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You are here: Home / Restaurants / British Isles restaurants / The Fat Duck – a 3 Michelin star lunch in Bray

The Fat Duck – a 3 Michelin star lunch in Bray

by Jeanne Horak on June 1, 2006 10 Comments in British Isles restaurants

The Fat Duck foie gras

You know how they say the path of true love never runs smoothly?  Well let me assure you that the same can be said for fine dining.  Getting to my birthday lunch was an uphill struggle from the word go, in other words, the booking process.  In common with other fine dining establishments, the fun starts with the hoops you have to jump through to get a reservation.  Now the Fat Duck only takes reservations two months in advance, so if you want to go there on 1 June, you will have to book on 1 April.  Not before, not after.  And if 1 June happens to be a Saturday, your chances of success are hugely diminished. 

I thought I’d use my birthday as a perfect excuse to book a table for 6 on a Saturday afternoon – a lovely drive into the countryside, a delicious meal with friends and maybe a stroll after lunch.  I did know that it wasn’t going to be easy as I tried previously to get a table without success.  Anyway, on the appointed day two months before the Saturday I had in mind, at precisely 10h00, I called.  Engaged.  Redial.  Engaged.  This is the way it goes.  There is no queue – you just hit redial and hope to get lucky.  Sadly, some of us work for a living and can’t sit there hitting redial endlessly, so I took the middle road of hitting redial every 10 mins.  I eventually got through at… 11h30.  Sorry, no tables left for Saturday.  But… wait… let me see… we have one table for Friday lunch at 13h45 – how about that?  DONE!!  So it’s going to cost me half a day’s leave – what the hell, it’s my birthday and I have a table at the Fat Duck, tra la laaaaa!

Seeing as Nick had no leave left (and because secretly I think he dreads going to restaurants with me when I start taking pics of the food…) I invited Johanna and we agreed to meet at Richmond, from where we would go by car.  So far so good.  I left work on time and hopped on the Tube to get to Waterloo… and within minutes the train just ground to a halt.  Signalling problems (oh the joy of the underground!!).  So we sat in a tunnel for close on 10 minutes and by the time I made it to Waterloo, I had missed my train.  Found the next train, but obviously the entire schedule had been thrown out.  I called the restaurant to let them know that we would be a little late and they said that would be OK, but 10 minutes later they called back to say that they didn’t think I would make it before 14h45 and that they would therefore not be able to seat us.  Suffice to say that I went into orbit.  Explained that I had waited a long time for this table (that plus the fact that they had my credit card details, taken at the time of booking – what were they going to charge me for being an enforced no-show??) and that there was no way I wasn’t coming.  So a compromise was reached – if we could make it there by 14h15, they would seat us.  If anybody saw a streak of lighting in the shape of a car zooming between Richmond and Bray that day, that was us 😉  And when we arrived, slightly breathless, at 14h15 we were welcomed and seated without a murmur of complaint.  Phew!!

The restaurant interior is smaller and more appealing than I expected.  It’s in a little low-ceilinged house in the village, indistinguishable from its neighbours, but they seem to have knocked out most of the interior walls, leaving only a huge fireplace and a lovely open space with whitewashed walls and exposed wooden beams.  My kind of room, with only large abstract canvases to break the clean white walls, and carpeting, so the sound of your fellow diners is somewhat absorbed and you can hear yourself think. One of the first things you notice is the tremendously high staff-to-guest ratio, and service throughout was excellent without being stuffy.  We were immediately offered a glass of champagne and seeing as it was my birthday, we both opted for a glass of rose champagne, offered from a lovely silver ice bucket (more on this later).  We perused the menu but sadly were not able to have the tasting menu – if you arrive any later than 2, the tasting menu will take so long that it will run into the evening service!  So a la carte it was.  Hot on the heels of the menu came the heavy leather-bound tome of a wine list.  Johanna was driving and so we couldn’t share a bottle of wine, but that didn’t stop me browsing.  The wine prices were on the high side, but started with some fairly reasonably priced bottles (there was an Alsace white for £30, and a number of bottles in the £35-45 range).  The selection was enormous with lots of interesting stuff you do not find on the lists of lesser establishments, like a selection of Austrian wines.  I plumped for a glass of the Willi Opitz 2001 Pinot Gris.

