On the swings and roundabouts in the restaurant fairground Richard Caring's loss has been Rocco Forte's gain. After Caring bought Caprice Holdings, which includes Le Caprice, The Ivy, J Sheekey, Daphne's and Scott's, its chef-director, Mark Hix, decided to go his own way.
The self-explanatory Hix Oyster and Chop House is scheduled to open late next month in Smithfield on the site that was Rudland & Stubbs. Meanwhile, Hix has been masterminding the menu at The Grill at Brown's Hotel, part of the Rocco Forte Collection.
When The Grill opened towards the end of 2006 on completion of the hotel's renovation, all the chatter was about how Angelo Maresca, formerly maitre d' at The Savoy Grill,was coming to Brown's.
It was assumed he would be followed by droves of his loyal regulars and that silver trolleys bearing roast saddle of lamb would be safe in his hands. After that excitement died down, no one talked particularly enthusiastically about the food.
Signor Maresca has gone to his well-deserved retirement and Lee Streeton, a chef who worked for Hix at Daphne's, is now running the kitchen.
The menu is very Hixy, meaning British ingredients carefully tracked down and prepared in a manner that suits their soul. The overall aim, it has been said, is to bring back the traditional hotel grill.
What immediately caught my eye were the variations and gradations in the new menu pricing. Usually in a five-star hotel, however cannily you structure your meal it adds up to more or less the same very considerable sum of money.
Charitably you could think that space between tables, battalions of waiters, quality of linen, delicacy of glassware and so forth all have to be paid for.
But at The Grill (soon to be relaunched as The Albemarle Grill) you could do as I did and make a main course of (excellent) kedgeree at £11.50 or, indeed, select a dish from under the heading Eggs such as fried egg - a Mabel Pearson Burford Brown - with baby squid and black pudding for £8.75. On the other hand, six West Mersea Natives would set you back £19.75 and a grilled Dover sole £29.50 with £4.25 need for creamed spinach on the side. When I saw Brown Windsor soup on offer I thought the new "director of food" was indulging in a spot of irony.
After all, this Edwardian fuel was on the menu at Fawlty Towers. And irony was the kindest comment I could have made about the Brown Windsor at Gordon Ramsay's gastropub The Devonshire. Here, it was a fabulous soup-plateful of meatiness with a back story of pot vegetables mercifully neither puréed nor rubbed through a sieve but served as an empire-building nubbly broth, rich and glossy as gravy.
Chicken livers on toast with chanterelles was less transporting. A shorter time frying would have improved the livers. Under the heading Pies, Hot-Pots and Braises was Lancashire hot-pot and my Yorkshire-born husband seized the challenge. (Reg could have had Blackface mutton and turnip pie or beef short ribs with mashed neeps.)
My Scottish-born mother used to make a brilliant Lancashire hot-pot where the slices of potato on top absorbed the lamby-carroty juices and magically grew waxy, crisp and browned at the edges even though they were under the lid of a blue pottery dish.
Here, in a red cast-iron casserole the same effect had been achieved and the cooking liquid enriched with lamb's kidneys, those organs so willing to give of themselves. The astringency of lightly pickled red cabbage served alongside was perfect.
For dessert Reg chose ginger parkin (often associated with Yorkshire) with vanilla ice-cream. As he laid down his spoon, he remarked with evident approval: "I could have eaten this meal 50 years ago." Maybe, but the cooking would not have been so accomplished nor the surroundings so congenial and service would certainly have been stiffer.
Olga Polizzi, sister of Rocco Forte, has rendered the oak-panelled dining room with its vaulted ceiling comfortable, gentle and surreptitiously sexy.
The decision to use gritty photographic montages on glass by one Hubertus von Hohenlohe, presumably in order to introduce some urban consciousness, is a questionable one, but perhaps Mark Hix will move in contributions from his MBA (Modern British Artist) friends, as is his wont.
The artwork that is the trolley is wheeled out at lunchtime with a different dish for each day of the week. Clang, clang, clang goes the trolley - zing, zing, zing go my heartstrings - when I see Friday's hay-baked leg of lamb and Saturday's Loomswood Farm roast duck with blood-orange sauce.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
'Good citizens' may get tax rebate
Council tax rebates and help with university fees could be offered in return for volunteer work in an attempt to encourage good citizenship under plans being considered by the Government.
# Lord Goldsmith's main proposals
# In full: Lord Goldsmith's report on citizenship
# Three Line Whip: Make Trafalgar Day a National Day
A report to the Prime Minister proposed offering a "small" council tax return to those who help out in their local neighbourhood by organising recycling projects, helping children to learn to read in schools or setting up a residents' association.
The Queen on a walkabout during her Golden Jubilee in 2002
Youngsters volunteering for community work before university would get help paying off their tuition fees.
Lord Goldsmith, the former attorney general, who set out the ideas in a wide-ranging review of British nationality and citizenship, said the sum would need to be ''sufficient to encourage people to participate".
As part of the citizenship review he also recommended that school leavers take part in "coming of age ceremonies" at which they would swear allegiance to the Queen "to mark the passage between being a student of citizenship and an active citizen".
The proposals were greeted with derision on Tuesday night and branded "half-baked" and "inappropriate".
John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "This is a half-baked idea, which should be allowed quietly to go mouldy."
He added: ''Schools will reject it as an un-British idea imported from America, which does not fit into their ethos or culture."
Lord Goldsmith's 130-page report, "Citizenship: Our Common Bond", calls for a National Day to be established, preferably in the autumn when there are no bank holidays.
It would be introduced in 2012 to coincide with the London Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and be modelled on Australia Day, when citizens affirm their loyalty and celebrate the country's successes.
