Eating Out

The Franklin Restaurant by Alfredo Russo

24 Egerton Gardens, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 2DB Telephone: 0207 584 5533

Sometimes, when in London, you need to expect the unexpected, and when visiting The Franklin Hotel to dine at The Franklin Restaurant by Alfredo Russo, that is particularly true, because if you blink you could easily miss the hotel as apart from a flag proudly fluttering with an F, there is nothing to hint that there is a hotel here, despite it occupying four of the town houses in the road.

The Franklin Hotel is a 5-star boutique hotel that re-opened in 2016 after having an extensive make-over, and what a wonderful make-over it has had. I have always felt it would have been great to have been at my prime in the 1920’s, as the music was exciting and the décor so extravagant, and on entering The Franklin Hotel you are transported back to these times, and the Great Gatsby era of classic suits, spats and stylish dresses for women.

The hotels décor, designed by the actress turned hotelier, Anouska Hempel, has created an uber stylish space of monochrome colours with stone floors and grey velvety furniture, and as we entered the cosy bar at the back of the hotel we were faced with a mixture of mirrors, and décor of black, white and grey, which totally contrasted from the unexpected vibrant green of the communal gardens visible through the back windows.

The bar looks like a set from the Great Gatsby, and it serves a mean cocktail as well as offering many of the usual tipples. I would recommend coming early to your reservation at The Franklin Restaurant to give yourself time to experience this bar, as it is visually spectacular as well as serving some of the best drinks in London.

It was a short walk from the bar to the intimate restaurant, which is decked out in a similar design to the bar, and only has room for 30 covers. This is the domain of Michelin- starred Chef Alfredo Russo, and presents wonderful Italian food influenced from the North Western part of Italy which is known for richer and more indulgent food than that in Southern Italy.

The menu is simple and compact and focuses on quality, with only four selections for each course.

Before our Antipasti course we were given a taste of what was to come, in the form of a spectacular amuse bouche, a wonderfully light and delicate bun encasing fresh smoked salmon and a smoky chickpea hummus.

For our Antipasti my wife chose the Insalata di Tuberi (£15) and I selected one of Alfredo Russo signature dishes, Polpo e Patate (£18). The Insalata provided a clever contrast between the pickled beetroot and the creamy caramelised Melusine goat’s cheese in a balsamic reduction, but the star was definitely the Polpo (or octopus in English). The octopus was insanely fresh, and because it was cooked slowly had a delicate texture and was full of flavour, but the special part was the potato foam it was surrounded by, which was so light and frothy it was like eating fluffy clouds.

For our Primi course I selected the Risotto Scampi e Burrata (£26) and my wife chose the Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe (£17). The risotto here is made from carnaroli rice, which is mainly used in the northwest region of Piedmont, and is considered the ‘king’ of risotto rices’, as it contains a little more starch and makes the risotto creamier, and was the perfect accompaniment to the generous chunks of perfectly cooked Cornish Langoustine. My wife’s pasta was cooked perfectly and served just al dente, with a pecorino cheese sauce and well-seasoned with black pepper.

Our Secondi course was equally expertly cooked and beautifully plated as you would expect from a Michelin-starred Chef, and my recommendation is the Fassona alla Milanese (£34) which is a Fassona Piemontese fillet with traditional grissino crumb served with a smooth carrot purée. The Fassona Piemontse cow is native to the Piedmont region and provides a lean meat that has an intense red colour, and this tender beef has been moulded into a rissole shape and coated in a crunchy breadcrumbs, giving the dish a strong texture juxtaposed by the smooth carrot purée and the foam that balances precariously on the top.

Desserts are equally special, and our favourite was the Crema Caramellata (£11) which is an inspired twist on a crème caramel with fresh wild berries, strawberry ice cream and layered with soft caramelised cream.

The service was efficient, but also warm and welcoming, which is a difficult balance to strike. If you need help with the menu they are there with clear explanations of the dishes, but if you are on an intimate date night (this is the perfect place to have this by the way), they keep their distance enough to allow you to enjoy your time together.

I have eaten at many Italian restaurants in London in my time, so it is easy to become a little complacent about visiting another one, but The Franklin Restaurant is truly a hidden gem (literally), and is truly impossible to be blasé about as it really is that good. From the moment you walk through the door everything oozes class. The décor, the service and the food are all on point, and as an experience is right up there as one of the best Italian restaurants I have been luckily enough to experience.

www.collezione.starhotels.com

Cocotte

271 New Kings Road, London, SW6 4RD Telephone: 020 7610 9544 Many would say that there are too many chicken restaurants in the world, but I suspect that they haven’t visited Cocotte, a chain of restaurants that prides itself on specialising on serving wonderful chicken, lovingly rotisserised (a verb that may not exist, but should), alongside healthy homemade dishes made from the freshest ingredients.