We were served some good bread and a little knob of excellent salted butter (which to me  is always one of the marks of a good meal to follow!).  The first amuse bouche promptly arrived and was announced (in heavily accented English!!) by our waiter – a small scoop of Pommery mustard ice-cream over which he ceremoniously poured red cabbage gazpacho.  I have to admit that this was my first experience of savoury ice cream and I am in love.  First, there’s the novelty of a savoury taste clothed in the shape and texture of food you have always regarded as sweet.  And then there is the palate-clearing zing of the mustard – just to get your taste buds ready for things to come. And the red cabbage gazpacho provided both a vivid splash of colour as well as a complementary flavour.

 

 

The Fat Duck mustard ice-cream

 

Following the first amuse bouche came the second:  the biggest, fattest, most pillowy oyster in all of England served in its shell on a little smudge of horseradish and covered in a passionfruit jelly. And on top, you can see the lavender crisps and a little lavender flower below each.  Sublime. In fact, I disregarded oyster etiquette entirely and ate mine in four little forkfuls because I didn’t want it to end.   The saline tang of the oyster plays surprisingly well with the slightly tart passion fruit jelly, while the spike of horseradish stops it all becoming too cloying soft and comfortable. One of the best appetizers I have ever had. (You can’t really see it in the picture, but the oyster shell was perched on a little 1-inch mound of rock salt,.)

 

The fat Duck oyster in passion fruit jelly

 

From there it was on to the starters, and Johanna and I had decided not to have the same dishes so as to allow us to taste more of the menu.  Johanna ordered the crab biscuit and I got the intriguing-sounding radish ravioli of oyster but I have to say that I think in terms of sheer deliciousness Johanna won here.  Two crispy crab-flavoured tuiles, sandwiching between them a slab of roast foie gras and resting on four little sticks of rhubarb and some crispy seaweed. Absolutely sublime, with meltingly gorgeous foie gras offset by the crispy biscuits and the sweet/tart rhubarb.  My radish ravioli on the other hand was, to
my mind, a far less cohesive dish – three interesting components but nothing to tie them together.  But very pretty nonetheless… Starting at the front, we have a crispy little rissole of fromage de tete (not cheese, but rather a type of terrine, similar to brawn).  It was delicious – crisp, light and piping hot, tasting of creamy ham more than anything else.  At the far end is the “ravioli” itself:  a little mound of oyster, goat’s cheese & truffle, covered in transparently slices of the tiniest, most perfectly round little radishes imagineable.  I was almost afraid to eat it and disturb the delicate arrangement, but when I did it was delicious.  The principal taste was the goats cheese, but there was definitely a subtle flavour of truffle and oysters.  The slight tang of the radish stopped the taste from becoming overpoweringly
rich.  But what impressed me most was the visual impact.  Have a close-up look. In the middle was something that we could not quite place – and the waiter who brought the dishes out once again spoke such accented English that it was almost impossible to hear the explanation (I know, I should have asked…).  Anyway, it was a little scoop of what tasted like a mixture of mild dill pickles and mushrooms in a mayonnaise-y base.  If anybody who can throw light on the actual ingredients, I’d love to hear from them.

 

The Fat Duck foie gras

 

The fat Duck radish ravioli starter

 

The Fat Duck radish ravioli

 

After this came the “palate preparer” to set the scene for my main course.  Since I was having lamb, it was came as no surprise that the preparer was jelly of best end of lamb.  It was served as a small bowl of jellied lamb consommé topped with a teensy weensy salad of itty bitty sun-dried tomato and strips of cucumber and cubes of ham. It was really delicious, like a little miniature meal and such a good idea.  This was followed by my best end of lamb with
onion and thyme puree
and caramelised baby onions.  The two chops were perfect: thick, juicy, tender and beautifully pink.  The onion and thyme puree was a little bland for me though – not sure if I would have picked out the thyme at all, had the menu not mentioned it . But the best thing for me was what came on the side, in an adorable little metal ramekin with a lid, rather like a Mini-Me version of Le Creuset.  I lifted the lid to find a little hotpot of lamb shoulder, oysters and
sweetbreads
in a rich gravy, covered in slices of tiny baby potato, each topped with a cube of what might have been sweet potato. One mouthful and I was hooked – it was incredibly delicious and I just wanted a huge bowl of it, on its own, as a course.  Fantastic.

