Contemporary Interior Design

• Posted on 03rd January 2013 by Nicola Holden

Let me start by wishing all my readers a very happy New Year! I have had a good break, spending Christmas in Ireland with my sister and her family, and then a quiet New Year back in London, and I am now full of energy to launch myself into 2013!

It’s been a little quiet here on my blog with life, work, and travel getting in the way of blogging. But, before we get too far into the year I thought I’d share with you my exciting news. Whilst in Zimbabwe in October my beloved popped the question!! I have been waiting for that day for a long time, so the answer was definitely a ‘yes’ – we will be getting married in a few months’ time!

So, after a couple of busy months setting our plans into motion, we finally got around to buying an engagement ring from the lovely Lewis Malka of Joseph Sterling Jewellery, and then, during a lull between Christmas and New Year, we celebrated our engagement in style, treating ourselves to a fabulous 7 course tasting menu at Viajante.

I have long been wanting to experience this gem of a restaurant tucked away in the grand grade II listed Bethnal Green Town Hall in London’s East End, far from the glitz of the more established fine dining areas. Viajante (which means ‘traveller’ in Portuguese) opened in March 2010 and gained a Michelin star just 10 months after opening. The man behind Viajante is Portuguese-born chef Nuno Mendes, who is well known for his avant-garde style of cooking. His restaurant is one of the highlights of the London dining scene, and it was a delight!

First stop was the bar for a cocktail, before going into the restaurant. The interior of the restaurant is generally calm, with pops of colour like the beautiful wall hangings by Tzuri Gueta, and the ceilings lamps that seemed to scribe patterns across its surface.

Viajante pride themselves on doing a ‘surprise’ menu – you don’t know what you will eat until it is right in front of you. And, the Viajante journey doesn’t just travel through flavours – one is catapulted through smells, textures and new cooking concepts. The exquisite gastronomic delights are prepared in an open kitchen by a team of tweezer-wielding chefs. Some of the dishes were even delivered by Nuno himself! The meal started with a selection of canapés, ending with ‘Bread and butter’ – beautiful thin potato flutes and rustic chunks of bacon & walnut sourdough bread served with two different kinds of butter.

Then began our 7 courses:

Langoustine with buttermilk and frozen pine
Halibut with vanilla and yuba
Cod and tripe with onions, parsley and potatoes
Salsify with toasted flour and black truffle
Iberico presa with fermented squash
Wood pigeon with cep mushroom and chestnuts
Cucumber with reduced milk sorbet
Milk
Petits Fours

The ‘Milk’ pudding was one of my favourite courses – as its name suggests it was simply different preparations of milk, similar in taste to sweetened condensed milk, but with an interplay of different textures and temperatures. Sublime!

All in all a real treat!

“There is no sincerer love than the love of food. “
George Bernard Shaw

Image credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7-9.

• Posted in Food, Viajante | 6 Comments

• Posted on 16th January 2012 by Nicola Holden

Even from the outside Blakes is striking, with its dark painted Victorian facade. But it is inside that Blakes really makes its mark. The first thing that struck me as I walked into the reception area was the wonderfully warm aroma of oranges – from bowls of fruit placed amongst aromatic candles burning. Immediately you know that you have entered another world.

Blakes was created in 1978 by the world renowned designer Anouska Hempel and is the world’s first luxury boutique hotel, famous for its design, service and privacy. I was here for a lazy Sunday lunch, and I knew instantly that I was in for a treat!

The critically acclaimed restaurant is situated downstairs, and was recommended by my friend, Emyr Thomas, of Bon Vivant.

Blakes “… is a seductive design journey through India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and on to the Pyramids, back through Italy ending up in the heart of London.”, and the restaurant is no exception. Slipper orchids adorn every table, and the walls are adorned with an eclectic, ethnic mix of artefacts found all over the world by Anouska Hempel herself over the many years of her far flung travels.

Next to the restaurant is The Chinese Room, adorned in luxurious soft furnishings and a myriad of candles and books stacked high on the squat tables. Everything about Blakes is bohemian and beautiful – the epitome of decadence and comfort, fantasy and fun.

The food was as inspired as the interiors, my lunch consisting of:

Prawn satay with coriander
Peppercorn fillet of beef
Coconut ice cream with lime and palm sugar

What a treat for a Sunday lunch!

Images 1 and 2 Nicola Holden, image 3 Blakes.

• Posted in Blakes, Food, Restaurant Design | 2 Comments

• Posted on 22nd August 2011 by Nicola Holden

Having heard about the Nordic restaurant, North Road, from Emyr Thomas of personal concierge company, Bon Vivant, I thought that this would be the perfect setting to celebrate two Swedish family birthdays last week.

