Gordon Ramsay at the London

[donbert]

We actually had a male waiter give us the cheese.  The two in the dishes were an Epiosse and a Livarot.  The Epiosse was on the left and had the orange washed rind.

Liverot is also a washed rind and can have an orange rind as well. I thought this was an upscale place though, isnt it Vacheron Mont d'Or season?

[larrylee]

johnder:

Thanks for the writeup and photo essay! So I'm guessing you weren't banned for taking photographs, as GR was threatening to do before the place opened?

[johnder]

johnder:

Thanks for the writeup and photo essay! So I'm guessing you weren't banned for taking photographs, as GR was threatening to do before the place opened?

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Nope, no issues with the camera. I wasn't using a flash and was super discreet.

[Bueno]

John, thanks for the report!

As for the photos-- if you rest your camera on top of your glass of wine/water or an overturned bowl, and just press the button from over the top without touching the camera with your hands, your images will be crystal clear, regardless of how much wine you've had.

Ruth Reichl feels pretty much the same as you and most others, by the way.

Edited November 30, 2006 by Bueno (log)

[johnder]

John, thanks for the report!

As for the photos-- if you rest your camera on top of your glass of wine/water or an overturned bowl, and just press the button from over the top without touching the camera with your hands, your images will be crystal clear, regardless of how much wine you've had.

Ruth Reichl feels pretty much the same as you and most others, by the way.

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The funny thing is I actually have a micro-tripod that I used for most of the pictures in my eG blog. I accidently left it home. The glass idea is a good backup trick though!

[Nathan]

actually, just boost your ISO setting as high as possible. This will allow you to utilize a faster shutter speed. You'll have a lot of noise in the pics (especially with a P&S) but that's somewhat repairable in any good processing program (I could do it for you if you liked).

[larrylee]

actually, just boost your ISO setting as high as possible.  This will allow you to utilize a faster shutter speed.  You'll have a lot of noise in the pics (especially with a P&S) but that's somewhat repairable in any good processing program (I could do it for you if you liked).

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Use Neat Image. But that's getting slightly off topic.

[Andy Lynes]

Gordon Ramsay at the London was reviewed on the BBC2 TV programme Newsnight Review in the UK on Friday evening. The arts show had relocated to New York and the panel included Joe Queenan, Bill Buford, Robin Green and Nancy Jo Sales . Its available to view online until Friday 8 December click here.

Apart from the sheer incongruity of the restaurant being reviewed alongside the new David Hare play, this is worth watching to catch some kitchen footage where the eagle eyed can spot not only Ramsay and his head chef Neil Ferguson, but also Mark Sargeant, head chef of Gordon Ramsay at Claridges and Josh Emett, head chef of The Savoy Grill, another Ramsay restaurant. I'd be amazed if group executive chef Mark Askew wasn't also in the kitchen, although he didn't appear on screen. So if you got in early and have already eaten at the London, your meal was cooked by quite a stellar crew.

[Matthew Grant]

.....the eagle eyed can spot not only Ramsay and his head chef Neil Ferguson, but also Mark Sargeant, head chef of Gordon Ramsay at Claridges and Josh Emett, head chef of The Savoy Grill, another Ramsay restaurant. I'd be amazed if group executive chef Mark Askew wasn't also in the kitchen, although he didn't appear on screen.  So if you got in early and have already eaten at the London, your meal was cooked by quite a stellar crew.

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That is a stellar crew, what a shame for those back in England who were eating in the London based Ramsay establishments at the same time. I don't expect chefs to be in the kitchen all the time but sending virtually all your head chefs to New York could be interpreted as showing disdain for the UK customer.

[ryangary]

Why does everyone think that the head chef needs to be in the kitchen every minute of the day for the kitchen to put out good food. The cooks and chefs de partie and sous chefs are the ones who do the actual cooking day in and day out and just because the chef steps out for a day or two does not mean the kitchen falls apart.

[CaptainJack]

Why does everyone think that the head chef needs to be in the kitchen every minute of the day for the kitchen to put out good food. The cooks and chefs de partie and sous chefs are the ones who do the actual cooking day in and day out and just because the chef steps out for a day or two does not mean the kitchen falls apart.

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Thats not quite the point here, the fact that the head chef doesn't cook everyday in a kitchen is fairly well known. The fact it that almost all of Ramsey's top chefs are in this one kitchen at one time, it would appear that they are concerned about this investment.

Edited December 4, 2006 by CaptainJack (log)

[ryangary]

Point well taken.

[21clubber]

.....the eagle eyed can spot not only Ramsay and his head chef Neil Ferguson, but also Mark Sargeant, head chef of Gordon Ramsay at Claridges and Josh Emett, head chef of The Savoy Grill, another Ramsay restaurant. I'd be amazed if group executive chef Mark Askew wasn't also in the kitchen, although he didn't appear on screen.  So if you got in early and have already eaten at the London, your meal was cooked by quite a stellar crew.

