- 2 days ago
Join Chef Angela Hartnett OBE of Murano and Cafe Murano as she explores her favorite London food spots–from Notting Hill to Soho–for Where the Chefs Eat. From simple Italian pasta at Canteen to historic dining at Quo Vadis and the iconic French House, this is her ultimate London food guide.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00All that people ever say to me is,
00:01I can't get a table, and I say, nor can I.
00:03I'm married as a chef, and even I can't get a table.
00:11Hi, my name's Angela Hartnett,
00:13and today I'm going to be taking you
00:15to my favorite places to eat in London.
00:17This is where the chefs eat.
00:21The great thing about the London food culture
00:23is the amount of cuisines we have here.
00:26You've got a great Indian, you've got a great Chinese,
00:28you've got fantastic sushi,
00:29you've got a wonderful British restaurant,
00:31you've got your local French place,
00:33and you've got it all on your doorstep.
00:38I'm in Canteen in Notting Hill in Portobello Road,
00:42and I love the restaurant here because it really emphasizes
00:45what Italian food's about.
00:47Simplicity, don't mess around with it.
00:49Ingredients that are bang in season,
00:51and just let the food do the talking.
00:53The vibe's fantastic.
00:54You've got these amazing open fires,
00:56and it's a beautiful, wonderful young team,
00:58that are super friendly.
00:59And I think what's great about Canteen is they wanted it
01:01for the neighborhood.
01:02So there's a no-booking scheme.
01:04You walk up, you get your table,
01:05and if it's not ready, you go around the corner for a drink,
01:08and then you come back when it's ready.
01:09But in the summer, they've got seating outside,
01:11so it's absolutely packed.
01:13There's always new dishes added to the menu,
01:15which I think keeps it really interesting for locals who come a lot.
01:18All the regulars, they'll see something different.
01:20I mean, for me, I love coming for the pasta dishes,
01:23the filled tortelli or the ravioli.
01:25They're always wonderful, whether it's with some spinach
01:28and winter greens or whether it's with pumpkin.
01:30All those dishes just tick my boxes.
01:34Here we have the chickpea rosemary farinata
01:36with melted lardot over the top, which is a bit of a staple.
01:40And you've got sage in there and rosemary?
01:42Sage and rosemary, yeah.
01:43Oh, fantastic.
01:43And some fennel seeds.
01:44Oh, wow, this looks delicious, Jess.
01:50I love it with the lardot.
01:51It's quite nice, isn't it?
01:53This gives it that extra sort of little layer of fat.
01:55It's so simple, but it's so, you know,
01:57to get it wrong is easy, isn't it?
02:01Next dish we have is a veal carne cruda.
02:04Oh, lovely.
02:05Very Tuscan, isn't it?
02:06Yes, exactly.
02:06So what have you mixed it all with?
02:08We chop the veal fresh, obviously, each day,
02:10and then we whip it with a little fresh lemon juice,
02:14cappuccino, olive oil, and then dress the leaves with lemon and olive oil,
02:19toasted pine nuts, cacciotta cheese.
02:21It's delicious.
02:22I love this veal, actually.
02:23It's really good.
02:24I'm really getting my protein this morning.
02:26Yeah, it's great.
02:28The other thing about this is the understanding of what Italian food is,
02:31because you haven't served it with any bread or crackers or anything,
02:36because you wouldn't, because then your carb, if you like, is your pasta course.
02:39Yes, exactly.
02:39So they really sort of keep that throughout that.
02:42And the cheese, the cacciotta, that's from Emilio Romagna.
02:45That was it?
02:45Yes, exactly.
02:46That's that lovely sort of, it feels rubbery and looks it,
02:49but it's so delicious.
02:51Yeah, it is, yes.
02:53So here we have a freshly made pumpkin panzotti,
02:57which has got ricotta, delicate pumpkin, black pepper, parmesan in the middle.
03:02Fantastic.
03:02And it's got a sage butter.
03:04Lovely.
