In celebration of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2013 held recently in London, lauded chef Nuno Mendes hosted six nights of special dinners entitled CRAFT, at his East London restaurant, Viajante...
In celebration of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2013 held recently in London, lauded chef Nuno Mendes hosted six nights of special dinners entitled CRAFT, at his East London restaurant, Viajante. As with last year, Mendes invited chefs from the 50 Best list to join him in creating joint menus, including Belgium’s Kobe Desramualts from In De Wulf, Rasmus Kofoed from Geranium in Copenhagen, and José Avillez from Belcanto in Lisbon. Mendes’ collaboration with Avillez saw both Michelin-starred chefs draw inspiration from their Portuguese heritage to create an imaginative eight course tasting menu as well as a flurry of amuse bouches.
The evening began with Avillez’s signature starter, the Martini Invertido (inverted martini), a lovely green olive emulsion with a ‘garnish’ of vodka in the shape of an olive at the centre of the glass. After this, Mendes’ popular crispy cod skin was a riff on two Portuguese favourites, pork and cod, like a delicious cross between a pork scratching and a prawn cracker. Other highlights were Mendes’ sea urchin and frozen seawater, a strong dish of bold flavours, cleanly executed with the surprising element of frozen seawater bringing to mind the cold waters of the North Atlantic. This was nicely paired with Bruichladdich, a uniquely non-peaty Islay whiskey.
"Mendes’ crispy cod skin was a riff on pork and cod, like a delicious cross between a pork scratching and a prawn cracker."
Avillez’s Mergulho no Mar (Swim in the Sea) brought together pollock with sliced razor clams, mussels, and seaweed in a seawater broth, and the dish was as evocative as its name suggests; incredibly fresh, clean and light, with simple flavours from the sea. Later on, a rich and tender dish from Avillez was the Leitao Revisitado (Piglet Revisited), a succulent, slow-cooked piglet with glass-like crackling on top. The series of dinners was designed as a celebration of the craft of cooking, with Mendes and each guest chef using many similar ingredients, but to wildly different effect, and drawing attention to the highly individual, creative process of cooking.
Across town, another recent collaboration is Ametsa with Arzak Instruction at the Halkin Hotel in Mayfair, a new venture that sees the restaurant’s head chef working with Elena Arzak. Elena was voted the World’s Best Female Chef in 2012, and her eponymous 3 star Michelin restaurant in San Sebastián, Spain, which she runs with her father Juan Mari Arzak, kept its place at number 8 on the 50 Best list this year. The Ametsa draws on Arzak’s ‘new Basque cuisine’, offering dishes such as scallops with betacarotene, pigeon with ‘shot’ – gelatinous silver balls with exploding centres – ‘quick change’ squid which alters its colour as a light sauce is added, and green and black mackerel, served with ink and fennel sauces. The flavour combinations are earthy and the presentation playful, though the venture is still new and there is hopefully more to come from this kitchen yet. The diffusely-lit interior was designed by London-based Ab Rogers Design, who took their inspiration from the Arzak in Spain, while the eye-catching ceiling created from 7,000 glass receptacles filled with spices brings a natural, inviting calm to the minimal space.
Text by Neil Wissink and Ananda Pellerin
Ananda Pellerin is a London-based writer and Neil Wissink is a visual artist also based in London. More from The Hunger here, and contact The Hunger here.
