FROM ATHENS & BOTTARGA TO SWISS ROLL IN CHELSEA

PLUS WHY THE GREATLY TATTOOED CHEFS ARE OFTEN THE BEST: TAKE CHEF TOM BROWN AT THE CAPITAL

I’m back after a fortnight of much travel, research, sun, swimming and exceptionally good eating in Athens, Piemonte and Liguria. My sincere apologies for the interval.

I have two bonanza, substack’s coming up. Here is the first, enjoy and please comment. Tell me too if you’d like to hear more on my Athens recommendations.

The first pictures are from the gloriously retro Brown Acropol, Athens hotel where we stayed. We loved it. The centrally located hotel (very close to the Varvakeios Agora, Central Market/bazaars and many good restaurants) dates back to the 1970s and has been brilliantly restored with 70s modernist furnishings and colours that remind me of my parents’ rather fashionable sense of style. From the roof top restaurant/bar where we took this delicious veg centric breakfast (spinach & feta pie for breakfast is a very good idea) there’s a mesmerising view of the Acropolis. How cool is that? Certainly saves on sweating it up there in 40C heat when can admire it from one’s rooftop hot tub!

https://www.brownhotels.com

Who knew that Greece produced truly outstanding bottarga, a greatly underrated, deeply savoury delicacy with infinite uses.  Bottarga is the salted, massaged and pressed, dried roe sacs of fish, most usually grey mullet.  It is a delicacy with truly ancient roots. Like so many foodstuffs, it is thought to have originated with the Phoenicians who brought the preserving technique to the Pharaohs in Egypt. It was an important element in the Ancient Greek and Byzantine diet among those with access to this rarefied, yet naturally produced food.

Greeks more often call it avgotaraho, the French poutarge, the Japanese karasumi, the Koreans eoran . Its Arabic name butarkah, which apparently has Coptic roots, is thought to be the root of its Italian name.  Bottarga has strong literary credentials too.  It is mentioned in medieval Italian cookbook Libro de Arte Coquinaria, and gourmand Samuel Pepys who appears to have had a particular penchant for umami rich foods, like parmesan too, speaks of enjoying bottarga with bread and butter and plenty of claret.

On the suggestion of the most warm-hearted and ultra-creative Greek chef Nikos Roussos, who is proprietor of the excellent Opso and Kima restaurants in London’s Marylebone which have so changed the way we eat Greek food in the UK, (and used to have two Michelin star Funky Gourmet restaurant in Athens) and importer Yannos Hadjiioannou of Maltby & Greek, who have so successfully made Greek wines so desirable, I visited the production of Trikalino.  

Trikalino was established in1856, and is now a fifth generation family business run by the charming, and football crazy, Zafeiris Trikalinos.  It  remains very much a handcrafted production.  The grey mullet are fished in the wild at Etoliko Lagoon in Central Greece. This lagoon is known for its plankton-rich waters, fed by two estuaries, which creates an ideal environment for the mullet to thrive.  

I loved the Wallace & Gromit nature of the contraption invented by a friend of the family to encircle the immaculately trimmed bottarga roes in beeswax to preserve and highlight their very delicate, yet intoxicating sea ozone, peat and iodine, umami rich taste with great depth and length, and delightfully soft textured bottarga.  What is particularly special about Trikalino bottarga is the balance of salting and drying processes that results in a higher moisture and lower salt content than most botturga. 

Should you need further persuasion to try it, like oily fish, bottarga’s nutritional make-up  is most impressive.  It is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, rich in B5, B12, iodine and vitamin A. 

I can happily eat a slice of bottarga on its own, though it is great on warm toast, with egg mayonnaise or scrambled egg as well as more traditionally with spaghetti, and especially good with lemon pasta which accentuates the citrus notes of the bottarga too.

It even lends itself to more vanguard creativity such as Nikos Roussos’ bottarga on toast with a white chocolate cream and a hint of recherché citrus or Roussos’ play on eggs: luscious tarama with bottarga and cured egg yolk, both served at Kima. https://kimarestaurant.com

At Cookoovaya with Lila

In Athens, at the very stylish Cookoovaya (translates as wise cooking), highly recommended to me by Roussos (I ate there twice on a 3 day trip!!) Chef-Proprietor Periklis Koskinas prepared an absolute feast of bottarga delectations on my second visit with Lila Kourti , former chef and marketing supremo of Trikalino. We tasted bottarga simply with butter and flatbread crackers, raw amberjack fish with orange fillet and bottarga slices (divine, so fresh and texturally pleasing with plenty of citrus bite) and steamed fish salad with mayonnaise, huge capers and bottarga.  Koskinas also has a signature dish of amberjack and fennel orzotto (orzo cooked as a risotto) with Trikalinos Bottarga. https://cookoovaya.gr