 

The Fat Duck lamb jelly

 

The Fat Duck lamb

 

The Fat Duck lamb hotpot cocotte

 

Johanna, on the other hand, was having saddle of venison with celeriac, marron glace and sauce poivrade.  She pronounced this to be delicious, especially the sweetness of the marrons glace with the gamey   venison.  Her side dish was another winner (and a great use for the cooking juices after you’ve roasted a leg of venison!) but her side dish was also the winner: civet of venison with pearl barley and red wine, topped with a red wine espuma (foam). Awe-inspiringly simple and delicious (picture does not do it justice so I’ve omitted it!).  We both agreed that we could have eaten a whole (large) bowl of this, but its richness would probably have made this impractical…  While Johanna didn’t get a palate preparer for her venison, she did get something afterwards (a palate relaxer??!) – venison and frankincense “tea”, a venison jus served in a tiny teapot and poured into a lovely stemmed whisky glass, redolent with the smell of frankincense but tasting of venison. Delicious and playful.

 

The Fat Duck  saddle of venison

 

The Fat Duck venison tea

 

Next up were the pre-desserts.  First we  were presented with two little sugar-crusted purply-red squares of beetroot jelly on a plate, and hot on their heels came a waitress carrying two little bright orange carrot lollipops.  Now usually it would take a lot of persuasion to get me to eat beetroot of ANY description, but I had a nibble on one of the squares and found it to be surprisingly blackcurranty and tasty.  (I have read subsequently that if you have them blindfolded they taste more like beetroot and less like blackcurrant… go figure!).  The lollipops were carrot-flavoured – the thinnest strip of caramelly carrot in the universe with a bit of orange zest, attached to a toothpick – in fact, so thin it’s translucent! Light, crispy, clever and amazing. Johanna and I were fascinated as to how these are made.  But sadly, so ethereally delicious that they are gone within seconds.

 

The Fat Duck carrot lollipop & beetroot jelly

Then came the Big Event that was dessert.  Once again we had decided to order different dishes so that we could share and experience as much of the menu as possible – and unsurprisingly we both went for a chocolate extravaganza! I had the  chocolate fondant with cardamom dried apricot yoghurt and harissa ice cream.  The fondant was less eggy than the fondants I made at home and was topped with caramelized pecan chips.  One touch of my spoon and out came a river of bittersweet chocolate – heaven.  On the right was the dried apricot yoghurt and what I presume were cardamom crisps.  The yoghurt had a lovely thick consistency and a nice apricotty tang. On the left, we have a scoop of harissa ice-cream on a bed of sweet red pepper mince.  Yes, you read correctly – harissa ice-cream.  But just do as I did, suspend your disbelief, and spoon up a little of the chocolate pudding together with the harissa ice cream.  Perfectly fabulous – the chocolate and the harissa is quite possibly the best combination of things I have ever put in my mouth! I would go back for this dessert alone.

 

The Fat Duck chocolate fondant dessert plate

 

The Fat Duck apricot yoghurt

 

While I was cooing over my dessert, Johanna was having fun and games of her own.  She had ordered the delice de chocolat – a little tower of chocolate mousse coated in chocolate on a biscuit base, served with slightly spicy chocolate sorbet and a little pool of cumin caramel sauce.  When she served it, the waitress explained that the little tower should not be eaten layer by layer, but that each spoonful should cut vertically down through all the layers so as to include a little of each.  Okeydokey.  So Johanna takes a spoonful and has a few chews, and then claps her hand to her mouth and starts giggling uncontrollably.  I could see she was having a ball, but was mystified as to what could possibly be so much fun!  Eventually she had swallowed enough of her mouthful to be able to respond decently, and she
said “there’s something, erm, fizzy… no, popping in the chocolate!”  My first thought was some kind of sherbet – but I couldn’t imagine sherbet working very well with chocolate!  But I was willing to wait until I tried it before making any decision.  As soon as we had each had half of our respective desserts, we swapped plates and I also got to have my first mouthful of the myterious chocolate tower.  Bittersweet chocolate on the outside, smooth mousse on the inside, a chocolatey biscuit base and…  Pop!  Pop!  Pop-a-pop! Suddenly my mouth and toungue were just alive with popping and I was scared to open my mouth lest the noise disturb other diners!  This was definitely not sherbet…  It’s just the maddest feeling – your whole mouth seems to have taken on a life of its own!  So we called the waitress over to ask what it is and she told us it’s just shop-bought pop rock candy (or space dust or whatever it’s called where you are) baked into the biscuit base. (Fascinatingly, I found out that pop rock candy is made like any other hard candy from a mixture of water, sugar, corn syrup and flavouring.  However, the mixture is combined with carbon dioxide gas under a pressure of 600 pounds per square inch.  The carbon dioxide forms tiny bubbles in the candy when it hardens and the bubbles remain in the candy until it melts in your mouth.  So what you are feeling is hundreds of little explosions as the high-pressure gas bubbles explode in your mouth!).  What a simple, brilliant idea – and when last can you honestly say that a dish made you laugh out loud from surprise and enjoyment?

