Inamo: Hi-Tech Eatery of the Future.

www.inamo-stjames.com

How badgerifical is this? A restaurant where your table is an interactive space (projected from above) where you can browse the menu, place your order... use the "chef cam" to view inside the kitchen, keep track of group and individual totals and even choose your "tablecloth" design and play games either on your own or with the other diners.

I would be lying to you if I said we came here because the food sounded great. I had read an article about this "dining experience of the future" and could not wait to have a go. I do have a reputation for being a bit of a technophobe, but the appeal of ordering your food directly off the table top, without interaction from "a humble human" was too much to resist. At first I still found myself waiting or at least expecting service, but there is the beauty of it... they cannot rush you... because you decide when to place the order!  As soon as you embrace the power of ordering the chef around without interference from the usual mediator, a whole world of opportunity opens up before you. 

I found myself ordering more than I usually would and not keeping to the conventional pace of the meal. I could order mine without waiting for the other diners, and if I wanted another drink, I did not need to raise it as an item for discussion by the whole table, I had the power to simply do it! 

The table of the future.

Cherry tomatoes with ginger, chili and avocado. This was a delightful eastern twist on an Italian classic!

One of the biggest surprises for me was when the food arrived. It was beautiful! All of it! Modern and elegant and really quite delicious! The cocktails were also a great find, and I could easily see how on a Friday night you might be in serious danger of getting quite drunk drinking cocktail after cocktail without trying to hail down a waiter (which on a weekend evening in a bar is like trying to get a taxi in the rain) and lose valuable time waiting between drinks. No maths at the end of the night either, regardless of you group size, sobriety or moral preference as the table "knows" what you ordered and your total bill.

Truffled marbled beef fillet. Another beautiful twist on a carpaccio this time.

Duck with pancakes and hoisin sauce... no cucumber and spring onion though... instead a box of fragrant herb salad.

"Vegetarian Lunch Box" Consisting of miso soup, pickles, edamame beans, rice and a vegetable curry for £14!!!

Pandan macaroon, white chocolate and Yuzu mouse with candied Yuzu and homemade coconut and lemongrass ice cream. This was exquisite and I WILL have this again. What a badger! p.s those dots are the chocolate sauce, lol.

The beautiful stone bar.

The other wonderful thing was how beautiful and serene the restaurant was. The quality of everything was superb, from the onyx panels in the walls to the bamboos sprouting out of the ground. There is no missing the Japanese influence here. The clever use of sliding panels, and the sharp modern simplicity of the lines. Even the projectors were in funky hexagonal ceiling pods that added to the futuristic appeal of the place.

My trip towards the restrooms (which were also lovely).

The sake cabinet.

The most interesting thing that you realize about this new techy restaurant experience is how much of restaurant dining culture is tied to service. The pace of your meal, the ordering in rounds, and even the discussions around who will have what. Plates were arriving at the table and I did not even know they had been ordered! This style of dining (and the games!) definitely draws out an introverted sense of self and pushes you back into a personal space where your dining choices are not democratic and the idea of waiting on someone else to get your order in is driven out by the emergence of one's own internal voice saying "order it, order it now...".

Pied-à-terre: Best restaurant in the world?

www.pied-a-terre.co.uk

Arriving at Pied a Terre was a lovely experience, it is only a small restaurant really, and the space is long and narrow. That said, it is beautifully appointed in a warm modern fashion and the place oozes refinement. I felt like I was somewhere special almost immediately. The moment you arrive you are taken into the care of the staff, and they wait on you as if you are the only reason they are there. NOT in an overwhelming and stalkerish way, but in a warm and thoughtful way that seems so effortless that you know they must know what they are doing as there is a restaurant full of diners recieving the same level of care.

10 Courses. The tasting menu experience is an event that lasts about 4 hours and is a real treat. Before I launch into the food, I should mention the Sommelier who pulled together a wonderfully interesting selection of wines for me to try. Not only this, but for each wine he visited the table twice, once at the start and once at the end of each course. The first visit would always be to pour the wine before the corresponding plate of food arrived. The second visit he would bring back the bottle, ask us about the wine, discuss the flavours and finally reveal the bottle and tell us about the wine. With charm and consistency he would arrive so casually, yet so punctually and he never missed his cue. We developed quite a fondness for his visits to the table and he was a delight to discuss wine with. In fact he also helped me track down a wine I was trying to source at the time (a Lillypilly Fortified Shiraz).