Situated on Clerkenwell’s historic St John Street, whose properties span several centuries of socio-economic change, the façade of North Road Restaurant is modest and understated. Inside, the décor follows the lines of Scandinavian simplicity with light wood floors, stylish furniture, and contemporary lighting.

The food, produced by renowned Danish chef, Christoffer Hruskova, is very much modern European cuisine with a Scandinavian twist. The flavours seem, at times, to be almost experimental, with pickling, smoking, and rolling food in burnt hay occurring frequently on the menu. But, the taste sensations were outstanding, and Christoffer’s design on each plate showed an amazing attention to detail.

Just to whet your appetite, how about:

Native Dorset lobster & nasturtium
Red currant wine & rose petals

Roe buck deer in burnt hay & smoked bone marrow
Beetroot in textures & wild sorrel

Pan fried custard & camomile ice cream
Meringue & wild flowers

I cannot recommend North Road highly enough, and will definitely be returning to this restaurant time and again!

• Posted in Food, North Road Restaurant, Scandinavian Design | Comments Off

• Posted on 15th April 2011 by Nicola Holden

For a while now I have been yearning to go to a supper club as the whole concept of them really appeals to me. Then, last year, Daily Candy published an article about the Fragrant Supper Club run by Louise Bloor, and I was convinced that would be the one to try. But, for the first few months, every time new dates were released, I was already booked up. Then, last month there was a date that I could make, and I booked my place.

Louise trained in perfumery and makes bespoke scents using natural essences. The sensual feasts served at the supper club in her Dalston flat are inspired by her collection of edible essential oils. March’s menu consisted of:

Canapés
Quail eggs with pink peppercorn
Fennel crackers with washed rind cheese
Pitta with carrot and orange blossom

Supper
Pea soup with basil essential oil
Lamb baked in hay, served with lemon cannellini beans and saffron rhubarb
Rose and black pepper ice cream, served with a vial of rose and black pepper perfume
Torta di cioccolato

The food was all delicious, and the concept of putting the rose and black pepper perfume on your hand so you smelt it as you ate the ice cream really did enhance the flavours. Louise’s supper club comes highly recommended, and I look forward to my next visit sometime.

Image credits from retrospective companies.

• Posted in Food, Fragrant Supper Club, Louise Bloor | Comments Off

• Posted on 14th December 2010 by Nicola Holden

Having heard about the recently opened Inamo restaurant in Mayfair, I thought it sounded like it would be well worth a visit. This innovative oriental fusion restaurant boasts an interactive ordering system that uses overhead projection technology for placing food and drinks orders – ideal for my partner and his brother who are two of the biggest technophiles I know!

However, the whole Inamo experience is far more than just the technology. The decor and ambiance of the restaurant are fabulous. Walking through the front door you feel as if you are walking into a Japanese bamboo forest – with bamboo poles suspended over granite pebbles. And that is only the beginning. The restaurant is decorated with a plethora of wonderful surfaces – back-lit quartz stone in the windows, walls covered in sculptural wall surface designs in polished plasters and woods, the technology disguised in a funky honeycomb effect on the ceilings, and even a vertical Japanese garden. The soft, warm lighting accentuates all of these features, and the overhead projection technology provides a gentle wash of lighting at the tables.

It is also the way the restaurant has been laid out, with moving screens resulting in and intimate experience where almost every table appears to be in its own private ‘room’. Each different area of the restaurant is hidden, only revealing itself as you wonder through the restaurant. The overall effect is of a bright, crisp and clean restaurant, without feeling too minimalist and soulless. And, there are enough soft materials to provide good acoustics.

And then there is the food – a wonderful mix of ideas and flavours from around Asia! Just to whet your appetite, a few of the items ordered that evening were:

Raspberry lemon cooler
Muddled fresh lemongrass with raspberry puree, fresh lemon juice and Hendricks gin. Served in a tall glass with crushed ice and carbonated water.

- – -

Miso Grilled Seabass
Seabass marinated in sweet miso, wrapped around leeks, grilled, and served on bamboo skin (take no kawa) with lime.

Seared Scallops
Thinly sliced with a yuzu & wasabi dressing (Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit).

- – -

Berkshire Pork Neck
With confit of apple, and a spicy chocolate sauce.

Black Cod
Marinated with spicy miso.

- – -

Vanilla Crème Brûlée
Vanilla crème brulee with strawberry and lemongrass coulis.

“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.”
Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

• Posted in Food, Interior Design | 1 Comment

• Posted on 11th October 2010 by Nicola Holden

Having read an article about the stunning interior of Zaika Restaurant at No. 1 Kensington High Street, I booked a table for two. That dinner happened last night.

