isn’t too sweet and which has a lovely strawberry character itself that should blend nicely with the dessert.

Mini Mooncake Truffles © Bronia Stewart 2009

Finally, in what was a bit of a homage to Chinese New Year, we had 3 Mini Mooncake Truffles, each with a coconut “skin”, one filled with black sesame, one with chocolate and the last with pistachio. The sesame one was very Chinese and savoury; the pistachio one was a bit overwhelmed by the coconut, while the chocolate one was “just right”. Maybe I got Baby Bear’s portion!

Maybe you still don’t understand what a mash-up is but go to one. It’s worth it.

Tasting Notes –

Bailly-Lapierre NV Crémant de Bourgogne Exception Brut Intense
A blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, this is “champagne” but made in Burgundy, hence, the name Crémant because it cannot be called Champagne. It is intense and very dry with a soft creamy mousse and delicious citrus and apricot fruit. Bright and zesty with crisp acidity.

Domaine Lefebvre d’Anselme 2007 “Trilogie” Côtes Du Rhône
This is a blend of the undistinguished (usually) Ugni Blanc and Rousanne. 13.5% alcohol. Rousanne dominted this blend giving its peachy aromas and flavours. Decent acidity and smooth finish but not particularly distinguished. However, I admit that I was having so much fun playing with the Edible Paint, Paper & Pencils that I really didn’t pay a lot of attention to this wine.

Michael Seresin of Seresin Estate © Jamie Goode 2007

Seresin 2007 “Momo” Pinot Noir
“Momo” is the entry level Pinot Noir from Seresin Estate in Marlborough, New Zealand. Biodynamically made, hand-picked and sorted from three different vineyards, its nose is a classic New World Pinot nose – bright cherry fruit with a hint of underbrush and herbs. Unmistakably New World Pinot on the nose and palate. Soft ripe tannins, cherries and raspberries, with the classic Pinot vegetal undertone. Very pleasant, especially for an entry level wine. 13.5% alcohol.

Seresin 2006 “Leah” Pinot Noir
“Leah” is a blend of fruit from the clay-rich Raupo Creek vineyard, the alluvial shingles of the Tatou vineyard, and the mixed soils of the Home vineyard. The wine spent 3.5 weeks on the skins during and after fermentation. Aged in French barrique (about 25% new). 13% alcohol.
For me this was a much more elegant and restained Pinot than the “Momo” which had preceded it. More mineral character, deeper textures and much more character. Much more of the Burgundian “barnyard” Pinot aromas with ample brambly fruit, a bit of smokiness and spice.

Seresin 2004 Noble Riesling –
From old vine Riesling planted on alluvial soil with free-draining basalt pebbles, the fruit was affected with botrytis and was rigorously selected. After slow fermentation for a month, further fermentation was stopped by chilling after the wine reached 12% alcohol.
The nose is classic for a botrytized wine, honey and beeswax with some citrus notes. For me, however, the usual mineral floral beauty of Riesling was a bit lacking. On the palate the honeyed notes were repeated, accompanied by tropical fruit flavours. There was enough acidity to keep the wine from being cloying but not enough to lift and lighten it as you see in the best sweet wines from Germany and Austria. It was also just a bit over-powering for the delicious dessert Rachel made but a pleasant enough wine nonetheless.

——–

Kang’s note: I hope you enjoyed that one, my only regret is I didn’t show up for it!! Ok, so now you know where to find the coolest secret restaurant in London - Be sure to follow the awesome links below for further details and more. Thanks to Paula Sindberg, it was great post, make sure you check out her excellent wine blog. Finally to Rachel, Joseph, Michael and Nuno – Kang will eat with you someday.

The Loft , Rachel Khoo , Ultimate Wine Company , PikPikZoo , Joseph Seresin , Seresin Estate

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