the salt & pepper diaries

So I’ve been hearing a few rumours for a while now about a supposedly great Japanese restaurant that’s opened in Kentish Town. The first was from a chef who said he’d heard other chef friends had been going and rated it highly. The point of his comment was that if chefs go, it must be good. A couple of other remarks were from other friends who’d heard similar things, but had no idea where it was. I finally asked my stepbrother, a recently qualified sushi chef, but he couldn’t offer any further clues.

So it was a pleasant surprise to walk home last week and stumble right onto it, not five minutes from my house. I blame the iPod and mobile for my ‘zoned’ state whilst walking back and forth to work, as I’ve been traipsing past this now legendary spot for a few weeks and it hasn’t even registered.

This isn’t to say it’s so plain it may as well be invisible, not great for a new restaurant starting out, especially one on the wrong end of Kentish Town High street – can there be a wrong end of Kentish Town? It’s actually well set-up, (very) bijou in size and style and now I know where it is, very clearly visible to all.

Satuma is a Japanese restaurant with a Korean twist, influenced heavily by the Korean manager, Moon-Sang Park. The size of the place is part of the charm – all the food is freshly prepared just feet away from you and Mr.Park is able to provide a full run-down of anything that may seem confusing.

Lunches are very good with a selection of Bento boxes at incredibly good prices; Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box (£6.50), Salmon (£7.00) and the Satuma Bento Box (£8.50).

The sushi – a-la-carte Nigiri and Sashimi are superb - with fish freshly supplied by the same guys who supply the Japan Centre. We also had the Vegetable Gyoza dumplings as a starter along with lightly cooked Tempura and Fried Tofu. To follow, Beef Teriyaki with fresh vegetables and Teriyaki sauce. Very good all round and all very good prices – no Nobu charges here.

I don’t understand enough about good sushi, but now have the perfect excuse with this on the doorstep to learn more and as they do take-away, it will make a change from the pizzas.

This is highly recommended. Head to Kentish Town, turn right out of the tube and you’ll be there and seated in two minutes – that is if they can squeeze you in. One tip, be careful not to confuse this with the Satsuma Japanese restaurant on Wardour Street.

Satuma
8 Fortess Rd
Kentish Town
NW5 2ES
020 7485 7078

So Terrence Conran’s new place has opened to a high level of acclaim, praise and general back-slapping. Time Out have already placed it in their Top 50 list, it had a rave 4-star review from Guy Dimond in the same mag a couple of weeks ago and there is generally a buzz of favourable commentary across the foodie sites and blogs. And all well deserved.

photo | everydaylifestyle

This is a Conran and Partners project, as opposed to D&D London, the management team that took over the reins for the original Conran kitchen killers – Quaglinos, Blue Print Café, Orrery etc. and the new team (Terrence and wife, Vicki) have put together what is collectively known as the Boundary Project. An ambitious menu made up of three courses; for starters, The Albion ‘caff’ (their description), main course is The Boundary restaurant and the desert, the Boundary Hotel, with every room handed over to a different designer for its differentiating story. To top it all, the hotel also boasts a rooftop bar with 48-seat grill and gardens. All this, while we face somewhat of an economic hiccup – do you think anyone’s told our Tel?

We should be glad they haven’t told him, because it’s pretty special and if everything follows the lead of The Albion, it’s worth a visit.

photo | everydaylifestyle

The Albion offers straight, British cooking. It’s described as the Caff and no meals are over a tenner. The menu’s a little odd at first and feels very pick n’ mix, but a little thinking and you soon find a combination that works. Great fry-ups and bacon sarnies to start the day and the lunches include fish and chips, bowls of mushy peas, whitebait, crackling, chips cooked in beef dripping, welsh rarebit, pies and stews. Round it all off with crumbles, egg custard and bread and butter pudding. A definite recommendation is the crackling.

There also seems to be a sense of humour that I’m still not sure about – such as old tractor seats for the stools and tea cosy’s used on traditional tea pots. Quirky touches, but a little try hard. However, by far the best gag is the small deli at the entrance of the restaurant. £2.95 for a small bottle of Heinz ketchup when it’s a third of the price in the Tesco’s opposite. Well, at least it keeps and it makes a good window display.

Albion
2-4 Boundary St
E2 7JE
020 7 729 1051

Someone has been lucky enough to dedicate 28 days of their life to eat their way around New York - then report back and the experience.

Jennifer, I think, at EatDrinkTalk, was the person to take on the challenge and the article she’s now posted on her blog is invaluable.

