Koffman's Bleeding Heart?

[Andy Lynes]

This is pure gossip and unsubstantiated rumour from a single source, but the prospect of it, if it were to be true, is so enticing that I thought I should share it with you.

I have been told that Pierre Koffman may be taking over the Bleeding Heart in Bleeding Heart Yard, Greville Street and will be offering back to basics "terrior" cooking. No idea when this might happen but fingers crossed that it will happen. Could be a very good excuse for an egullet get together.

[Matthew Grant]

I still haven't got a reply after my last meal

Now I know where to get hold of him I will try for a reply for a 3rd time

[Suzi Edwards]

andy, is there any more news on this?

fingers crossed...

[magnolia]

I have been told that Pierre Koffman may be taking over the Bleeding Heart in Bleeding Heart Yard, Greville Street and will be offering back to basics "terrior" cooking.

Hmmm...interesting, I believe that's pretty much what they serve now.

[Bapi]

Has anyone actually been to the Bleeding Heart recently? I ask as I am dining next Tuesday and it will be my first time there.

[Mrs Woman]

Last issue of Restaurant said the owners had no intentions of selling it even though they've been there 20 years and knew Koffman was interested. They're putting in a new rotisserie as well apparently

[Scott]

Koffmann is NOT buying the bleeding heart.

He is actively looking, and is not in negotiation with anyone at present moment.

[Andy Lynes]

I spoke briefly to Pierre Koffmann at last night's Restaurant Top 50 awards and he told me that he is still looking but hasn't found a site yet for his new restaurant. I asked if he had any idea when he might open, to which he responded "not before the end of this year". He said that "the food will be what I like to cook, nothing to do with stars" and that it would be either a bistro or a brasserie.

I then, rather rudely on reflection, asked him what he'd been up to since the closure of La Tante Claire (meaning to discover if he was cooking for anyone anywhere). He replied "not much, travelling."

[Dan Ryan]

Was it really time off, of was he working outside the UK? And is he going to be in London or outside?

[Andy Lynes]

As I understand it, he was genuinely taking it easy, which was confirmed by someone else at the event last night (not that I was checking up on M Koffmann, it simply came up in conversation!). My assumption is London, but I didn't expressly clarify that with him last night.

It was great to meet him, albeit fleetingly. I did of course have time to gush horribly about how much I liked his cooking and his books and told him that "London missed him". Which I think is true, if a little stomach churning in the cold light of day.

[circeplum]

are you writing a report on the awards, andy?

x

[Andy Lynes]

I started a thread here. Not a report as such, as that would basically read "Andy wanders around, getting progressively more sloshed on free champagne, alternatively soaking up the general good vibes towards eGullet and boring various famous chefs stiff until he finally gets the hint that they might actually want to talk to someone else far better looking and more interesting on the other side of the room. Falls asleep in drunken haze on train home. The End"

[Suzi Edwards]

All I can say is that I really hope that *someone* replaces whoever is cooking at the Bleeding Heart at the moment. Jack and I went 3-4 weeks ago. I just found the receipt and all the horror came flooding back.

As I staggered into the restaurant (cobbles play havock with stiletto heels dahlings) I was really excited to be eating here. Jack and I were pointing excitedly at the outdoor area and hatching plans to come back on sunny summer evenings. I was slightly nauseated by the heart motif that runs through the restaurant itself and wondered for a second if they hadn't just left the decorations up from a spectacularly OTT Valentine's day celebration. They hadn't.

Starters were a fabulously watery pea veloute served with a piece of (I think) Sainburies filo that had been left out for too long before baking. I recognised the flavour as I once made the mistake myself. It was served with a "caviar cream" that was too light on the caviar to really merit the name. I was stunned that given the time of year they would serve such an insipid pea preparation. Jack's scallops were a little better, seared and served with a garlic butter. Mains were venison for Jack and I can't remember what I ordered. I can't check my reciept as it was taken off the bill with no complaint from the waiter at all. I do remember that whatever it was it came with a small side order of macaroni cheese that would make Little Chef proud. The cheese sauce had separated leaving a vile oily slick to rise above the pasta which was both too crispy from being left in the oven for too long and on the point of distintigrating beneath from being boiled for too long before being coated in the sauce.