 

The Fat Duck delice de chocolat dessert

 

From there, we moved on to coffee, which was preceded by mini violet tarts.  You can’t really see in the picture, but they were in fact a deep violet colour, and the filling had the consistency of treacle.  They tasted like slightly floral caramel and were just small enough not to be too rich or cloying.  Coffee was accompanied by chocolates – some infused with pine and some with fresh mint.  I was a bit apprehensive about the pine chocolate, but the flavour was extremely subtle – to the point of hardly being noticeable.  The mint one was a different story though.  There is such a gulf of difference between the flavour of fresh mint and what we get on a daily basis as the flavouring in toothpaste and chewing gum and after dinner mints.  This is mint as nature intended it – intense and a bit leafy, not the blandly sweet artificial flavour we take for granted.  Delicious.

 

The Fat Duck violet caramel tarts

 

The Fat Duck chocolates

 

So after sitting back and feeling pleased with ourselves for a while, Johanna and I finally got the bill.  The a la carte lunch is £80 for 3 courses – pretty steep, but we knew the price beforehand and had steeled ourselves (the tasting menu is £97).  What did make us do a double-take was the fact that a single glass of rose champagne cost… £28!! Yikes!!  OK, so I understand it was Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Brut Rosé 1999, and presumably under the arcane logic of restaurant wine mark-ups, it wasn’t an unreasonable price to charge, given that they’re selling the bottle for £118.  But still, I thought that the waiter might have a) mentioned the prices when he listed the champagnes available by the glass or b) the wine list might be available for perusal before you choose your glass of bubbly.  I know that the there is no champagne by the glass that comes cheap, but we were expecting something more around the £12-15 mark, not £28!

Thast aside, there was little to find fault with.  As I said, the service was excellent and the setting attractive.  I was initially disppointed that we couldn’t have the tasting menu, but in retrospect I’m glad that my introduction to Mr Blumenthal, so well-known for his zanier ideas (bacon + egg ice cream; snail porridge; things flash frozen at your table in liquid nitrogen…) was via a reasonably traditional meal.  It meant that you could gauge whether the kitchen were getting the basics right, rather than just being dazzled by the showy stuff.  And let me assure you, they are getting it right!  I loved the idea of messing with our entrenched expectations – the expectation that ice cream will be sweet and that beetroot will be savoury.  And as I said, I found the exploding dessert to be a total hoot – not something you can often say for food!  I do think that I was more forgiving about trying odd-sounding things purely because you know it’s Heston Blumenthal.  For example, I very much doubt that if Pizza Express suddenly put oysters in passionfruit jelly on their menu, I’d order it.  But at the Fat Duck you are somehow more open to unsual combinations because of Mr Blumenthal’s towering reputation.

Was it worth the money?  For me, definitely.  For someone not intensely interested in food, possibly not.  Would I go back?  Oh yes, in a heartbeat.  Now if only I can employ a full-time assistant to sit on the phone and get me a booking… 😉

The Fat Duck
High Street
Bray
Berkshire
SL6 2AQ

Reservations: +44 (0) 1628 580 333

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  1. tankeduptaco says

    June 1, 2006 at 11:35 pm

    Sounds like a grand time was had by all, absolutely worth half a day’s leave. What a fantastic array of dishes, did I notice an oyster theme going on there? Anyway Happy Birthday and you did it in such great style, lucky thing!

    Reply
  2. brian says

    June 2, 2006 at 6:56 pm

    OK I’m jealous but don’t you dare tell anyone otherwise I’ll lose my street cred.Nice write up especially with the photos.

