Once upon a time, this hungry blogger had a very special lunch to attend.
Not just any lunch, but one organized by the very clever Truly Experiences team. I leapt at the chance to try the Eight-Course Tasting Menu Lunch at Michelin-starred Restaurant Story which in all honesty, has been one of those restaurants on my ‘list’ for absolutely years, ever since it launched. And so, I grabbed Amber and we made a beeline for Tower Bridge, settling into our seats for afternoon story time.
Restaurant Story opened back in 2013 by Chef Tom Sellers, with the idea to tell a story through good food. Shortly after it launched, the restaurant gained a Michelin star and still maintains the star today. Impeccable service and imaginative cooking are certainly partly responsible for Story’s success, but what I was most surprised about was the informality of the restaurant. It felt relaxing, unpretentious and not a white table cloth in sight.
But back to the food as we have a lot of dishes to cover! Seasonal British produce is used in every dish and as I’ve hinted, is cooked in the most imaginative of ways. We didn’t choose to match with wines, instead choosing a round of Collins (which, all I will say, is that you must order these!) that were absolutely divine – I wish I could have ordered by the jug!
Our afternoon began with “Snacks”.
But these aren’t just any old snacks – hold the nuts, the bread – these are Story Snacks, which went as follows:
– Crispy cod skin, smoked cod roe, gin botanical and carrot tops
– Storeos; Squid ink biscuit, smoked eel mousse and vinegar powder (in the guise of an Oreo of course)
– Pomes souffle, creme fraiche and English caviar
– Rabbit sandwich cooked in polenta with tarragon emulsion and pickled carrots
– Veal sweetbread taco with burnt pineapple puree and pineapple kimchi (delicious!)
– Colchester oysters with a champagne snow, butterfly sorrel and toasted barley
Snacks over (and in truth, feeling like we needed to pace ourselves just a little!), it was time to get started on the main courses (or chapters, if you please).
Chapter I. Childhood.
Bread and dripping – a lit candle of beef dripping, served with delicious sourdough
Onion and lovage – surprisingly one of my favourite courses, packed full of beautiful, more-ish flavour, we both could have happily had a whole bowl full!
Chapter II. Sea.
Pollock, oats and yuzu – a delicate, tender chunk of pollock perfectly balanced with just a hint of citrus from the yuzu
Scallop and hand of Buddha – for someone that loves scallops, I was slightly downhearted to discover this wasn’t a scallop in its normal form but rather a scallop foam – so don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Chapter III. Land.
Potato, carrot and coal – We both couldn’t get enough of this buttery ball of heaven – Amber especially was in paradise, proclaiming it to be the best mash she ever tasted!
Lamb and green tomato – a beautiful cut of tender lamb artfully presented and quickly destroyed
Chapter IV. The End.
Lemon – a delicious parfait providing a mandatory palate cleanser
Almond and dill – all things white were almond, all things green were dill. And of course, nothing looked like almond or dill.
We finished with some petit-fours (though how either of us had the room I’m not so sure) and a pot each of mint tea (in the hope it would help us to avoid our impending food comas) before slowly setting back out into reality.
Not of course, without leaving with a signed menu from Tom – a nice touch to finish off a truly magical experience!
Read more of my reviews, here: http://www.iswas.london/ – Claire