I’ve had a couple of meals now at this canal side, eco-friendly eatery, one dinner and a lunch and on both occasions I haven’t been disappointed.

photo | G Travels

First of all, the earth-loving principles are very much a simple acceptance of the fact that this is the only responsible manner to run a food business, or any business by that token and the team has rightly opted not to drive the point home to guests. This is just the way things are, and short of just the odd hint that this place is really doing a lot to operate sustainably, it’s not the reason that gives it the edge over the competition.

The edge though is provided by the outstanding offer of simple yet wonderful dishes. The menu, using only seasonal ingredients, follows on from sister restaurant Acorn House. It’s flavour packed with a few surprises that are worth a try. Begin with a selection of Anti Pasti then follow with a choice from the six starters and six mains. Stand out starters included Burrata, a pure, rich mozzarella cheese made with cream that tastes so good you feel guilt with every mouthful, served on bruschetta with taggiasca olives. The Ravioli of ricotta and spring herbs with sage butter was fresh and filling and may also have been selected as a main.

I wanted however, to save room for the grilled leg of lamb, tender and so full of spring flavours, served with purple sprouting broccoli and a punchy, piquant salsa verde. The belly of pork with glazed carrots and silver onions also looked special, but was so quickly devoured by a friend I can’t comment on the taste! I did though get a sample of the spaghetti of sustainable prawns, fennel, tomato and chilli – the pasta was as good as the ravioli with large meaty prawns accompanied by the warm heat of the chilli. Perfect.

The interior and design is again similar to Acorn House. Simple, modern and devoid of any ‘green’ frills. The odd bag of potatoes or bowl of pears saves storage space in the kitchen and adds to the charm. There’s a long spacious bar and in the summer, sliding doors open to reveal a small terrace with seating and a view of the  canal.

You will have to look for this one though. It’s tucked down a side street off Kingsland Road and makes up part of a modern housing project, so keep your eyes peeled when looking for it. The day we had lunch saw only ourselves as diners, so perhaps others weren’t as prepared with their directions. One thing this restaurant will never benefit from is passing trade – I really hope this isn’t a problem.

Do make the effort and after that, head down to Acorn House for a similar experience. These two are amongst my favourites in London currently.

Water House
10 Orsman Road
London N1 5QJ

Tel: 020 7033 0123

I’ve developed quite a routine for each visit to New York. First an email goes out a few days prior to leaving to a few people, requesting any hot-tips, the feedback is cross-referenced against the usual sites (mainly Frank Bruni’s latest thoughts) and then the week is planned around how to make sure I get a chance to make room for a nice dinner. This week though, none of the prep was possible and I turned up on Tuesday with no plan and feeling anxious.

Why worry though, NY’ers love food and love talking food and are never short of recommendations. So, the tip I picked up for Wednesday night was Smith’s NYC in Greenwich Village. My friend Michael practically insisted we go and without reservation we turned up and managed to get two seats at the bar.

Smith’s is the result of a partnership between two NY restaurant ‘names’ – Cindy Smith of Raouls and Danny Abrams of The Mermaid Inn. They’ve managed to create a wonderfully informal yet elegant dining space. The main restaurant is smoothly designed with black leather banquettes, booths and antique mirrors. The space is long and slim and walking beyond this, you arrive at an intimate bar area, with space for 10 people to sit and eat. This is the preferred option for me – it’s quieter, the bar lady is chatty and knows her wines and it just feels right.

What also felt ‘right’ was the food. This place is something else with some very special treats that cannot be missed. It’s American cooking but with some interesting twists. We started with the Steamed Egg with Creamy Anson Mills Polenta and Gorgonzola – a joy to see as well as eat; it’s delicate, bubbling egg white dome hiding a silky and rich polenta centre. Portuguese Sardines with Parmigiano Reggiano, Tomato Confit and Olive Oil were done to perfection as well as luxurious chilled Pea and mint soup.

An entrée of Roast Lamb Saddle followed with Tomato Red Pepper Ragoñt and Parmigiano Purèe. Beautifully tender meat served medium rare with little fuss.

Smith’s must have been through its ‘the place to be’ period, as it was fortunately devoid of any pretension and aloofness amongst the diners. The staff are friendly, experienced and create a very relaxed atmosphere. A real pleasure to have been there and the first of many trips.

Smith’s NYC

79 MacDougal Street
New York, NY 10012
Tel: 212.260.0100