We declined dessert. And instead went to Vivat Bacchus for some cheese.

[MobyP]

Ouch...

What were you doing there in the first place?

[Winot]

a small side order of macaroni cheese that would make Little Chef proud

Oh God the macaroni cheese. I had the same thing as a side order to suckling pig when I went there a month or two back - truly awful. Though not as bad as the scallops St. Jacques which came with a vile cheese sauce. We were celebrating a colleague's exam success so I didn't kick up a fuss, but had a vague disquiet at the time and realised in retrospect that it had been a truly bad meal (great wine list though). I came away feeling that they'd completely over-extended themselves -- the place is vast (and was packed at lunchtime) and I just don't think the kitchen could cope.

Funnily enough I went to the Bleeding Heart Tavern a few weeks' later and had a great lunch upstairs in the pub (Caesar salad followed by smoked haddock with poached egg). Unfussy cooking; good quality ingredients; keen pricing. And Adnams on tap, although inexpertly served by the French bar staff. They may produce the best chefs and waiters in the world, but they know bugger all about beer. And for some reason the management here has decided to refuse to serrve pints of lager. Ale yes, but not lager. Bizarre.

[Suzi Edwards]

that's it. i had the suckling pig.

i think i need to go and lie down in a darkened room for a while. it's all just come flooding back....

Waiter: "Was everything ok?" (peering at hardly touched plate)

Suzi: "Erm. No. This really wasn't very good. Each of these four different preparations is uniquly ghastly in its own special way. Look at this crackling. It's like toast that has been wrapped in a serviette before it was allowed to cool. Cracking isn't supposed to bounce. And this roasted pork? It's completely dry. No juice. It's not supposed to shatter when you slice it."

Waiter "How was the venison sir?"

Jack: "Well, it's fair to say it wasn't as bad as the pork but the dauphinoise potatoes are hard"

In fairness, they took the critisism on the chin (and I didn't really use the word ghastly) and let me totter off into the balmy summer evening.

Tavern sounds like a better bet...do they share a kitchen?

[Winot]

Tavern sounds like a better bet...do they share a kitchen?

I don't think so. I was at the Tavern once when they were re-doing their kitchen (or it had broken down or something) and they were carrying food through the yard from the main joint.

The tavern has a downstairs room but it's all a bit claustrophobic. When I first went there you weren't officially meant to eat upstairs but could if you asked; now they've cottoned on to the fact that it's a much nicer room and eating there is sanctioned. Tiny chairs though.

[Chloe]

Suckling pig with macaroni cheese? Oh heavens!!!

Chloe

Ponte de Lima

Portugal - where suckling pig is *not* served with macaroni cheese ...

[emsny]

Is there any news about Koffmann / Bleeding Heart Yard?

[Suzi Edwards]

i think this rumour was killed a while ago...andy's more of a gossip than me so he might chime in...

[emsny]

<Sigh.> I await Koffmann's return to the London scene with eagerness. (We're New Yorkers, but are in London 3 or 4 times a year.)

[emsny]

Nearly six months on from the last post on this topic, is there any news about Koffmann's London or other plans?

[Andy Lynes]

Not a whiff I'm afraid. All I can tell you is that I spotted the chef on the down escalator at The Angel tube when I on the up escalator on my way to the Restaurant Show at the Business Centre in Islington, so I think its safe to assume that was where he had just come from. Maybe he was checking out potential suppliers and equipment for his new place, who knows.

[emsny]

Thanks, Andy. I don't know why I feel that he should go back to work when my personal goal is to stop as soon as I possibly can.

[emsny]

Here's my periodic query: Any news of Pierre Koffmann?