Merchant House/Hibiscus

[nicola]

Thanks Bapi

Given the veggie/fish restrictions, is there any other good restaurant in Ludlow that people think might be suitable?

[nicola]

Just seen wgallois's reply so maybe Hibiscus might work after all. Will do some more investigation.

[Andy Lynes]

Given the veggie/fish restrictions, is there any other good restaurant in Ludlow that people think might be suitable?

The other Michelin starred restaurant that hardly gets a mention here is Mr Underhills. They are a no choice restaurant, but I'm sure would offer a vegeterian option if warned in advance.

[Andy Lynes]

I always try to choose dishes that I have never tried before or would at first balk at.

I have a column due for publication of The Daily Gullet which touches on that sort of restaurant behaviour (one which I also follow, as the column will explain). I'll be interested in you reaction to it!

[Bapi]

Does anyone know if Hibiscus has a website showing their menu?

According to the new Good Food Guide - Hibiscus does have a web site at

www.hibiscusrestaurant.co.uk

Unfortunately, I can't seem to get on to it , but you may have better luck.

Incidentally, how did you get on Nicola?

B

[Andy Lynes]

The GFG also say that Tom Aikens have a website, which is still not up and running, so it looks like they have failed to check their facts which is not unheard of I am told.

[Basildog]

Thats a little harsh, he obviuosly has a site, just not working at the moment.My site in the past was off as much as it was on, but i still told the GFG that i had one.

[Andy Lynes]

Well, Tom Aikens has been open since May I think and they printed the website address on their business cards, but it has not yet been launched. The GFG might well say that they are only reflecting what they have been told and that it may well become active during the life of the guide, and they may have checked with the restaurant and been told that it will be launched soon. However, it is still true to say that it is not unknown for GFG to go to press with inaccurate and out of date information.

[Scott]

Andy,

I'm with Basildog, it seems your being pretty harsh on the GFG. They have better things to do, than check minor details supplied to them, I would have thought.

If you're really referring to other incidents, please feel free to share with the group

[Andy Lynes]

Sounds like I'm making myself unpopular with GFG lovers (I like the guide a great deal as well I have to say) so I'll say no more and I'd rather not repeat specific incidences that have been mentioned to me. I do think a guide like the GFG should be bothered to get all the details correct, and check that they have as complete, accurate and up to date information as they possibly can before they publish. How can they expect people to rely on them if they can't even do something as basic as fact checking correctly?

[Basildog]

Well i know for a fact that not all reviews are based on actual visits by inspectors.I have had reviews in the past that were not!I don't mind sharing that with the rest of the class

[Jinmyo]

Basil, please do on a new thread. Perhaps in General.

[Andy Lynes]

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<P>I was fortunate enough to be invited by Restaurant Magazine to interview Claude Bosi. I of course leapt at the opportunity and drove up to Ludlow yesterday for the meeting at Hibiscus. Claude was kind enough to rustle me up a spot of lunch on the house. Details follow, with a few pictures for your vicarious enjoyment (no pics of the food I'm afraid as it's a small restaurant and I didn't want to disturb the other diners, so words will have to suffice on that score).

<P>I reviewed Hibiscus for my own site a little over 2 years ago. I paid the bill myself and thought it one of the best restaurants around at the time. I said back then that Hibiscus could be whatever it wanted to be. As I learnt from my chat with Claude, the ambition was always for 2 Michelin stars, which, as we know was realised in January of this year.

<P>Given that I have already made my feelings known online about the place, I will not let the fact that this time around no money changed hands prevent me from updating my views on Hibiscus. If you feel my judgements may be impaired by the circumstances under which the meal was eaten, feel free to ignore the following comments. Or perhaps write to your local MP.

<P>Bosi remains in my view at the very forefront of modern haute cuisine in the UK. He has neither adopted the trappings of "molecular gastronomy" nor remained purely classsical in style. The food at Hibiscus is individual, inventive and wholly distinctive. In my experience and to my knowledge, there is no one cooking quite like him in this country. I am not qualified to make judgements about his importance or originality on a European or global basis, but for my money, he is in the top 3 in this country. I'll have to come back to you on who might make up the remaining two.

<P>Bosi's playful use of sweet and savoury and hot and cold throughout the meal is masterful. For example, the marriage of morels and asparagus at this time of year is a given. It's a match made in heaven. But bring coconut and pistachio into the equation and you have something surprising and delightful. The fact that it is served in the form of a sorbet of morels surrounded by a hot veloute of asparagus make for an arresting and amusing start to the meal.

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<P>Bosi's food quite often brings a smile to the face. Not in an arch, knowing "I-see-what-he's-doing-here" sort of way. Its just so pleasurable to eat that you can't help but feel happy that you decided to spend a Wednesday afternoon doing just that instead of, well, pretty much anything else you can think of really. It's not always perfect of course, a jerusalem artichoke creme brulee was a little too inventive for my tastes, although expertly done of course. But how can you not love a chef that uses gherkins in a sauce, or gets blocks of butter cold smoked for him?

<P>(By the way, Claire Bosi told me that a waiter managed to break 8 of the specially commissioned beautiful orange glass cover bowls (see picture above) in one fell swoop. The bowls cost more than £100.00 a piece. Oddly enough, that waiter no longer works at Hibiscus).