When I see the word healthy, I can’t help having the image of food that doesn’t tickle the taste buds, as all the naughtiness that tasty food has, has been removed, but here healthy and tasty still go hand in hand. This wonderful taste comes from the chickens being free range and sourced from the Loire Valley in France, and every chicken is marinated for 24 hours in a secret blend of herbs and spices. The taste is then maintained by also being slow cooked on giant rotisseries.

The Cocotte we visited is situated in Parsons Green, and is a place that I used to frequent many years ago when I was training as an accountant. I hadn’t been back until I did this review, but it was just the same as I remembered it - a trendy suburb near to Fulham and Hurlingham, that has a delightful mix of smaller boutique shops and restaurants, including Cocotte, that sits on a corner of New Kings Road. In summer there are a few tables outside Cocotte, but when we visited frankly only Eskimos, and hardy ones at that, would even have considered sitting outside, so we walked in to enjoy the warmth and ambience of the restaurant.

The space is well proportioned and once you pass the large bar/open kitchen area that is dominated by the large rotisserie, you move into the dining area which has a trendy café/ bistro vibe with a Mediterranean-esque feel. One side of the restaurant has large windows that provide a warming light illuminating the wooden floors and seats which have a distinct 1970’s G Plan feel to them.

We settled into a comfortable corner bench and were given our menus to peruse. This was, as you would expect in a chicken restaurant, dominated by chicken, but there is also something for vegetarians and vegans which is a nice touch.

For starters our waiter recommended the Chicken Soup (£6.50) and the Foie Gras & Mushroom Croquettes (£7), and to that we added the Chicken Wings (£7.50) and the Spinach & Goats Cheese Croquettes (£6). The chicken soup was rich and flavoursome as it had been simmered for 10 hours to enhance the flavour and was packed with chicken, carrot, celery and onion, and reminded me of the hearty soups my mother used to make me when I was a child. The interior of the foie gras croquettes were rich and indulgent, and the spinach and goats cheese croquettes creamy, and the contrast with the crunchy exterior made these a must order. I like to feel I am somewhat a devotee of chicken wings, and the 7 pieces you are served here are well cooked and meaty and are served with a trio of sauces, Honey Mustard, BBQ or Spicy Mayo. The sauces are good, but I personally would have preferred one with a little more spice.

The clever concept that sets Cocotte above a common and garden bistro is that for the main course diners can create their own meal as they can order their rotisserised chicken and sauces and then add different sides to make a variety of different meals. On the menus there are all the sides that would make a lovely roast chicken dinner, or if you decide to opt for salads or ratatouille you can make a Mediterranean feast, and if you just opt for fries as your side you have a chicken and chips meal (although it will be one of the best you have had!).

We decided to go down all these routes in the same meal by selecting a wide selection of sides. All solely in the interests of providing a complete review! We chose a half of chicken (£14) along with the Cocotte Ratatouille (£5), Truffled Mac & Cheese (£6.50), Tenderstem Broccoli (£5.50) and Fries (£4.50). We would have selected baby roast potatoes as well, but fries and roast potatoes are not a great combination in the same meal!

The chicken was perfectly cooked and the flesh was succulent and falling off the bone whilst encased in a rich crispy skin, and was served on a rustic wooden platter with a rich chicken jus. The tenderstem broccoli was slightly crunchy and seasoned well with a little Dijon mustard and oregano, and the ratatouille that was packed with courgettes, aubergine and peppers was full of flavour. The fries were light and delicate and really crunchy, but the true star was the truffled mac & cheese. The macaroni was smothered in truffle cheese sauce and baked in the oven with a crispy grated cheddar cheese top, and the only issue I had with it was there should have been more!

Cocotte also has a wide range of salads that can be eaten as a meal on their own or as an accompaniment to the chicken. Classic salads such as Caesar Salad (£5.75/£11) and a Walnut Green Salad (£4.75/£9) are available, as well as more inventive ones such as Roast Cauliflower & Oyster Mushroom Salad (£6/£12) and Courgette, Pea & Burrata Salad (£6.50/£12.50). These can also be customised with additional toppings such as boiled eggs, feta and avocado to name but a few, and so every taste and preference is covered.

The dessert menu is packed with options which will test the most health conscious of you, and has five choices, all of which I would happily order. After much sole-searching we finally selected the Cinnamon Caramel Apple Slice (£6.50) and the Chocolate & Hazelnut Tart (£6.50). Caramel and Apple is a match made in heaven, and this warm slice is ably supported by a vegan vanilla ice cream. The tart is a chocoholics dream, comprised of a chocolate cheesecake with a crunchy biscuit base with shaved coconut. What’s not to love?

