Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Chef's Tables
148
Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's
A London Blitz
London, England
Of course, you won't see Gordon Ramsay
himself cooking here—he's too busy film-
ing television shows, opening new outposts
of his restaurant empire, and otherwise tak-
ing over the world. But after seeing a few
episodes of the foul-mouthed blond Scot's
antics on
Hell's Kitchen,
you might not need
to see Ramsay himself in action.
You will see one of Ramsay's most
trusted disciples, Mark Sargeant, who
opened this hotel restaurant for Ramsay in
2001, promptly won a Michelin star, and
helped develop Ramsay's growing chain
of gastropubs. The sedate, creamy-toned
Art Deco dining room is a good fit for the
sophisticated cuisine that lifted Ramsay's
flagship Chelsea restaurant,
Restaurant
Gordon Ramsey
(68 Royal Hospital Rd.;
&
44/20/7352-4441
) to the heights of
culinary acclaim. Prices here are slightly
less stratospheric—a six-course tasting
menu (called a “Menu Prestige”) is priced
under £100, while the three-star Hospital
Road mother ship charges over £125 for
seven courses.
The six-person chef's table is right in
Claridge's gleaming kitchen, at a marble-
topped table overlooking the central pass;
here you'll be served a special menu (more
expensive than the restaurant's tasting
menu) improvised from that day's market
ingredients. With that front-row seat, you
can observe different preparations, such
as the bluefin tuna dish, which contrasts a
tuna carpaccio with pickled white radish
against a piece of tuna seared and mari-
nated with black sesame seeds and soy
dressing. Perhaps you'll be able to watch
the chef rolling a piece of monkfish in
Parma ham, or whipping up a watercress
velouté with asparagus, or adding slivers
of truffles to the pureed potatoes that
accompany the roast Cornish lamb.
Sargeant is cooking at a very high level
here, and while the kitchen does have a
corporate sort of slickness and efficiency,
high-level kitchen action is always fascinat-
ing. The table can be reserved up to 6
months in advance.
There's also a chef's table at Ramsay's
sleek contemporary Mayfair restaurant
Maze
(10-13 Grosvenor Sq.;
&
44/20/
7107-0000
), where Jason Atherton and his
team create their Asian-accented tasting
menus. Again, no Ramsay in evidence at
the stove, but maybe that's just as well.
Claridge's Hotel,
Brook St. (
&
44/20/
7499-0099;
www.gordonramsay.com).
(
Heathrow (24km/15 miles) or Gatwick
(40km/25 miles).
L
$$$
22 Jermyn St.,
22 Jermyn St.,
St. James (
&
800/682-7808
in the U.S., or
44/20/7734-2353; www.22jermyn.com).
$$
Vicarage Private Hotel,
10 Vicarage
Gate, South Kensington (
&
44/20/7229-
4030;
www.londonvicaragehotel.com).