<P>The Meal

<P>Sorbet & Fricasse of Morel Mushroom with Coconut Milk, Veloute of Local Asparagus

<P>Scallop with Puree of Garden Peas, Almond Milk Foam<BR>

<P>Roasted Fillet of John Dory, Black Olive & Gherkin Sauce, Carrot Puree, Smoked Butter

<P>Roast Pauilac Lamb, Puree of Spring Garlic, Fricasse of Morcombe Bay Cockles

<P>Savoury Ice Cream of Foie Gras, Warm Emulsion of Brioche, Balsamic Vinegar Caramel

<P>Strawberries with Sorrel Jelly and Black Pepper Cream

<P>Classic Creme Brulee of Jerusalem Artichoke, Toasted Oats, Caramel Ice Cream

<P>Madelines and Chocolates with Coffee

[MobyP]

When will the piece be published, Andy?

Can you give us any more details on the food - how it was presented, any of the other highlights?

[Matthew Grant]

Andy, IMO, for inventive cuisine (not necessarily technique) Claude is right up there with Heston Blumenthal and well deserving of his second star. One of my favourite meals of last year.

Incidentally, Claire Bosi's service is second to none, on my visit she worked the floor fantastically with just one other waitress for assistance.

Edited May 14, 2004 by Matthew Grant (log)

[Gary Marshall]

Andy, IMO, for inventive cuisine (not necessarily technique) Claude is right up there with Heston Blumenthal and well deserving of his second star. One of my favourite meals of last year.

Incidentally, Claire Bosi's service is second to none, on my visit she worked the floor fantastically with just one other waitress for assistance.

Agree with all the above, but would rate it much higher than the fat duck

inventive, but still highly delicious at the end of the day

gary

[Andy Lynes]

When will the piece be published, Andy?

Can you give us any more details on the food - how it was presented, any of the other highlights?

My deadline is next Monday, but when it will actually appear I'm not sure, possibly in the issue after next which will be the end of the month.

As to the style of presentation at Hibiscus, Bosi is mercifully simple in this department. For example, the first dish was served in a small mottled grey (earthenware?) bowl. A quenelle of the morel sorbet was set on a mound of the fricasse with a ruffle of the frothy coconut milk around it. The warm veloute was poured at the table.

If I recall correctly, all the remaining courses (apart from the foie gras ice cream which came in the same type of bowl as the morels) were served on square and rectangular white plates of various sizes. The dory was simply one large meaty fllet positioned in the centre of the plate. To its left was the olive sauce and smoked butter, to its right the carrot puree. On top was a caramelised pinenut and on that a baby carrot.

The lamb was another highlight. A whole rack of what must have been a very young animal, french cut with beautifully crisp and tasty fat, had been cut into two pieces and position in the centre of the plate, one standing up, the other laid on the side. Scattered around it were peas, broad beans, cockles and the puree.

There was no "painting" going on however, there wasn't an artful arrangement of dots and dashes to be seen, just plate after plate of lovingly prepared food.

[Andy Lynes]

Incidentally, Claire Bosi's service is second to none, on my visit she worked the floor fantastically with just one other waitress for assistance.

I failed to mention Claire in my post which was a serious omission. Even if she was working for a chef like Tim from Bonapartes of "Kitchen Nightmare" fame, it would be worth making a special trip to the restaurant just for the service. She is a big part of what makes Hibiscus so good.

She manages to balance the sort of professionalism and polish you expect from a 2 star with the warmth you associate with a local restaurant. Not an easy thing to do, but she truely succeeds.

[Bapi]

She manages to balance the sort of professionalism and polish you expect from a 2 star with the warmth you associate with a local restaurant. Not an easy thing to do, but she truely succeeds.

Thanks for that prompt Andy- just re-arranged a series of meals at Hibiscus and the Merchant House from November back to September this year.

Actually, re your comments about taking photos of the dishes and disturbing the guests. Gary didn't mind in the slightest, he took a shot of every dish we had at Hibiscus (and the M House) this March. He may be able to post them when he has charged up his Kodak Brownie, provided the Bosi's don't mind of course.

As I have indicated before on numerous occasions- this place is my favourite restaurant in the UK, without doubt. When one factors in the quality of ingredients, sheer ingenuity of cooking, the cost- be it the food- or the low wine mark-ups, in addition to the first rate service from Claire; there is, as Andy writes, nowhere like it in the UK.

[Andy Lynes]

When will the piece be published, Andy?

It should appear in the 19 June issue (number 67), but I'll let you know if there is any change to that.

[Andy Lynes]

The Hibiscus website is now online although it appears to be incomplete at the moment.

[Bapi]

When will the piece be published, Andy?

It should appear in the 19 June issue (number 67), but I'll let you know if there is any change to that.

Will it be a hatchet job Andy?

[Andy Lynes]

Will it be a hatchet job Andy?

Ah well now, that would be telling wouldn't it!

Although the interview will occupy a double page spread, it is actually quite short (1000 words). Its for a regular feature at the front of the magazine called "The Trolley" which focuses on the business side of things. I've tried to capture a bit of Claudes personality and style however and there's some great quotes from him, especially about the way he is in the kitchen and his views on molecular gastronomy.

[BertieWooster]

Pottering down to Ludlow next month...not stayed over before, so recommendations for places to lay the weary head would be welcome...

[Andy Lynes]

When will the piece be published, Andy?

It should appear in the 19 June issue (number 67), but I'll let you know if there is any change to that.

This will now appear in issue 68 (30 June).