Pizarro, two cheers for Jose - Apr 2012

I dunno, you wait for London's tapas king to open one new restaurant, and two come along at almost the same time... No one was at all surprised when Jose Pizarro of Brindesa fame opened up jewel box perfect Jose on Bermondsey Street a year or so ago, there was a little more surprise when it was followed up less than a year later by bigger brother Pizarro a few doors down.

If the impression is that these are a couple of places he's thrown together, then it works. Jose is a absolute favourite for post work sherry and a pincho from the authentic little bar cum kitchen in the tiny space. I remember taking a Madrileno friend prior to dinner at nearby Zucca and after a swift but heated argument with the bartender on the best sherry on the menu and two plates of their heavenly croqueta, he happily declared it the equal of anywhere in Madrid.

Pizarro is a different level to the bustle of Jose. It's a significant step up in size for one, and though there's window seating and bar service, the majority of the covers occupy dark, masculine furniture evocative of a high end wine shop. We took a seat at the marble bar and eyed up the short menu.

While everything is available for sharing as you'd expect from the tapas king, there's a slightly more ordered approach here, with the menu broken up into small and large plates. We went for two of each, which arrived in that order, much in the manner of a starter and a main course...

As well as some of the divine jamon croquetas, we went with razor clams to start. Served in their shells with lashings of garlicky butter and sticky nuggets of chorizo to contrast with the soft flesh of the shellfish, they were perfectly well cooked if not quite to my taste, I traded the last one for another go on the croquetas, an outcome that suited both parties. Of the mains, we shared a slightly one dimensional if well conceived dish of roasted root vegetables and curdy but bland goats cheese. The other shared 'main' was as lovely a lump of roasted lamb as I've had in some time, soused in good oil and dotted with olives, insanely tasty little flavour bombs when crisped in the hot oven.

It wasn't as busy as I was expecting, possibly less surprising as it was a mid week lunch later in service. In itself not a problem, though it did deaden the mood slightly. I'd definitely recommend an evening table shared with friends. You can go through most of the menu between 4 or 5 of you and with the help of an exceptionally well chosen wine list and the knowledgable, friendly staff have a very acceptable night out.

  

Waiting for 10 Greek Street - Apr 2012

This month I will be mostly doing nothing new... I'm going to try to only go to places I've been to, and enjoyed, before. Over recent months I've definitely been guilty of only focussing on potentially exciting openings, as often as not being fairly underwhelmed. Either that or I'll don sackcloth and ashes and stay in till after the Olympics.     

     

The problem is that my eyes are literally bigger than my belly. And there are so many new places, each sounding more exciting than the last; authentic BBQ, London's first Peruvian, basement sex shop Mexicans, a slew of one dish or one ingredient specialists and pop up this, that and the other. It's a frothing seething circle-jerk of new. And it all sounds so bloody good on paper.   

So apart from being able to smugly inform you what I think of these places the second they appear, what other benefits are there to being first? Sweet few as it turns out... If you're lucky you miss the crowds, but you also get to deal with a world of settling in services and chefs and while you might discover a little gem, you're never going back to find out if it was truly as good as you thought it was. While restaurants can be like theatre, there are also plenty of reasons for returning to old favourites.

     

After a few years of East and West most definitely being best, Soho and Covent Garden, my preferred stomping grounds, are undergoing a resurgence at the moment and 10 Greek Street ticked every on trend box when it opened last month. A barely reclaimed austere space with found decor, a short and simple list of regularly changing seasonal specials and a no reservations policy... All they needed were young, beautiful staff with tattoos and you could chalk up a restaurant of the year nomination here and now.  

Ah, that oh so 'now' no reservations policy... Leave your number and head off for a drink in Soho's glamorous Soho. I pushed our cagey host on a rough time but he wasn't being drawn.

"Any idea roughly how long we'll be? It doesn't matter, we're not starving, we just wanted a rough idea?"
"Couldn't tell you mate, we'll give you a call when it's your turn."
"20 minutes you reckon? Half an hour? An hour? Two?"
"Could be mate, could be."

We retired to the unlovely pub across the road, poised, like slightly boozy sprinters ready to flee... I understand the logic but it hardly makes for a relaxing pre-dinner experience. I wonder whether they'd have waited for us if we'd just got another round in as the call came?  

And the food? After a three beer wait it was probably fine. Very well sourced, moderately well cooked bits of rare breed protein served with clumps of heritage green stuff on a bed of carb. There was probably a gravy too. It really wasn't bad at all, Someone had rare, too bleedy (sous vide maybe?) duck, and I remember totally enjoying what was almost certainly a pork chop on celariac mash but without looking at the menu I can't be totally sure. After another couple of bottles of wine I don't recall a huge amount. We all finished with a pear tartin, also fine, though no real oomph to it, and none of the blackened sticky toffee notes you need in a good tartin. A perfectly acceptable end to perfectly acceptable cooking. 

You're not here for the food at the moment though, it's more for the knowing ambience of early adopter and the whiff of new. If you're after that, you won't be disappointed. When the buzz dies down, there's a decent little local bistro here, the kind you'll want to get to know. I'd save it for the early week dinner in a couple of months time. It's going to be there for a while, so don't all rush at once.

At Hugh... this time the only thing I can describe!