La Dame de Pic London
Tower Hill, London
Ten Trinity Square – the former Port of London Authority headquarters – has scrubbed up nicely as a five-star glamour pad with commanding views of the Tower of London. Just off the Rotunda Bar, which could easily do duty on a gigantic cruise-liner, is the entrance to Anne-Sophie Pic's London operation – a not-too-distant offshoot of the original family business in Valence. The dining room is not the most electrifying of spaces, being on the bland-beige side of sleek, but the cooking more than compensates – both visually and on the palate. Having trained at Valence, Evens Lopez (a Peruvian chef) is now in charge of the kitchen here, and is fully in command of Pic's venturesome style. Recherché spices and floral notes transform humble and luxurious ingredients alike, with textural thrills and temperature contrasts all over the show. A three-tier menu system operates – Aperçu, Découverte and Voyage – ascending in price and versatility. A typical opener might be a lavender-scented onion tartlet made with smoked Gubbeen cheese, barberries and sage, indicating the level of complexity worked into even the most apparently straightforward dishes. St Cera, a washed-rind cheese from Suffolk, goes into pasta packets with wild mushrooms, pineapple weed and bergamot. Pic père is celebrated in a dish of sea bass lavished up with caviar, which might serve as the possible transition to a sweetbread of Limousin veal perfumed with chamomile and osmanthus, accompanied by caraway-infused apricot and slow-cooked carrot. Desserts are as fully fragrant as the rest, with smoked rooibos crémeux partnering Peruvian Andoa chocolate soufflé and an ice cream of black lemon and garlic. In this context, a serving of tarte tatin with cinnamon ice cream sounds positively vieux temps. The reader who described the food as 'quietly but wildly original' knew what she was talking about. With cooking this innovative, wine pairings (or non-alcoholic alternatives) are more or less de rigueur, and they are selected with the keenest discrimination and originality.
Dining Information:
Accommodation, Separate bar, Wheelchair access, Credit card required
Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square, Tower Hill EC3N 4AJ
020 3297 3799
