l'ortolan

apologies for a lack of posts. with our wedding coming up very soon, there is plenty to sort out – from table plans to ensuring people get paid. between wedding stuff and work, there is just not enough hours in a day for me to blog consistently. . i have visited l’ortolan in the past. twice to be exact. on my previous visits, alan murchison was in charge of the kitchen. both visits were 5 years apart. what i can remember from both meals was that the food was overworked and the pricing was very ambitious, for a 1* restaurant. on my more recent visit, i was also particularly annoyed with the wine service – we were presented with a dusty bottle and the waiter did not have a scooby how to handle the wine with a lot of sediment poured into the glass. there was strangely no sommelier around that night. perhaps it was an off night or perhaps it was because l’ortolan, then under murchison’s 10 in 8 group was heading towards liquidation. murchison eventually left l’ortolan after 13 years and in his place is his former protege tom clarke.

overall, it was a decent lunch but not very exciting.
there are much better michelin star lunch deal in london but not so much in this area ...

l’ortolan is, as i’m sure readers of a food blog will know, a small bird that is both a delicacy and an illegal meal in france. the bird is drowned in armagnac plucked, oven cooked then eaten whole, bones and all, under a napkin. this 'under a napkin' lark is said to be either i) to fully capture the aromas, or ii) to hide your crime of eating a tinnyn songbird from the eyes of god (though personally i think if god is worth his name, he can probably see through napkins; just saying). it is said that francois mitterrand’s last meal was two of the birds, after which he didn’t eat again for 10 days before passing. l’ortolan is not on the menu at l’ortolan as far as i could see, though perhaps there’s a secret password that when uttered with a nod and a wink in the right direction... the restaurant today is under the direction of executive chef alan murchison who will likely be familiar to great british menu fans having reached the finals this year where he demonstrated a meticulous attent

overall the menu was carefully devised and built up the intensity of the flavours. there was a good combination of very traditional and modern techniques, and given the restrictions of working in an unknown kitchen, the team managed to deliver a very varied and delicious meal. the wine pairings devised by the equally fabulous hotel terravina team ratcheted up the enjoyment levels, and it was an excellent opportunity to have dinner devised by a michelin starred chef, and the worlds best sommelier.

totally love it! definitely the place to go for a special meal. i recommend their set lunch meal, £35-40 for 3 courses + a few little extras. if you're up for it, try the cheese trolley :-) i've never had dinner, it's way more expensive