Cocotte is a great place to meet and have a relaxed lunch or dinner with friends in a classy, but relaxed atmosphere. The food is hearty, and the way the menu is set out allows the diner to pick and mix dishes to create their perfect meal so you can come back time after time and create different combinations of dishes safe in the knowledge all of them will be top quality. I loved the concept, but I loved the food and atmosphere more, and this chain will go from strength to strength as they have all of the basics covered, and covered well.

www.mycocotte.uk

Haché

Unit 5, Riverside Walk, Kingston Upon Thames, KT1 1QN

I am a big fan of burgers and have tried enough to feel I am a bit of a connoisseur of them, so when I see a restaurant saying they serve great burgers I want to see if that is just talk, or is in fact true, so it was with great expectations that I visited Haché in Kingston last month.

Kingston is just up the road, and river, from Hampton Court Palace, Henry VIII’s spectacular palace situated on the River Thames, and over the last few years a number of good restaurants have started to sprout up in this area. Kingston’s ‘Riveira’ is Riverside Walk, which, as the name suggests, is alongside the Thames near Kingston Bridge, and is the perfect location for many of these new restaurants, and is where you will find Haché.

The décor is modern and stylish, but relaxed, and the large glass doors at the front promotes a lovely inside to out flow giving almost every table an unobstructed view of the Thames. When we visited, we were lucky enough to have brilliant sunshine and so were able to have a table on the large outside terrace to enjoy our food watching the rowers toiling, and the sun twinkling on the Thames.

Before testing out those famed burgers, there was the not so small matter of the first course, and there are a number of good options to choose from. I was sorely tempted with the Chargrilled Halloumi with chilli peppers (£7.50) as I love the meaty texture and the slightly salty taste, but instead I went for the Croque Monsieur Arancini (£7). I love aranchini balls, but this twist with the rice surrounding a heady mixture of gruyere, cured ham and bechamel, takes them to a new level and they were a delight. The lightly fried outer layer was crunchy and once you break the surface the gooeyness of the cheese/ham and bechemel oozes out giving an explosion of different tastes and textures. They were so good I nearly ordered another portion! My wife selected the Grilled Goat’s Cheese Toasts with crispy kale and hot honey (£6.50) and again the combinations worked well with the crispy kale, the lightly toasted farmhouse bread, and the creamy goats cheese complimented well by the sweet honey sauce.

Following this excellent start, my excitement was almost palpable, as the moment of truth about the quality of the burgers was nearly upon us. Haché caters for all diners with a wide range of inventive burgesr for vegetarians/vegans, including a Hot Cauliflower Cheese Burger and the Secret Garden Burger, where the patty is a Panko crusted portobello mushroom, but my attention was focused on the meat burgers. The meat burger selection also has a large choice and it took a little while to make our final selections, but eventually we went for the Steak Le Fume (£16) which consisted of a succulent steak burger atop caramelised onions, smoked bacon, Gruyere cheese, slaw and Bloody Marie ketchup, and the second choice was The Big H (£16) which consists of a double patty, triple bun, red Leicester cheese, shredded lettuce, diced onion, gherkin and Haché’s secret burger sauce.

The Steak Le Fume is theatrically served in a smoked filled dome and the burger truly lives up to Haché’s initial claims, as the meat was succulent with a light smoky tang, encased in a light brioche bun. The Big H bears a striking resemblance to another well know ‘Big’ Burger from a well-known chain, but tastes infinitely better and is packed with high quality fresh ingredients. To accompany our burgers we selected the Rosemary Sea Salt Fries (£4.50) which were light and fluffy inside and crisp on the outside.

Having devoured every morsal of my burger (and even some of my wife’s!) I sat back and reflected that Haché’s burgers do live up to their billing and are truly excellent.

Haché doesn’t disappoint on the choice of desserts either as there is a good choice, but please believe me when I say there is really only one choice you should make here! Your choice must be Stuffed Brioche Ice Cream Sandwiches (£6). Your Mini Sally Clarke brioche bun is either stuffed with Double Chocolate Nutella and Hackney Gelato chocolate sorbet, or Hackney Gelato Raspberry Sorbet and crunchy peanut butter, and although seems a strange combination it just works, and works really well. Our chocolate sandwich was a delight and was rich and indulgent and although I was fairly full from what had come before, I finished every bit!

Haché is the perfect place to take the family, dine outside with friends, or have a romantic meal, and occupies a prime location along the riverside serving quality food at a reasonable price. The burgers are the star of the show, but the starters and desserts are able support acts, and along with the relaxed vibe and wonderful views is a must visit if you are in Kingston.

www.hacheburgers.com