Food: Chez Bruce , Wandsworth, 13th May 2007

Chez Bruce, the warm up act for Pied à Terre so to speak; kind of like having Bright Eyes warming up the crowd for Arcade Fire, or Leonard Cohen for Jimi Hendrix for the older readers amongst you.

We went for Jessie’s Mum’s birthday and there were six of us: Jessie, her parents, her sister Emily, Liana, friend of Emily and me.

This is what we ate:

Starters

Pea soup with truffled goat’s cheese cream and pea shoots (Emily, Liana)

Tuna sashimi with king prawn tempura, endive, peanuts and coriander (Jessie, Helen (her Mum))

Foie Gras and Duck Liver pâté with toasted brioche (Malcolm (Jess’s Dad), Me)

Main Course

Grilled halibut with lobster stuffed courgette flower, sauce vierge and jersey royals (Emily, Liana, Malcolm)

Sea bream with provençâle vegetable relish, grilled squid, almonds and sauce nero (Helen, Jessie)

Confit rabbit leg with risotto alla milanese, artichokes and niçoise jus (Me)

Desserts

White chocolate cocoa nib ice cream (Emily, Liana?)

Hot chocolate pudding with praline parfait (Jessie, Malcolm)

Rhubarb, champagne and pistachio trifle (Me)

Coffee, Chocolates

Food Cost: (didn’t see the bill but it was set price at £37.50pp with some additions for pricier dishes)

Wine

White: Sauvignon Blanc 2005, Neudorf, Nelson Bay, New Zealand

Red: Massaya “Classic” 2004, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, 2004 (half bottle)

Wine Cost: £38 (white) + £11 (red) = £49

The dining room was light and airy and not that large but each table had a decent amount of space. The service was discreet, efficient and friendly; nothing less than you would imagine from a Michelin 1*. There was the one occasion when our wine waitress and I had something of a tussle over who was going to pour the last glass from my carafe (I was drinking the red); she was a lot better at it than me as I spilt a drop or two!

Two of the three starter types that we ordered (as opposed to tokens; there is the philosophical content of this blog done with) looked fantastic: the soup was a bright (pea) green and the tuna, prawns etc was equally colourful with a mix of deep red-pink tuna and greens and yellows from the various accompaniments. The third starter, of Mal and me, was a white pot filled with the typically pink-brown hue of the pâté with a huge slice of golden toasted brioche. The first couple of mouthfuls of brioche loaded with pâté were absolutely delicious- it was so very smooth and flavoursome- and were accompanied by general sounds of enjoyment from all round the table. However, as I continued I must say that the combination was somewhat overwhelming. I tend to like dishes where the flavours and textures are varied over the course of the dish, in this one the flavour became a little overwhelming (for the mouth) after about half way through and as the dish went on the smoothness tended to coat the mouth, making it ever so slightly cloying. I think, then, that I made a mistake in choosing this starter: the sounds coming from those eating the other two were definitely positive over the whole course of the dish! If I had my choice again I think I would have gone for either the Tuna or Pig’s trotter and ham hock salad with sauce ravigote, dandelion and beetroot, which was my second choice behind the pâté.

Moving on to main courses, everyone had fish apart from me. I guess the Steer family are big fish fans and the dishes that they chose did look enticing. The stuffed courgette flowers looked particularly tasty, I’ve been a fan since I first had them at Salt Yard (great tapas place). However, since no sharing went on I will restrict my comments to my main course. It was fantastic, very very tasty: go and have it now. As a main course this was right up my street, a combination of four or five elements (the rabbit, risotto, grilled artichokes (probably my favourite vegetable, with asparagus a close second), nicoise sauce and green beans) such that any combination of flavours (2, 3, 4 or all 5, I think I managed one mouthful of all 5!) increased the complexity and enjoyment of the dish. The rabbit leg was ridiculously tender and melted in the mouth and the risotto was creamy and with an meaty aftertaste. The combination of those two flavours would perhaps have been too creamy had they been the only elements of the dish but the sweet nicoise sauce, with juicy tomatoes in it and the nutty artichoke flavour broke up that creamy taste. It really was an excellent dish, perhaps my top main course (competing with roasted guinea fowl with guinea fowl liver on crostini at Locatelli, and my pigeon stuffed with quail stuffed with mushrooms at The Waterside; I don’t include any Fat Duck dishes in these comparisons).

When the waiter came to take our dessert order I told him that I had been thinking about the rhubarb trifle since I first saw the menu that day. I was lying. I had been thinking about it since I first saw the online Chez Bruce menu some weeks earlier. In particular, I had been thinking about how I would make it. I concluded that I would make a rhubarb compote for the bottom layer, then soak home made Italian sponge in champagne for the middle and make a pistachio paste and whip it into cream for the top. I was pretty far off how they did it! They had a rhubarb and champagne compote for the bottom layer, but it might have had a little gelatin in it as it had a slightly thicker texture (alternatively, it might just have been thoroughly chilled so that it partially set, I couldn’t quite tell). Then on that was a thick layer of cream topped with chopped pistachios and little green pistachio flavoured pieces. However it was made, it was well tasty! I just sat there focused on the little glass bowl, eating, not noticing at all what was going on around the table. As a result, I have difficulty remember what was eaten by those not sitting next to me (Helen and Liana in particular, I remember talking about the ice cream with Emily!) and have no idea how they found it. The trifle was suitably reminiscent of the trifles of my youth (homemade, but with jelly from the packet and custard!) but flavoured exquisitely; I am a huge rhubarb fan by the way, this might explain some of the superlatives. The things I love best about rhubarb were really emphasised, the tart flavour was in harmony with the champagne and it was not overly sweet or heavy. Delicious.

I drank the red wine with my meal whilst everyone else had white. By all accounts the white was good and the red was lovely; a lot heavier than the Chateau Mussar (the other Lebanese wine we have had) but still very fruity. The company was, as always, delightful even more so since we were celebrating a birthday!

To finish, some comparisons. The restaurant had much more of a local, relaxed feel than the others that I have been to of this type. Along with this perhaps, there was less of a finesse perhaps, certainly at Locatelli there is a heightened feeling of gastronomy and excellence. The cuisine did not have an underlying basis, there were elements of French and Italian influences as well as Japanese, Spanish and some others (English: Trifle!). A very enjoyable meal.