A Two Star Lunch at The Greenhouse Restaurant, Mayfair

In Event Reports by ashepherdiwfs

 

 

On 18 August 2016 London Branch organised a lunch for 11 members in the private dining room of The Greenhouse Restaurant in London’s Mayfair. A special five course meal with matching wines was prepared by Chef Arnaud Bignon.
With the canapés we enjoyed Champagne Goutorbe Boillot, Carte d’Or.
The starter was the restaurant’s signature dish of Dorset Crab, crabmeat flavoured with curry and layered with cauliflower puree, with mint jelly and light apple foam. Non-shellfish eaters had Courgette Trombetta, a millefeuille of courgette slices with almond and black olive, and a rose dressing.
The accompanying wine was a crisp and refreshing Domaine Des Lauriers, Cuvée Prestige, Picpoul de Pinet 2015 from the Languedoc.
The next course was a beautifully presented arrangement of three different kinds of tomato, including green zebra and coeur de boeuf, marinated and lightly blowtorched, with mozzarella ice cream and tomato water consommé.
The fish course was poached whiting, with thin slices of beetroot, blood vine peach and yogurt, a peach dressing and a creamy fish sauce with beetroot.
To accompany the fish course we enjoyed an ERA Grillo 2014, Terre Siciliane from Italy, a medium bodied white wine with good minerality.
The main course was breast of chicken, poached and then roasted, with confit potatoes coated with chive, with a chive coulis, roast pearl onion, blackberry puree, fresh blackberries, and a chicken skin crisp.
The accompanying wine was a Coca I Fito Tolo Xisto 2014, Ribeira Sacra, Galicia, Spain. The grape was 100% Mencia. The wine is aged for four months in French oak.  It was medium ruby in colour with lively berry fruits on the palate and an excellent match for the chicken.
To refresh our palates there followed a pre-dessert of mojito panacotta with sorbet juice.
The main dessert was a stunning white sesame financier with calamansi and yuzu, with black sesame and chocolate glazing, and served with a thyme and yuzu sorbet.
To accompany the dessert, we had a Domaine de la Piegeade Muscat de Baume de Venise 2013 from the Rhone – surprisingly light and fresh for a fortified wine, with caramelised orange flavours.
The meal was completed with coffee and petit fours.