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Modernist Restaurants in London - last minute help needed!

ttpoker

I leave for London in a few hours from the state, but my reservations at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal was canceled thanks to a poorly timed outbreak of norovirus so its time to look at alternative options. Any recommendations for last minute modernist cant-miss experiences in London? I've already been to Hibiscus, and I have reservations for Sketch (can't miss with Pierre Gagnarie!). I live in Vegas so L'Atillier isn't on my radar. Where else should I go? Ledbury? The Story? Viajante? Can anyone recommend a peruvian cuisine restaurant that would remind me of Adria's Patka, is Limia worth the trip?

I'm hungry... for new experiences from new chefs. Hook me up!

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Chris_Young_80640

The place I'm desperate to go in London at the moment is called Restaurant Story.

http://www.restaurantstory.co.uk/

Chris

Samuel_68313

Yeah I'd love to go there, I was very tempted to go on my next journey in March, but I decided with l'enclume instead. Unfortunately that is a long way from London!

com-chefsteps

Speaking of a long way from London, Exeter (in Devon) has a pretty awesome food thing going on, what with the apples, butter and cream. There's Ye Old Cider Bar in…. Newton Abbott, where I had cider that's unlike anything I've found in the states - yeasty, biological, cloudy, delicious. None of the "I can't even taste the alcohol!" apple juice we find here.

Samuel_68313

Ahh yes, a few pints of scrumpy shall be consumed when I am back!

ttpoker

Trip report: Not sure yet how or why, but I scored the rezo for Restaurant Story with 24 hours notice thanks to strings pulled by the good staff at Dinner. I imagine this is what I would expect Noma's more confusing culinary mashups to be like, minus the foraging in the back yard. I felt there was too much emphasis of staying true to British regional sourcing, and some of the dishes were extremely confusing to the palate, but it was certainly a memorable experience. The price was extremely affordable for a 10 course meal + roughly eight amuse, just 80 GBP, they then upsold us on add-on courses at around 15 GBP each - we chose each course except the cheese course add-on because I couldn't eat another bite. The standouts of the evening were the beef tartar in apple with perigord truffle, and the foie gras crème brûlée - but I have had a similar dish served by Shaun McClain at Sage so although it was not a new experience it was still a standout. Story is perhaps best known for it's "Bread & Dripping" which is a candle made of beef drippings that slowly melts to a point where you can soak up the drippings with bread with an accompaniment of beef consommé agar gel / tongue cubes. It was certainly a creative dish, but I suspect this is just the beginning of Chef Sellers culinary path, I look forward to seeing what he has in store for the future. An experience worth it's 1 star rating, and I suspect it will improve with time.

Next up Gagnaire's Sketch tomorrow night and Peruvian cuisine's newest star in London - Lima on Friday. I'm very excited to try Sketch, Pierre Gagnaire never disappoints, correct me if I am wrong but I feel as if he is the godfather of modernist cuisine... within him, there is no Adria, there is no Blumenthal, etc.. would you agree? The executive chef for Twist in Las Vegas was formerly at Sketch, interested to compare the two.

Any other last minute ideas? I still have saturday lunch available ;-)

PS: Thanks for the idea @Chris Young!

Manfred_18311

Thanks for

the review, any recommendations on their cellar?

John_Br_sth_37808

Go to pied a terre for lunch 2 star great food.

Chris_Young_80640

@InTheCards — Thanks for the review. Glad the folks at Dinner were able to help.

ttpoker

Manfred - I no longer drink (alcohol in food is acceptable) so I did not look at the wine list or pairing options. I did however have their fresh juices which were sieved but not clarified, the pear juice blend was a good option to accompany this unique tasting experience.

John Bråsth thanks for the recommendation, looking to see of we can do pied a terre.

Last night we ate at Sketch by Pierre Gagnaire, who just happened to be in the kitchen that night, thats the equivalent of having Mick Jagger perform for you in your hotel room. The Vegetarian tasting menu did not disappoint, I can honestly say it was the rock-star of the trip so far. I have had the normal tasting menu at Gagnaire's Twist at Mandarin Oriental a few times, my peers have told me to do the vegetarian instead... it was certainly the right call. Lucky timing!