03:08It's so lovely when it's so waffling like that, it's so good.
03:13So how many people in your kitchen?
03:15We have 14, Jess, 12 women.
03:19Wow.
03:19Yeah.
03:20I did not think you were going to say that.
03:21Yeah, more women than men.
03:23Okay, that's brilliant.
03:24Yeah.
03:24I think back when I started at the aubergine,
03:26I was the only girl in the kitchen with about 10 blokes for the whole year I was there, actually.
03:32Was that quite tough?
03:33It was quite tough.
03:34But on the other hand, I sort of got a bit,
03:36Gordon just would, you know, not let me do certain things because I was a girl.
03:40So I quite liked that.
03:41I didn't have to clean the stove.
03:43Oh, really?
03:43I was like, brilliant.
03:44Oh my God, that's nice.
03:44Thank you very much.
03:45Yes, I'll take that.
03:46It's quite a male-dominated industry.
03:48Yes, definitely, yeah.
03:49But I think women kind of like working with women, and as I started to recruit more and more,
03:54so many female chefs came out of the woodwork, which is amazing.
03:58So here we have our spatchcock chicken, which we cook in the wood oven with milk,
04:03white wine, a bit of lemon zest, and it's marinated with sage and thyme, black pepper.
04:09This is my favourite meat chicken.
04:11I do love it.
04:12Is it?
04:13Yeah.
04:16It's so delicious.
04:17And I love it with that milk and that lovely sauce.
04:20So I love the fact, one, it's so tender, and that must be the sort of marinade and the milk
04:26in there.
04:26And that you've put this sort of, it's a bit like the salsa in vodka, isn't it?
04:29Yes.
04:30You put the sage underneath and stuff.
04:32So delicious.
04:36Okay, so that was incredible.
04:37I knew it would be delicious.
04:38And as always, Jess has given me a wonderful Italian meal.
04:52I'm here in Soho, in Dean Street, at Quo Vadis.
04:56One of my all-time favourite chefs ever, Jeremy Lee, cooks here.
04:59And we're going to have some lovely lunch together.
05:01So let's go.
05:08To a hundred years.
05:09To a hundred years.
05:10Oh, thank you very much.
05:11Like Delly Parton said, I hope he is another 80, and I hope I still have the same plastic surgeon
05:16to keep there.
05:18It's so big.
05:19Cheers.
05:20This is a hundred years old now, Quo Vadis.
05:23This is a hundred years old.
05:24And it's always been a restaurant, hasn't it?
05:25Always.
05:26Because of our history of a building like this, it's very old.
05:30So its roots are entirely Italian.
05:32Yeah.
05:33When I started, there were no restaurants in this country, and food was in a deplorable state.
05:38And foreign food was deeply suspicious.
05:41And Italian food was nothing more than tomatoes plumped on pasta and a tub of grated Parmesan.
05:46So this is insane.
05:47And what strikes me about a restaurant in Soho is that there's a brilliant opportunity here
05:52to bring in tradition of trattoria and bistro, regional cooking, great cooking,
05:57but also at the same time, this enormous resurgence of British food.
06:01Yeah, yeah.
06:01So the menu was British produce used in a way that would be woven into Italian tradition.
06:09And so it has a deep, rich European traditional regional cooking with a very British flavour.
06:14I think Jeremy is one of the best soup makers in London, which may not be the accolade it should
06:20be.
06:20Yay, that's the best accolade ever.
06:24What have we got here?
06:25Ground chickpeas we get from Spain, from Brinmonica to Brindiza.
06:29And then that's ground with tahini.
06:31And then with that comes a goat's curd beaten with herbs, an olive oil, and a little black olive crumb.
06:37And this is?
06:37These are great. They're a feu de bric, which is North African pancake.
06:42Yeah.
06:42Which is lavish with butter and parmesan and a little bit of salt and pepper.
06:47And then you just pile it all on together.
06:52I'm mad for celeriac remoulades, which I devoured in my youth and still do, obviously.
