On Monday evening we held the second of the Taste of London restaurant safaris for the press. My job is to find the right wine and food match for each of the dishes suggested by the featured restaurants and hope that everyone approves!
First stop, Quo Vadis, part of the Hart Brothers Group which includes the consistently crowd-pleasing Fino and Barrafina tapas bars.
Before testing my food and wine match we had a delicious, dry aperitif sherry made by the high class sherry house of Lustau. The cream sherry and carpet slippers market is becoming a thing of the past and it's now time to indulge in fabulous dry sherry styles such as manzanilla and fino – so join the growing throng of new, hip and trendy sherry fans sampling such delights.
Post sherry, we enjoyed grilled rib of beef with triple cooked chips and Béarnaise sauce matched with the intense dark fruit flavours, spice, balanced tannins and full bodied structure of Chivite Coleccion 125 Reserva 2005. Made from Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Chivite is a flag-waver for producers from the underrated Navarra region in northeast Spain.
Next step, after a speedy five minutes' walk, was Gauthier Soho. Alexis Gauthier is a natural who briefly popped up from the kitchen to present his signature black truffle risotto dish. I love this risotto and could easily pitch up at Gauthier every day for the balance of flavours and texture. The Masi Masianco 2010 Venezie made from Pinot Grigio and the Verduzzo local grape was a good match with an attractive creaminess which worked nicely with Alexis' dish.
To finish off we headed to Gelupo (opposite its sibling Bocco di Lupo) for cocktails, superb not-too-sweet ice cream and some good coffee. I'll be going back.
Make sure you check out all of the above at Taste of London.