By Denis Sheehan FIH: Bistrot at Wild Honey stirs lashings of adjectives.
Location, location, location, a cliché used by the property world to describe the three most important factors in determining the desirability of a property.
Bistrot at Wild Honey is the latest restaurant creation from Chef Anthony Demetre, located within Sofitel London St James, 8 Pall Mall, St. James’s, London. London locations don’t get much more prestigious than that, you are placed within a stone’s throw of many stunning examples of classic Georgian and Neo-Georgian architecture. So, as you enter Bistrot at Wild Honey your expectations are somewhat set, but what is the reality?
First impressions set the tone, our waitress is Vicky, who could not be more welcoming and friendly. Vicky guided us to our table and once we were settled brought us menus. The menu is centered around bistronomy, a culinary style that combines bistro foods and dishes with gastronomic cooking methods.
The first offering the menu presents is Cinq à Sept, a glass of white or red paired with your choice of ham or cheese croquettes. And wait for it, the pairing costs £9. We ordered both varieties of croquettes and a white and red respectively to share and savour as we considered the menu further. It would be difficult to say if the ham or cheese croquette was better, both were delicious, and likewise both wines excellent. If you visit Bistrot at Wild Honey start as we did, you won’t regret it.
We then ordered artisanal sourdough bread with cultured butter, and a board of artisanal charcuterie. Good bread and butter is a comfort food I find hard to ease up on, this made the challenge harder. Amongst the charcuterie selection was Coppa, a classic Tuscan ham, sliced thinly retaining its texture, balance and sweet taste.
For starters as it’s still English asparagus season, we both ordered English asparagus, with crushed poached egg vinaigrette. The asparagus was a joy, and the poached egg vinaigrette the perfect accompaniment, the asparagus fresh and simple with the comfort of egg served with a punch.
For main course we did it again, ordered the same dish, ordinarily we don’t and share, but steak frites is a favourite so we both followed suit again and ordered Steak frites (Herefordshire bavette) with peppercorn sauce. A wise choice. The steak arrives in a pan, sitting in a river of peppercorn sauce, it glistens, and the aroma further captures the attention your eyes already enjoy.
The frites are dipped into the sauce, it’s a moreish process hard to break once you’ve started. The steak is medium rare and cuts easily, seasoned delicately, it is simply divine. Like the asparagus and crushed poached egg vinaigrette, steak and frites are natural alloys.
As we sat back to reflect on the feast Vicky introduced us to Anthony Demetre, we had noticed him moving around tables earlier speaking with diners. It was great to meet the man who had designed and delivered the culinary experience we were relishing. Demetre like his food you take an immediate liking to, at least we did. He is engaging and fascinated to learn about our encounter with his take on bistronomy. He is passionate about what he does and loves talking food, as we do.
We rightly complimented him on the exceptional front of house service, the quality and value of Cinq à Sept, the bread and butter, the artisanal charcuterie, the starter and main courses, and the wines. Demetre explains his focus on provenance, the ingredients and his approach to bistronomy. For a while we just couldn’t stop talking, we did however when he asked us what we were having for dessert. Without looking at the dessert options we both politely explained we were full and would skip dessert, he wasn’t having it for a moment and suggested we both share a Tiramisu. We relented.
The Tiramisu was possibly the best example of a bistro dish created through gastronomic cooking. What gastronomic methods might have been applied to the Tiramisu I could only wonder, and I was filled with wonder when I tasted it. It was unusually light, a combination of Marsala and coffee-soaked ladyfingers with a rich, velvety mascarpone. I was surprised how zealously we both competed for at least out fair share.
I don’t take on many restaurant reviews, firstly as I don’t consider myself anything other than an average punter, and for other reasons, predominantly time. When I do, I am very careful not to overuse adjectives, they need to be applied in a very considered way, as people who read my review may follow my steps and try out a restaurant. If they do I want them to feel it was accurate and authentic.
Clearly if you have got this far it is all too evident that Bistrot at Wild Honey stirred lashings of adjectives in this review. They were all considered and are all deserved.
Thank you, Anthony and team Bistrot at Wild Honey