06:58And is it in a light mayonnaise or is it more a vinaigrette?
07:00Well, mayonnaise... I've got a love-hate relationship with mayonnaise because it's...
07:04I'm having that relationship now with mayonnaise.
07:06Because it's so rich.
07:08And what you want is to...
07:10The whole menu is based on a journey, I suppose, really.
07:15And you have a bite.
07:16This is so much fresher, not with mayonnaise.
07:18It feels lighter.
07:19Is it buttermilk? It's extraordinary.
07:21Oh, wow.
07:21Buttermilk, olive oil and mustard.
07:23Splash of lemon juice, splash of vinegar.
07:25But mostly it's the buttermilk, which is so sour.
07:28Lovely. Mmm.
07:29That has been a revelation to me, the buttermilk.
07:32Oh, love that.
07:34And then here...
07:35Chocsum trout is...
07:37From Hampshire.
07:38From Hampshire, which we cure trout with beetroot
07:41and then lightly steam it and serve it on a spinach mashed potato.
07:45Lovely.
07:46And a whole saladish cream.
07:47Fabulous. And our other one?
07:49And this is, you might recognise this,
07:52Riff on Belito Misto.
07:54Yeah.
07:54So it's simmered brisket and tongue and chicken,
07:59simmered in stock until very, very tender.
08:01And then served with a salsa rosso.
08:03Mmm. Oh, that's lovely.
08:05Do you like that?
08:06I love the horseradish as well.
08:07Very colourful for our winter months.
08:10Thank you very much.
08:11I love that.
08:12It need not be Macbeth or the tweed.
08:14No, I think that's the best way.
08:17Delicious. Cheers.
08:19Salud.
08:20God, I can't believe this is Monday.
08:22It's just FYI, it's not how I live my life every Monday,
08:25going out for three lunches.
08:26But yeah.
08:27Are you sure?
08:29This is a walnut tart with brown bread ice cream and hazelnuts.
08:33It is half walnuts, two almonds.
08:36Yeah.
08:37And coarsely ground.
08:38And then baked in a very thin pastry shell.
08:40And then some chocolate sauce.
08:41Wow.
08:42And this one?
08:43This is the Monte Vesuvio.
08:45We were asked to put on a centenary dish for each menu, but we also wanted to do a centenary
08:51pudding.
08:52And then we wanted to go as crazy Italian fun as possible using British produce.
08:58So it's blood oranges and pistachios from Mantegna.
09:02Yeah.
09:02Rhubarb from Yorkshire.
09:04Vanilla from the other side of the planet.
09:07Yeah.
09:07On a meringue with camcords from Sicily and pistachios and whipped cream and vanilla ice cream.
09:14And please tuck in.
09:16Jesus.
09:18See, I'm not a big dessert person, but I do like meringue.
09:21It's fabulous.
09:22I love the Matterhorn.
09:24Oh my God.
09:25And I love that orange coming through.
09:27Mmm.
09:28We've been criticised British food for a long time.
09:33And, you know, in certain senses, rightly so.
09:36But I think one thing we've always done brilliantly is puddings.
09:39Mmm.
09:40They've got to have a pudding.
09:41That is delicious, that walnut tart.
09:43Oh, bless you.
09:44Gorgeous.
09:44I love you, darling.
09:47Cheers.
09:48Happy home.
09:48Bon appétit.
09:55So we're here at our final stop, the French house in Soho.
09:58An institution in itself, not just because of the incredible food, but also this restaurant
10:03and bar and wine bars have been here for over a hundred years.
10:06In fact, it's a pub really.
10:07And I've been coming here since my early twenties, as have many people here.
10:12And what's amazing is when you talk to people about the French house, how many people have been
10:16coming here for years?
10:17But it's had phenomenal cooks.
10:19Leslie, the proprietor, has been here for over 40 years, and she's amazing.
10:23She's one of three female landladies who's been running the pub in London.
10:31One of the things about Leslie is she's a great lover of the arts.
10:35As you can see, Frances Bacon used to frequent the French house a lot.