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That is a stellar crew, what a shame for those back in England who were eating in the London based Ramsay establishments at the same time. I don't expect chefs to be in the kitchen all the time but sending virtually all your head chefs to New York could be interpreted as showing disdain for the UK customer.

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FYI Joël Robuchon also brought over a number of his very best and most experienced chefs when opening L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon at the Four Seasons. Alain Verzeroli, Director de Cuisine for all the Robuchon restaurants in Tokyo, was here in Ner York. Another was Claude Le-Tohic, the Executive Chef of Joël Robuchon (formerly Joël Robuchon at The Mansion) in Las Vegas--and a holder of the highly prestigious Meilleur Ouvrier de France. No doubt Robuchon sent other big guns to New York as well.

[docsconz]

I was in town over the weekend for a medical meeting and managed to get together with a few eGullet Society members Friday night for dinner at The London Bar, the more informal arm of Gordon Ramsey's venture into New York. As has been discussed about the food in the Dining Room, the food was all well prepared and tasty if not particularly stunning. The quality was good, the execution the same and the conception quite sound.

Where the restaurant left me and the others scratching our heads though was over certain FOH issues. The bathroom lock issue has already been described, while the towels have been (apparently) upgraded to high quality paper. I noticed three issues of relative significance and a few more relatively less so. The most surprising element was that it is apparently their policy not to change silverware with every course. I was a bit taken aback when they took the visibly used silverware off my finished plate and replaced it on the table not just once but several times. When I asked the captain about it, he mentioned that this was the informal part of the restaurant. Nevertheless I thought it to be more than a diner . From a strictly service point of view they brought espresso for one member of our party while he was in the bathroom and set it down. No effort was made to exchange it or correct it after he returned a while later. The most annoying and troubling element though occurred at the end of the evening when we had to wait for about ten minutes for our credit cards to return. This is not the least bit reassuring in today's world of credit card and identity theft. I am by no means accusing anyone of that deed, just pointing out that possibility left more than one of us feeling uncomfortable with the process.

In summary, I had no real issues with the food. In fact if the overall restaurant did not have such obvious aspirations, the utensils would have been less of an issue. The coffee and other small service gaffes could be attributed to the restaurant's newness. I do, however, still find the credit card delay to be quite troubling.

I may add photos and a greater desciption of the food if and when I get my main computer up and running and if the photos come out to be presentable. BTW, there was no issue with my obvious, flashless Canon SLR. While I tried to be unobtrusive to fellow patrons, I did not attempt to be surreptitious or sneaky.

[Simon_S]

I was a bit taken aback when they took the visibly used  silverware off my finished plate and replaced it on the table not just once but several times.

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Wow! I would expect clean cutlery for each course at even the lowliest of restaurants. I'm pretty shocked at this.

Si

[johnder]

I was lucky enough to have dinner with Doc Friday and was the unfortunate recipient of the luke warm espresso. I was late back to the table because I was assisting a lovely young woman who was trapped in the restroom unable to get the door opened, but that is another story.

The silverware was quite disturbing, especially since there was no rhyme or reason for they took it or didn't. Some of the bussers did take the flatware, while others left it. For instance when I finished my onion veloute (which was amazing) they took my spoon and gave me a fresh one.

As Doc noted they did replace they c-fold towels with a higher quality paper napkin, but the spare rolls of toilet paper were still sitting on top of the sink.

For the food -- I started with the onion veloute which was topped with a nice slice of black truffle. It was really awesome, perfect consistency, great onion flavor, really well prepared.

As far as the star of the evening, for me I think it was the salmon mi cuit served over scrambled eggs and puree of watercress. At first it looked just like a rectangle of salmon (cured and poached in olive oil) on top of some soft scrambled eggs topped with some caviar. The interesting thing about the eggs was the texture. The yolks had a very creamy constancy while the whites were fully cooked. Turns out the cooked the whites first, diced them up, and then added them back to the soft scrambled yolks. The surprise came after I was about half way through the dish -- under the eggs was a puree of watercress which was a surprise of green after breaching the scrambled egg shell. It added a nice bitter component to the dish and really helped cut the richness of the eggs.

After dinner we got a tour of the kitchen which was amazing and HUGE. They broke the kitchen into two sides, one half for the main room and the other for room service and the bar menu. It was immaculately clean and from the 10 minutes we were in the kitchen running very smooth. The chefs table in the kitchen (seats 8) looks like a blast. It is situated at the end of the kitchen overlooking the pass for the main dining room.

BTW, the bread they served in the london bar was much better than the bread they served in the main dining room when I went. I am not sure they upgraded the bread across the board, but compared to what I had in the main room, this was a huge improvement.

john

[Nathan]

I guess I'll throw in my 3 cents here:

The credit card issue is the one I find the least perturbing (the cutlery on the other hand...); my surmise would be that most likely they simply had a delay while they were making a phone confirmation for someone else's credit card (something which does happen in the credit card world -- especially with international travelers).