A full roe of bottarga £45.00 240g is definitely a treat though exceptional value compared to caviar!! Trikalinos Grey Mullet Bottarga powder which is dehydrated, grated grey mullet bottarga is more affordable, with a similar complex taste experience of sea brine, peat and iodine with a long, citrusy aftertaste, though not the same overall textural experience £16.50 40g  https://www.trikalinos.g

https://www.maltbyandgreek.com

I may have had a surfeit of superlative seafood from the Aegean and Med, yet I was most impressed by the sophisticated seafood lunch I had at Tom Brown’s smart new venture at The Capital, a hotel restaurant I have visited in many guises, though this is probably the best ever.

I am always fascinated by how the most tattooed and tough appearing chefs produce such delicately nuanced food and Tom Brown epitomises this.  I love the dichotomy. He has also set a few restaurant trends such as crumpets topped with seafood, crab in his case and he was doing fish kyiv long before certain supermarkets.  I predict the lobster butter and crab oil accompanying the excellent bread will be much copied too.  He’s not the only chef experimenting with ‘fish charcuterie’ though these are produced with great finesse: cod mortadella, salmon bresaola and trout ham. 

I loved the first snack the 67 degree oysters with seaweed and the rich, wobbly crab custard cut with the sharpness of fresh horseradish and fresh tomato. Brill was served with a rather fussy show of courgettes all ways and the delectable savouriness of chicken jus.  I rarely order a chocolate dessert, as years of working with Original Beans chocolate have made me extremely discerning but Tom’s delice had beautiful fruity chocolate complexity.  It’s a good room for proper conversation as it is quiet with only 20 seats and discreet so might suit a liaison dangereuse too.

https://tombrownatthecapital.com menus 3 course £50; 5 course £80 7 course £105

With another very hot spell forecast for later this week, though this is nothing for me after sightseeing in Athens’ extraordinary and exhilarating bazaar like food market streets in 40C, it is a good time to remember how important keeping well hydrated is. For travels, I would highly recommend a flat water bottle like this one as it isn’t too heavy and doesn’t take up much room and I developed a habit of asking for ice on the side to refresh it. At home, go royally posh with the new Christopher’s Cordials launched by Tom Parker Bowles and Jolyon Fenwick (presumably.  Apparently cordials have been quite the thing since Renaissance times for those who want to keep their wits about them.  I gather the Queen Consort and I agree that the Sicilian lemon (from the East Coast of Sicily) and redcurrant is perfection, though I have grown fond of the quintessentially English gooseberry and lime blended with lemongrass and sea buckthorn.  They certainly make sure we drink far far more water.   

Apparently Christopher’s is a term used by veterans for their cherished refreshment of choice, botanicals have been chosen with the advice of Kew Garden’s and there is 62% fruit in them and no ‘nefarious nasties.’   According to Tom: ‘It is a quiet act of rebellion against the cluttered, sugary, inelegant offerings that dominate today’s shelves. It’s a nod to a more refined, more thoughtful England.  Buy from Fortnum’s £9.95 for a very elegant bottle or www.christopherscordials.com and look out for them in the smartest bars soon.

Perhaps the cordials will find their way to Linea, the new King’s Road opening in the former Duke of York barrack building which would be very fitting. It is next to Saatchi’s Gallery yet has a brave couple of new independent owners Felicity and Greg (who has long form in the hospitality business),  who have invested wisely in this beautiful building with vaulted ceilings and arched alcoves within and a vast terrace overlooking Duke of York’s Square.  It is a sophisticated take on all day cafe-brasserie with its own in-house bakery producing all their cakes (the Swiss Roll is gloriously light and so nostalgic.  Who else remembers Swiss Roll from endless childhood teas and nagged their Mum to buy the chocolate covered mini rolls?

Their Chef Partner Carolina Ferpozzi also produces an adorable range of mini cakes for those of us trying and failing to resist temptation because they are so good.

What makes the whole experience extra pleasing is that they have recruited a really serious and talented Head Chef in Simon Merrick who has a most impressive CV including head chef of The Hero and The Pelican as well as Richard Corrigan’s The Portrait Restaurant and Daffodil Mulligan. 

I adored the lobster eclairs served at the launch dinner as well as an unusual starter of smoked potatoes with asparagus and tofu mayonnaise and roast hake with a crab sauce, baby gem, pickled cucumber, mint and feta.

I’ve always loved King’s Road and the opening of Linea is even more reason to return, and often.

Cafe Linea, 90 Duke of York Square, Chelsea, London SW3 4LY https://www.linealondon.com