Zaika is an Indian restaurant. However, the grand building that it occupies was formerly a bank (designed by Alfred Williams, 1884-5) and has retained many of its original Victorian architectural features including the carved high ceilings and double height windows. These features have been fused with a palette of rich colours (ruby, green gold, crimson and purple) and embellished with Asian artefacts, resulting in a sumptuous interior that lends itself to the rich vibrancy of India during the colonial era.

The food too, produced by Head Chef, Sanjay Dwivedi, is a fabulous fusion of traditional Indian cooking techniques and the strict disciplines of classic French techniques, resulting in original new dishes that apply eastern flavours with a western twist. The name Zaika translates quite literally as sophisticated flavours and this is the ethos behind the innovative menu.

My selection for the evening was:

GOSHT MILAN / Lamb platter
Tandoori lamb rack marinated in ginger and ‘garam’ masala, lamb ‘sheekh kebab’, lamb and mint samosa, tamarind chutney
JHINGHA MASALA / Coconut poached Prawns
Black tiger prawns, poached gently in a coconut and lime masala tempered with mustard seeds and aromatic curry leaf, steamed rice

Unfortunately I didn’t have enough space left for pudding, but having looked at the menu I will definitely be returning in the near future to sample one of these delights:

RESHMI MITHAI / Chocolate Silk
Pinekernal, cashew & pistachio brittle with silky chocolate mousse, Masala tea ice cream
TRIO OF BRÛLÉE
Pistachio, rosewater & vanilla and passion fruit flavoured crème brûlée
KESARI ANANAS / Tandoori Saffron Pineapple
Pineapple marinated in fennel & saffron, fired in the tandoor, pine kernel & pineapple ‘halva’, Indian Cheesecake
CHOCOMOSA / Chocolate Samosas
Chocolate ganache & nuts filled samosas, caramelized banana, pistachio ice cream
STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING
Date & toffee pudding, cardamom butterscotch sauce & coconut ice cream
KULFI / Indian Ice Cream
Choice of freshly churned homemade Indian ice cream –
Coconut/mango/rose petal & vanilla bean / masala tea ice-cream

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”
Virginia Woolf

• Posted in Architecture, Food, Interior Design | Comments Off

• Posted on 14th June 2010 by Nicola Holden

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to have lunch at Raymond Blanc’s fabulous Le Manior aux Quat’Saisons restaurant for my partner’s 40th birthday. The 15th century manor house is set within beautiful gardens – herbaceous beds filled with flowers in blue, white and purple lining the path to the house.

Our lunch started with a glass of champagne in the calmly decorated drawing room. (It’s always good to see what other designers have done, and to get ideas!)

Then it was through to the conservatory for our fabulous five course ‘Menu Classique’ lunch:

Filet de Saumon
(Warm farmed Loch Duart beech smoked salmon, elderflower, radish, yuzu cream, Oscletra caviar)

Risotto aux Legumes
(Risotto of spring vegetables, tomato essence, mascarpone, garden herbs)

Filet de Loup de Mer et Langoustines Grille
(Pan-fried wild Cornish line-caught sea bass fillet, seared wild creel-caught Scottish langoustines, smoked mashed potatoes, star anis jus)

Assiette d’Agneau
(Assiette of Rhug Estate lamb, aubergine caviar, plancha potatoes, roasting juices)

Un Theme sur la Fraise Gariguette
(A theme on Gariguette strawberry)

After lunch we had a walk through the beautiful estate gardens where the herbs and vegetables used in the food are grown organically, and then sat in the sunshine with our books until the rain started and it was time to head back into London again. A very special treat!

• Posted in Food, Interior Design, Travel | Comments Off

• Posted on 01st February 2010 by Nicola Holden

One of my loves in life is sharing good food with friends, and I take great pride in my culinary skills. I made this the other night for friends. It is a Rick Stein recipe from one of his books that I bought almost a year ago when I was down in Padstow.

Roasted salmon on roasted tomatoes with salsa verde

Salmon Parsley Mint Capers Anchovy fillets Garlic Tomatoes Chilli flakes Thyme

1. To make the salsa verde chop the parsley, mint, some of the capers, anchovy fillets and a clove of garlic together, and season with salt.
2. Line the base of a roasting tray with the sliced tomatoes, the rest of the capers, garlic slices, chilli flakes and thyme. Add some olive oil, water and salt.
3. Place a salmon fillet on top of the tomatoes, skin side down, season with a little salt and cover with the salsa verde mixture.
4. Season the cut face of the second salmon fillet, and place on top, skin side up. Brush the skin with olive oil and season with salt and chilli flakes.
5. Roast the salmon for 25 mins in a hot oven, and then cut into portion-size pieces, served with new potatoes and green beans.

This dish was so easy to produce for a dinner party, totally delicious, and looked good too! Just the sort of dish I love!

I also made Rick Stein’s crab linguine with parsley and chilli for starters, and crème brulee for pudding!

• Posted in Food | Comments Off