    Reply
  3. johanna says

    June 2, 2006 at 9:37 pm

    what a brilliant write-up… and ah! oh! the good memories!!!
    we definitely have to go again for the tasting menu – i’ll do the dialling this time, since I’ve just given up my day-job and should have plenty of time on my hands. I’ll start practising tomorrow, only a well-trained finger will do 😉

    Reply
  4. lucette says

    June 3, 2006 at 3:23 pm

    Great write up–it was like reading a short story–drama, characterization, setting, climax. I love the idea of the pop-rock dessert.

    Reply
  5. Riana says

    June 8, 2006 at 7:14 am

    Sounds fabulous!! Happy Birthday!!

    Reply
  6. Jeanne says

    June 15, 2006 at 11:50 am

    Hi Taco
    Thanks for the birthday wishes and yes, it was DEFINITELY worth half a day’s leave! THere was certainyl an oyster theme to my choices – that’s one of the other great things about our lunch there. Long after you’ve had the meal you still discover its hidden cleverness.
    Hi Brian
    OK – it will be your and my little secret!! 😉 Glad you liked the post – and even I was amazed at how well the photos turned out!
    Hi Johanna
    Hmmmm, yes, writing about the food certainly reminds you of the general fabulousness of everything we ate! And yes – have just enthusiastically accepted your offer to do the dialling for our next visit! 😉
    Hi Lucette
    Hahaha – talk about narrative tension – yuo should have been in the car with us as we were racing to get there! But I have to say that the star of the show was definitely on our plates – we were merely bit players… Glad you liked the write-up though 🙂
    Hi Riana
    Thanks! And glad you were able to enjoy it vicariously!

    Reply
  7. SnapHappy says

    June 18, 2006 at 8:32 pm

    Your food pictures alone are worth visiting your blog. Although I have toadmit I would probably not dare to tastemost of the things. I love your exquisite descriptions, it’s almost as if the reader were there (has been there) with you.
    I can hardly follow up on all your entries. It’s been a very long time without internet and I doubt I can follow up on everything. But I will try 🙂
    Martina

    Reply
  8. Robert says

    June 27, 2006 at 10:28 am

    I blogged your Guardian mention! Great being in the news innit?!

    Reply
  9. keiko says

    June 27, 2006 at 5:54 pm

    Fantastic post, Jeanne – everything looks gorgeous and I really enjoyed reading it – you really should work as a food critic/writer 🙂

    Reply
  10. Aurora says

    February 18, 2010 at 12:16 am

    I hate how diffifult they make the booking process. Really, all of that could be eliminated if they’d just take reservations when someone called ahead – even if it was 6 months ahead. They could still keep a 72 hour cancellation charge policy intact. The Square and Hibiscus and Pied A Terre manage, so why is Fat Duck so stuck on themselves that they just want to make what should be pleasant start out as stressful?
    The tasting menu is now 150 pounds per person.

    Reply
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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 The beautiful Menai bridge (spanning the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and mainland Wales) was the first suspension bridge in the world.

Have you ever visited Wales? What did you like most about it?
*NEW RECIPE* Barbecued salmon with blood oranges, *NEW RECIPE* Barbecued salmon with blood oranges, capers and dill. Pretty in pink 💕

[AD] Blood oranges are a small obsession of mine - from blood orange posset to blood orange and halloumi salad to blood orange & Cointreau upside down cake, I am always looking for new ways to make the most of their short season. Barbecuing them with salmon, capers and dill is a perfect match in terms of flavour as well as colour (or you can oven bake the salmon if it's not barbecue weather where you are!)

When @grahambeckuk asked me to suggest some recipes to match their wonderful Graham Beck Brut Rosé NV sparkling wine from South Africa, this was a pairing made in heaven, and wonderfully colour co-ordinated with their silver-pink bubbly. Get the full recipe and find out more about Graham Beck's sparkling wines, made using the same methods as Champagne, on my blog - link in my bio above. 

What do you like to do with blood oranges? I'd love to hear in the comments!
💘"Love yourself first and everything falls into 💘"Love yourself first and everything falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world." - Lucille Ball

Whether you are celebrating with a partner, with friends, or by yourself today, I hope most of all that you love yourself, love your body, love your strengths, love your weaknesses, and love who you are (or are becoming). Because... you're worth it!

Are you doing anything celebratory today? Let me know in the comments 💘💘💘

(The beautiful street art is London Hearts by @akajimmyc)
📸: @girl_travelsworld
Would you believe me if I told you this is NOT a p Would you believe me if I told you this is NOT a picture of a Moorish palace, a castle or a cathedral? And that you can get to it from central London in under an hour?

