St.Johns is one of, if not the most famous restaurants in not just England but the world drawing plaudits from fellow chefs and celebrities alike, with TV chef and author Anthony Bourdain proclaiming it as his favourite restaurant of all time.
Whats the reason for this? Chef Fergus Henderson and partner Trevor Gulliver opened the restaurant in the old smoke house in late 1994 and pioneered the philosophy of 'nose to tail' eating, a philosophy that they have stuck with ever since and others have joined to varying degrees of success.
What is nose to tail? Fergus describes it as "meaning it would be disingenuous to the animal not to make the most of the whole beast; there is a set of delights, textural and flavoursome, which lie beyond the fillet".
Ever since I started a career in cooking and heard of this place I was in love and placed it at the top of an ever growing list of places I wanted to eat at, so when some guys at work mentioned they also wanted to go we booked it for the next day!
So with high hopes and empty bellies off to Spitalfields we trekked for lunch. We arrived at the old smoke house which looks like it hasn't been touched since! we were greeted by the friendly bar staff and given a complimentary drink of negroni (with a st.John twist) It was far too bitter and really not pleasant to drink.
We were then taken through to the restaurant and seated at a table dressed with a paper tablecloth..as all the tables were, all part of the unique experience. As we were seated we were plied with more alcohol, this time rose champagne. As were were perusing the menu the waiter came and told us that they were out of two of the main courses...which as luck would have it were the only two that sounded interesting to me, so I opted for replacement dish of braised veal neck and shoulder, but more on that later.
I had already decided on my starter before I had even booked the table, the world famous roast bone marrow with a parsley salad and it didn't disappoint! the bone marrow was so rich and creamy and the parsley and caper salad beautifully cut through the richness, I couldn't have asked for a better start to the meal.
And then to the main, the replacement braised veal paired with aioli, I ordered a side of new potatoes to go with it as the main didn't sound that much on its own.
The dish arrived with a big healthy portion of braised meat with the carrots from the braise full of flavour and a huge dollop of home made aioli. It looked good, it smelt good, then I had a mouthful of the beautifully tender meat with a good smear of aioli...it was then that it hit me and i recalled a previous warning of avoid their aioli! Oh my god, it tasted like a raw garlic puree and it burnt the back of my throat and stung my nostrils!! such a basic condiment ruined, I can still taste it now!
This coupled with the barely cooked/bordering raw grouse served to my colleague and the fact that two main dishes had run out by 1.30 put a real dampener on the main course.
So to dessert, we were sent a pre-dessert of strawberry granita with a shot of vodka. It was a nice gesture but it was October so not entirely sure where the strawberries came from but the granita was definatley not made with fresh strawberries but a pre-packed strawberry puree! Not something I was expecting from this temple of all things cooking.
My main dessert was a large eccles cake served with a generous wedge of Lancashire cheese, the cheese was delicious but the cake was a touch on the dry side, the meal had really spiraled down hill.
So a day that began with such high hopes and dreams, with visions of eating the best meal of my life to date, that started so well with a starter that both met and surpassed all expectations, for the meal to be tarnished by a distinct lack of choice in the mains and a dish that I could so easily have produced myself.
The restaurant was great and I loved the decor and the no frills, no fuss that went with it, but the food (starter aside) was disappointing which really was a shame.
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