We had first heard of Clare Smyth and CORE from Season 20 of Top Chef International All Stars, more specifically episode 9 for restaurant wars. It was also very memorable because of the chef’s table where the judges sat which gives you an open view of the nearby kitchen. We also happened to watch the Netflix show Final Table where Clare Smyth was also the judge for the England episode. In any case, since we were going to London, this restaurant was high on my list of restaurants to try while we were there.
I had a lunch reservation, so we spent the morning in the Notting Hill visiting the Portobello Road Market. This was a very impressive market and I only wish we had more time and it wasn’t so cold. In the end, none of us purchased anything, but I sure would have liked to buy some nice vintage Burberry clothing (next time).
Our reservation was for 12:30pm so we headed over to arrive about 15 minutes early. Andrea and I wanted to get a photo in front and it’s funny because we were taking turns with another couple who were already there trying to get some photos. We got our photo of course, but the bigger difference was that we had a reservation. We walked to the reservation person and checked in our coats. As we were taken to our table, you pass by the salon/bar area which looked a nice place to hang out. As you walk to the dining area, they stop in front of the kitchen, the same area where the chef’s table is. As it turned out, we were going to be seated at the chef’s table! The table was partitioned to seat two different parties and Andrea was seated right where Gail Simmons was seated in the pictures below from that Top Chef episode, Trisha sat across from her, and I was on the end.
The table was beautifully decorated with a small bundle of flowers on our place setting and the larger one serving as part of the partition for the other half of the table at where another group would later be seated. The view to the kitchen is only separated by a glass wall. The kitchen was immaculate. The head chef was barking out instructions on some timing when we arrived.
We started with some cocktails. I went with and gin and tonic, Andrea went with a rose champagne.
CORE has two different menus, their Core Classics menu and their Core Seasons menu (you can also go a la carte for a 3-course meal, but you pay almost as much as a full tasting menu) Andrea went with the Classics and I went with the Seasons. We usually try two different menus so we can try a variety of different things (and also because the Seasons had sweetbreads which Andrea doesn’t really care for, but I love). Trisha is allergic to shellfish, which I let the restaurant know in advance and they prepared and printed a custom menu for her which was a very nice touch. She also isn’t a big fan of duck, so she asked to sub the sea bass which they very willingly accommodated. We all went with the wine pairings of course.
The received the first of our starters/amuse. The first was a mini lobster roll, second came the caviar sandwich (blini, egg, caviar topped with a tasteful bit of bling from the gold leaf to put a small exclamation point on the luxury) and the pumpkin gougere, and third came the chicken taco made with a chicken skin shell and gravy gelee. Each of these were meticulously prepared and presented. The first starter with the mini lobster roll was strikingly presented with the wooden bowl, the lattice metalwork with see-through to the stones, shells and greenery. Just gorgeous and mirrored the delicate bite of the lobster roll. The chicken taco was also served on a bed of woodland greens atop a slab of bark. Again, another beautifully presented and created dish. Both the lobster roll and chicken taco were highly elevated renditions of relatively humble (if you can call lobster humble at all…) dishes. An amazing start that served as a preview of the gastronomic delights to come.
First course was Portland crab for me, Isle of Harris scallop tartare for Andrea, and a Sharpham Park spelt for Trisha. My crab came 3 ways – the tender solidity of the claw meat, in the airy egginess of a savory sabayon topped with some caviar, and lastly a rich flavorful consommé (I’m definitely a fan of flavorful sauces or broths to accompany dishes and I just realized as I looked at the pictures that everyone of the dishes had sauces/consomme/broth. Ha, no wonder…I was predisposed to like this meal and didn’t even know it). Andrea’s scallop dish was beautifully presented in the shell served with a sea vegetable consommé, but was mildly flavored (which scallops tend to be anyway). Trisha’s spelt dish was arguably the most beautifully presented with the spelt arranged in a crescent shape topped with meticulously arranged toppings including celery, celtuce, and selim pepper.
Second course – veal sweetbread for me and Clare Smyth’s famous potato for both Andrea and Trisha. Andrea’s was the classic potato roe presentation and with Trisha’s potato, instead of the roe, they used little mini fermented potato chips. I loved my dish…fried sweetbreads with a bit of honey, mustard seed and sauce, atop kohlrabi made for layers of flavors. Andrea and Trisha also loved their potato dishes as well. Andrea said the potato was one of my favorite dishes for the meal and found it very comforting. Trisha’s version didn’t have roe, but instead had kombu as a caviar substitute which she though was creative and thought the vinegar chips were lovely.
Next came the sea bass for me, cod for Andrea and Trisha. The sea bass was decorated with little bits of cockles and clams and with all of the green vegetables, broth (with some basil? oil) made for a beautiful dish. The cod was served with a brown butter sauce which gave a rich flavor to the dish.
For the fourth course, I had the Jerusalem artichoke and the ladies had the ‘Lamb carrot’. The lamb carrot came in 2 parts. First, on the plate was a the carrot with a lamb(?) jus and some sheep yogurt, but the surprise was the parker house rolls which had lamb baked inside of them and topped with little fragments of lamb.
The final savory course for me was the ‘Beef and oyster’, Andrea had the duck, and Trisha had the sea bass (minus the cockles and clams) that was subbed for the duck. For my course, my understanding that this is a deconstructed take on English beef and oyster pie. The wagyu was from the Highlands and was beautifully marbled and deliciously unctuous and the Guinness sauce was a nice touch, although I did not care much for the oyster which was wrapped with a ribbon of raw wagyu, but was warm/tepid sitting atop the wagyu. The preparation in the shell was a more traditional english pie which was ok. I certainly appreciated the wagyu, but I’m curious if I’d like a traditional (i.e. non fine dining) English beef and oyster pie.
Then came the first of 2 dessert courses. For me, I had ‘The other carrot” which I suppose was a callback to the ‘Lamb carrot’ on the other menu? This was their rendition of carrot cake with a bit of carrot sorbet on the side. I am a big fan of carrot cake and I definitely enjoyed this playfully reimagined version. Andrea and Trisha had the ‘Core apple’ which was also wonderfully imagined.
The second dessert course was the ‘Core-teser’ for me and the pear and verbena for the ladies. My understanding is that the Core-teser is a play on the British Malteser candy. I haven’t had that candy before, but it basically looks like a Whopper (the candy, not the burger!) to me. And this was such a wonderful play on that. I’ll never look at a whopper the same way again (not that I eat whoppers very often…). The pear dessert was beautiful looking with a sort of scalloped/shingled construction of little disks of pear and meringue. Inside was a larger piece of pear and some verbena filling.
Lastly, came the mignardise which consisted of the chocolate tarts served in a jewel box and the gummies served on twisted piece of wood. The tart were beautifully made and deliciously, but the gummies were very anticlimactic comapred to how fantastic and imaginative everything was that came before them. This makes me think about an episode of Frasier where Frasier and Niles came back from a dinner where they were lamenting one aspect of the meal and Frasier says “Yes, but think of it this way, Niles: what is the one thing better than an exquisite meal? An exquisite meal with one tiny flaw we can pick at all night.” Haha, yes, that’s it.
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