This is Crossness Pumping Station @crossnesset , a Grade I listed heritage site and one of London's last remaining magnificent Victorian sewage (!) pumping stations in Abbey Wood near Rainham. 

Did you know that...

💩 You can visit the building on monthly open days - the next one is Sun 20 Feb. Book at www.crossness.org.uk

💩  It was only in 1856, after 3 major cholera outbreaks in 30 years and the Big Stink when the stench of London's sewage finally reached Parliament, that construction of an intercepting sewer system for the city was approved.  The system (parts of which are still in use today) was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, Chief Engineer of London's Board of Metropolitan Works at the time.

💩  At Crossness, all London's sewage from south of the river was was raised by 9-12 metres to large reservoirs so that gravity would cause it to flow further east and into the Thames estuary. (Yes, until the 1880s, raw sewage was simply pumped into the Thames!)

💩 The incoming liquid was raised by the four enormous steam driven pumps, built to Joseph Bazalgette's design. The pumps were named Victoria, Prince Consort, Albert Edward, and Alexandra. They are thought to be the largest remaining rotative beam engines in the world, with 52-ton flywheels and 47-ton beams. 

💩 The pumping station was decommissioned and abandoned in the 1950s but declared a listed building in 1970.  Although all 4 beam engines remain in place, they were so damaged that today (thanks to the efforts of the Crossness Engines Trust) only Prince Consort has been restored to working condition and can be seen in action on open days.

💩 The exuberant and colourful wrought ironwork inside is the amazing work of architect Charles Henry Driver. My favourite detail is the fact that the pillars in the central atrium are topped with stylised figs and senna pods... two of nature's greatest natural laxatives 🤣
*NEW RECIPE* Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta ch *NEW RECIPE* Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta cheese, pomegranate and pine nuts

Ever noticed how you are affected by colours? 🌈

Maybe some colours make you agitated and some make you relaxed. Or maybe you find yourself inexplicably attracted to a particular colour (oh, hi teal and aqua!💙). On the basis that all colours have a wavelength, and that those outside the visible spectrum can affect us, it makes sense that the colours we see can affect our mood or even our physiology. Did you know for instance that exposure to red light can increase your blood pressure and heart rate? Are there any colours that you find yourself particularly attracted to or affected by?

The pretty colours of these roasted Brussels sprouts with feta cheese, pomegranate and pine nuts will be the first things that attract you to this dish - but it is the delicious combination of flavours and textures that will keep you coming back for more!

The recipe (and more about how colour affects us mentally and physically) is now live on my blog - click the live link in my profile and remember to like and bookmark this post to see more Cooksister in your Instagram feed ❤️
Perspective: a particular attitude towards or way Perspective: a particular attitude towards or way of regarding something.

Perspective is the one thing that the Covid-19 pandemic has given us plenty of. It has certainly made us re-evaluate what is truly important, and also what we did and didn't enjoy about our lives  before the pandemic and its associated lockdowns. It made me appreciate how much happiness my house, my job, my friends, my own company and my running bring to my life (and how fortunate I am to have all these things). But it also brought home how much I enjoy and miss travel, the theatre, and the luxury of reataurant visits at the drop of a hat. I don't think words can describe my joy at sipping the first coffee purchased from a coffee shop in summer 2020 as lockdown eased. It's the little things...

One of the things I have enjoyed and will not miss as the world creeps back to normality is the absence of crowds in what is usually a crowded city. On the occasions that I have been in central London since the start of the pandemic, streets have been blissfully empty and it has felt as if I were discovering my city anew. This glorious perspective (hah!) of St Paul's Cathedral normally requires a long wait while a queue of tourists and "influencers" ahead of you pose for photos - but on this glorious day last Spring it was almost deserted. I will miss that...

Is there anything you will miss as Covid-19 restrictions start to be lifted?
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

Latest Recipes

Salmon with blood oranges dill and capers
Brussels sprouts with feta and pomegranate
Roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
Blood orange & pistachio galettes
Cauliflower topped steak with melted cheese
Plate of potted smoked salmon with slaw and a glass of champagne
bowls of pistachio pomegranate bircher muesli
Brussels sprouts with chorizo & hazelnuts

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