The food was superb, each plate so perfect and so pretty! Each dish so complex and I never saw a plate with less than 10 parts/ processes to it. Everything was simply sublime.

Canapes: Some sort of pastry with truffle.

The amuse bouche: The most processes I have ever seen in one amuse bouche EVER.

 

A Salad of Raw and Pickled Autumn Vegetables
Toasted Sunflower Seeds and Carrot Oil

Confit Yellow Fin Tuna with Dill Pickled Chayotte,
Oyster Mayonnaise, Toasted Quinoa and Mustard Seeds

Roasted Cheltenham Beetroot with Pinenuts, Balsamic Gel, Lancashire Bomb Cheese and Mini Capers

Lightly Poached Scallops with Cuttlefish, Confit of Buddha Lemon, Samphire and Saffron Velouté

Roasted Foie Gras with Rhubarb Curd, Hazelnut Crumble,
Parsnip and Vanilla Custard

Salt Baked Jerusalem Artichokes with Avocado Oil, Sea Purslane and Trompette de la Mort

Pan-Fried Turbot with Shaved Chervil Root,
Braised Cavolo Nero and Caper Beurre Noisette

Butternut Squash with Fresh Shimeji, Sage Beignets,
Toasted Pumpkin Seeds and Baby Wood Sorrel

Herb Crusted Saddle of Sika Venison with Cranberry Red Cabbage, Baby Spinach Compote, Shallot and Red Wine Jus

A forest of cracker shards.

Le fromage!

Lime Airs and Caramel Foam with Toasted Meringues,
Wild Finger Limes and Mint Oil

Bitter Sweet Chocolate Tart, Stout Ice Cream
and Macadamia Nut Cream

A generosity of Mignaridises

The overall experience was wonderful, and I think it is the best dining experience I have ever had. For me, this is now the restaurant to beat. I heard once that to be a great chef you need to be generous and want to give as much as you can. Well, this place is a living testament to it. You see the tower block of mignaridises above? We had 2 of those for a table of four! The sheer volume and variety totally uneccessary for a group of people who have just eaten 10 courses of food!

No expense, no detail, no effort spared in bringing you the very best of everything through every part of the visit. In no way does it feel like a business transaction, these people take you in and as if without considering cost they offer you everything they have! Bravo!

L'atelier de Joel Robuchon: An artist's Workshop

www.joelrobuchon.co.uk/first-floor

Oh Joel. He was my first 2 Michelin Star restaurant and what an experience it was. We went a la carte rather than tasting, and "Je ne regrette rien"! I remember arriving here and finding the place sleek and cool, modern with an almost Asian vibe and red accents on everything. Before I launch into the food, I must warn you that this man is an artist. When I think of the direction he takes the food, I am sad to think that most people will live their entire lives without knowing ingredients can be used like this.

Foie Gras Ravioli in Chicken Broth with Whipped Cream: What can I say. It sounds original and it was. It was so fresh, so zesty with a light airy creaminess brought about by the presence of one dollop of whipped cream in the broth. The extremely finely diced fragrant herbs cut through the oiliness and left your palette in a totally new place. The whole dish was simple and yet so inspired. What a badger!

A modern take on Tournedos Rossini. truffled beef fillet and foie gras. This came with a mini saucepan of "special" mash. In fact it was so special I will never forget it and it dictates how I make mash at home!

My mother had this. Seafood extravaganza of some kind, it looked wonderful.

I cannot remember what this is but it is what my fiancé had and there were no complaints from him!

Pre-dessert: White chocolate and Yuzu ice lolly dipped in popping candy. This was the first time I had seen popping candy used this way and it has certainly popped up many times since.

I feel guilty for not remembering what this is, although I do know it had chestnut and it was divine not to mention breathtakingly beautiful.

A perfect Soufflé

My mother had this, and of the desserts it looked the most spectacular. You are looking at a cherry dessert within an edible, clear sugar sphere with gold leaf.

Another precision executed dessert.

Gold dusted liquid caramel chocolates.

A very interesting espresso cup.

I do not know what else to tell you other than that the food was so imaginative and mind openningly fun and delightful. I hold Joel in very high esteem, I think his creativity and excellence are on the cutting edge of gastronomy. A whole new food experience. I cannot wait to have more, learn more and be amazed some more!