There were signs that an idea intended to bring the country together could exacerbate tensions within Britain, as the Scottish Executive said the proposal would not be accepted north of the border.
Nigel Don, a Nationalist MSP, said the idea was "uncharacteristic of Scottish society" where the general feeling was of loyalty to each other.
Ieuan Wyn Jones, the Welsh Deputy First Minister and leader of Plaid Cymru, said: ''I don't think this is appropriate."
# Daniel Hannan: Labour's oaths and flags do not a nation make
# Your View: How would you celebrate 'Britishness Day'?
# Three Line Whip: What next, a minister for Britishness?
Lord Goldsmith conceded there was no crisis of identity in Britain but said it had become more "divided" in recent years and it was important to restore a sense of belonging.
Other proposals include a review of "archaic" treason laws and fast-track citizenship for immigrants working in public services such as the NHS.
Foreign nationals resident in Britain for a lengthy period would be put under pressure to take up citizenship, or lose access to some entitlements.
Commonwealth and Irish citizens would lose the right to vote in British general elections - including 6,000 soldiers currently serving in the British Army.
The paper also recommends lifting the ban on asylum seekers taking paid jobs; cutting the £655 citizenship fee for foreign applicants and creating a National Citizens' Corps to offer advice to others on citizenship.
The report also suggests a "Deliberation Day" to be held on the Saturday before each General Election to encourage political debate, and encouraging companies to let staff take time off to volunteer.
However, Lord Goldsmith dropped earlier suggestions to overhaul the National Anthem by removing verses deemed "inappropriate" by some.
He also ruled out the possibility of compulsory civic service for young people or mandatory voting in elections for all adults.
Mr Brown has been keen to push a Britishness agenda in the face of concerns over the impact of devolution on the Union and the influence of Scottish politicians in senior Government positions.
His spokesman said: "The Prime Minister thinks this is a good issue to have a debate about. He has said we need to do more to entrench the notion of Britishness in society."
But Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP, said: "It is ironic that at the precise moment the Government are signing us up to a new EU legal order which leaves us powerless, they decide they want to champion Britishness."
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: "People should not feel that being British is about swearing allegiance, it should be about taking an active role in society."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
# Lord Goldsmith's main proposals
# In full: Lord Goldsmith's report on citizenship
# Three Line Whip: Make Trafalgar Day a National Day
A report to the Prime Minister proposed offering a "small" council tax return to those who help out in their local neighbourhood by organising recycling projects, helping children to learn to read in schools or setting up a residents' association.
The Queen on a walkabout during her Golden Jubilee in 2002
Youngsters volunteering for community work before university would get help paying off their tuition fees.
Lord Goldsmith, the former attorney general, who set out the ideas in a wide-ranging review of British nationality and citizenship, said the sum would need to be ''sufficient to encourage people to participate".
As part of the citizenship review he also recommended that school leavers take part in "coming of age ceremonies" at which they would swear allegiance to the Queen "to mark the passage between being a student of citizenship and an active citizen".
The proposals were greeted with derision on Tuesday night and branded "half-baked" and "inappropriate".
John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "This is a half-baked idea, which should be allowed quietly to go mouldy."
He added: ''Schools will reject it as an un-British idea imported from America, which does not fit into their ethos or culture."
Lord Goldsmith's 130-page report, "Citizenship: Our Common Bond", calls for a National Day to be established, preferably in the autumn when there are no bank holidays.
It would be introduced in 2012 to coincide with the London Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and be modelled on Australia Day, when citizens affirm their loyalty and celebrate the country's successes.
There were signs that an idea intended to bring the country together could exacerbate tensions within Britain, as the Scottish Executive said the proposal would not be accepted north of the border.
Nigel Don, a Nationalist MSP, said the idea was "uncharacteristic of Scottish society" where the general feeling was of loyalty to each other.
Ieuan Wyn Jones, the Welsh Deputy First Minister and leader of Plaid Cymru, said: ''I don't think this is appropriate."
# Daniel Hannan: Labour's oaths and flags do not a nation make
# Your View: How would you celebrate 'Britishness Day'?
# Three Line Whip: What next, a minister for Britishness?
Lord Goldsmith conceded there was no crisis of identity in Britain but said it had become more "divided" in recent years and it was important to restore a sense of belonging.
Other proposals include a review of "archaic" treason laws and fast-track citizenship for immigrants working in public services such as the NHS.
Foreign nationals resident in Britain for a lengthy period would be put under pressure to take up citizenship, or lose access to some entitlements.
Commonwealth and Irish citizens would lose the right to vote in British general elections - including 6,000 soldiers currently serving in the British Army.
The paper also recommends lifting the ban on asylum seekers taking paid jobs; cutting the £655 citizenship fee for foreign applicants and creating a National Citizens' Corps to offer advice to others on citizenship.
The report also suggests a "Deliberation Day" to be held on the Saturday before each General Election to encourage political debate, and encouraging companies to let staff take time off to volunteer.
However, Lord Goldsmith dropped earlier suggestions to overhaul the National Anthem by removing verses deemed "inappropriate" by some.
He also ruled out the possibility of compulsory civic service for young people or mandatory voting in elections for all adults.
Mr Brown has been keen to push a Britishness agenda in the face of concerns over the impact of devolution on the Union and the influence of Scottish politicians in senior Government positions.
His spokesman said: "The Prime Minister thinks this is a good issue to have a debate about. He has said we need to do more to entrench the notion of Britishness in society."
But Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP, said: "It is ironic that at the precise moment the Government are signing us up to a new EU legal order which leaves us powerless, they decide they want to champion Britishness."
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: "People should not feel that being British is about swearing allegiance, it should be about taking an active role in society."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
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