10:39Charles de Gaulle apparently used to come here during the war years.
10:42And what she's a believer is conversation and people.
10:45So what I love about the French house is you don't have to meet anyone.
10:49You will meet someone.
10:49If you come in here, you'll know someone.
10:51They don't want people taking photographs.
10:53You're just here to have great food, wonderful wine and beer, etc.
10:57And to converse with people, to be sociable.
11:01Hello, Neil.
11:02How are you?
11:03Nice to see you.
11:05You good?
11:05So full transparency, I see this man every day, as it was my husband.
11:09I'll probably pop into the French house at least once or twice a week.
11:12Not necessarily to eat, but certainly to come up and see Neil,
11:16or just drop something off or pick something up.
11:18I think it's just one of those hidden gems of London.
11:22I don't think it's so hidden.
11:23I think people know about it.
11:25All other people ever say to me is, I can't get a table.
11:27And I say, nor can I.
11:28I'm married as a chef, and even I can't get a table.
11:31So what have we got here? Wow.
11:33So this is a confit garlic and goat's curd on sourdough.
11:37So it would kind of be, encourage people to eat that.
11:40I'm going to squeeze it out so you've got this lovely soft garlic.
11:45And then what's this other one?
11:46This is a winter vegetable and bitter leaf salad.
11:49So you've got pickled slices of celeriac, some beetroot, some scorched onions,
11:54bitter leaves, castel franco and watercress.
11:57And then I think you've got some wood sorrel on there,
11:59roast pumpkin, and then some parmesan cheese to bring it all together.
12:03I think what is amazing, given the size of the kitchen,
12:06which is smaller than this room here,
12:08and it has less equipment than a lot of people's home kitchens.
12:11You know, it doesn't have loads of fancy things like water baths
12:14and thermosis and all the rest of it.
12:16But Neil still makes all his own stocks,
12:17makes all his own sauces, makes his brioche.
12:20They do everything from scratch.
12:21It's so unpretentious.
12:23Neil's one of his first reviews, which was from Tim Hayward,
12:27who gave it, I think, 10 out of 10.
12:29He said it was one of his best meals that year.
12:31You know, Neil hand writes the menu every day,
12:33which a lot of restaurants have now copied.
12:36When they bought the cheese for Tim, they bought a bar stool,
12:39because there's no sort of extra table.
12:41They put the cheese board on the bar stool.
12:43And he said there was a fancy knife.
12:46And he said that was the most fancy thing in the whole restaurant.
12:48Otherwise, it was all about just eating great food.
12:51So you open to fantastic reviews from everyone, which is brilliant.
12:57That looks delicious.
12:59This is a roast cornish pollock with like a weeabes style sauce.
13:03So fish soup with a saffron, fennel, perno, star anise.
13:07And then it gets marinated, all roasted off, then glendies.
13:11But it's got a bit of texture.
13:12Some spinach in the pomme aligo, which is from the Auvergne region in France.
13:18And it's a lovely, rich and indulgent cheesy mashed potato.
13:22It's delicious. I love that sauce.
13:25There's people that will talk about the best restaurants in London and stuff.
13:29And one thing that always seems to come up time and time again is people,
13:32one photograph the Madeleines.
13:33Even Lily Allen was in here recently, took a photo of the Madeleines.
13:37And then people go, yeah, you get the French house and you finish with the Madeleines.
13:39So I think without doubt making the best Madeleines in London.
13:42I don't have a particularly sweet tooth, but I'm more than happy to have a little spoon
13:46of chocolate mousse, because it is great.
13:48Pump Street chocolate is brilliant.
13:50And it's a really light mousse.
13:55This was a first, having three lunches before three in the afternoon.
13:59But it's been worth it to eat at the Canteen, Quo Vadis and the French House.
14:02All these restaurants exemplify brilliant chefs who cook fresh.
14:06You have a real passion for cooking.
14:08They absolutely love it and change their menus.
14:11And the food's always delicious.
Comments