I'll also note that no one is liable for more than $50 if, in fact, their credit card is stolen or fraudulently used.

[slkinsey]

One of the most interesting tidbits from the kitchen tour was learned when I asked about what kinds of adjustments they had had to make in opening a reataurant in America and New York City as opposed to their usual UK stomping grounds. I was expecting to hear something about using different provisioners and ingredients, or changing things to account for the NYC palate, etc. No... the first thing that came to his mind was that they had to be a lot nicer to the personnel in the kitchen, that the strong language and rough-and-tumble of their UK kitchens simply wouldn't fly here.

[docsconz]

I guess I'll throw in my 3 cents here:

The credit card issue is the one I find the least perturbing (the cutlery on the other hand...); my surmise would be that most likely they simply had a delay while they were making a phone confirmation for someone else's credit card (something which does happen in the credit card world -- especially with international travelers).

I'll also note that no one is liable for more than $50 if, in fact, their credit card is stolen or fraudulently used.

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You are most likely correct that the situation was in fact benign and I repeat that I am not accusing anyone of having done anything like that. Nevertheless it was an inordinate and uncomfortable amount of time. While personal liability may not be great, the hassle factor can be huge should thee be fraudulent card activity. If it were the only thing I may not have even noticed it, let alone have been bothered by it. Then again, it was long enough that I probably still would have noticed it and been bothered by it.

[murkcury]

No... the first thing that came to his mind was that they had to be a lot nicer to the personnel in the kitchen, that the strong language and rough-and-tumble of their UK kitchens simply wouldn't fly here.

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Oh so true. Even more so given the fact that it is, to my understanding, a union hotel. French kitchens in Europe and Asia are a far cry from those here. American cooks, especially in the eyes of our foreign colleagues, are soft, weak, lazy and spoiled.

[docsconz]

I managed to come up with reasonably presentable photos for most of the courses.

Pressed foie gras and smoked duck with sweet 'n' sour onions

Three of the four of us had this dish.

White onion veloute with duck ragout and shaved Perigord truffle

Marinated beetroot, Ricotta, pine nut and Cabernet sauvignon dressing

This was a lovely dish with only a hint of sweetness and a nice balance overall.

Hand dived sea scallops roasted with spices, golden raisin puree and cauliflower beignets

Ramsey's take on Jean-Georges signature. I'll leave it to Sam to discuss this as he didn't leave any for the rest of us to try

Gilthead bream with native lobster risotto, lemongrass and Thai basil

The skin was perfectly crisped. The dish was delicious. It had nice lobster flavor. The Thai flavors were subtle at most.

Cured salmon 'mi cuit' with scrambled egg and watercress

Johnder's dish of which he already wrote.

Arctic char and pork belly with choucroute and smoked raisin reduction

Sam, you'll need to discuss this one as well.

Twice cooked poussin, roast - Cog au Vin with prune puree and foie gras veloute

This nice dish tasted better than it photographed.

Pacific halibut with Squid, creamed cauliflower, spiced beef and braised leeks

Sam?

Oven baked pork belly with Granny Smith apple, honey,

lemon and thyme

The skin was very crisp.

Mango parfait with orange and anise jelly,

cilantro shoots

Nice texture and flavors - it was refreshing.

Madagascan vanilla rice pudding, raspberry and lemon thyme jam,

mascarpone and pecan ice cream

Everything one would expect and hope for in a rice pudding.

[BryanZ]

Great pictures. The Bar food seems to be more modern than that in the main dining room.

[docsconz]

Great pictures.  The Bar food seems to be more modern than that in the main dining room.

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Thanks, Bryan. I will have to defer to our resident NY Gordon ramsey expert, Johnder, to address that point.

[johnder]

Great pictures.  The Bar food seems to be more modern than that in the main dining room.

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Thanks, Bryan. I will have to defer to our resident NY Gordon ramsey expert, Johnder, to address that point.

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I guess it would be slightly more modern in the case of some dishes. Most of the dishes in the main room are classical dishes with a few twists where I would say the dishes in the London bar are the similar but probably have a few extra garnishes or plated in a different, more modern style -- especially in the case of the beet salad. That seems like a pain to plate.

Another example would be the terrine in the main room versus the one in the bar. The one in the main room was a more complex terrine, foie layered with game and garnished with the blanched string beans, where the terrine in the bar was large slabs of foie interspersed with the duck and garnished with the sweet/sour onion napoleon. Different preparation and not so classical accompaniment in the case of the bar room.

The onion veloute on the other hand was something that would be right at home in the main room.

[Brian B]

the dishes on offer at the Bar seem closer to whats on offer at Maze in London,which would make sense. How is the atmosphere and what is the layout like.