Koffmann's at The Berkeley

Mr Oil and Mr Vinegar and a friend have traversed Hyde Park Corner to visit Pierre Koffmann’s new-ish place under The Berkeley hotel. Even Mr Vinegar is hard-pushed to find reason for complaint...

MrO: That was the happiest I’ve seen you in a restaurant in a long time.
MrV: Extraordinary, wasn’t it? I went there expecting to be a bit disappointed.
MrO: Based on our last experience with Pierre Koffmann at La Tante Claire? That was more than a decade ago.
MrV: I know. But how many top chefs or restaurateurs disappear for years and then make a successful comeback? I can’t think of any.
MrO: There were special circumstances. He’d had a bereavement which affected him terribly, and I think he was very badly advised on the decor at The Berkeley.
MrV: It looked like a funeral parlour – all greys and purples as far as I can recall. That’s the impression it left me with, at least.
MrO: My recollection is pretty similar.
MrV: At the time I thought he should never have moved Tante Claire from the old Royal Hospital Road site to The Berkeley. It lost all its intimacy, which was a big part of its success. And that site seemed blessed – look what has happened to Gordon Ramsay since he took it over.
MrO: Koffmann was one of the early greats, wasn’t he? He was in the same category as the Rouxs, Michele Bourdain and Nico Ladenis – not just because he redefined cooking and restaurants in Britain but also because he trained the next generation – chefs like Tom Aitkens and Eric Chavot.
MrV: Don’t forget that chicken stock promoter Marco Pierre White. For such a famous restaurateur, White has sold a hell of a lot of turkeys. Perhaps he should call his next restaurant The Hearty Gobbler. Koffmann wasn’t overly complimentary about him in one interview where he was naming some of his most famous apprentices. He said: “Marco Pierre White (if you want people like that) – there are some chefs that aren’t interested in being chefs they just want to be on TV.”
MrO: Aren’t we supposed to be reviewing Koffmann’s restaurant?
MrV: I know, but he’s a very wise man. Another thing he said was: “You can still see some beautiful French chefs from time to time but in general the French are a pain in the arse, to be honest.” There’s something wonderful about that: during his years here we have learned from him about cooking and he has learned from us about Frenchmen.
MrO: Anyway, back to the restaurant experience. My black pudding and apple was excellent – a Gascony dish from a peerless Gascon.
MrV: Don’t gush. It’s common. My pigeon pie was very good indeed, all the more so because I shot so many in April and I’ve been wondering what to do with them. Your mate from Italy seemed to like it a lot, too.
MrO: The sirloin steak was perfect and my friend loved the pink lamb rump.
MrV: It had to be the pig’s trotter for me. It is the dish that made him famous, that some other chefs stole and claimed as their own. I had to see if it was as good as ever, and it was. I might add that the prune and Armagnac ice cream afterwards was as good as it gets.
MrO: The lemon tart also got the thumbs up. It’s all a good deal more reasonably priced than I thought it would be.
MrV: In this interview I read, Koffmann said he was now working with much less expensive raw materials than at Tante Claire, and also that he wasn’t interested in chasing Michelin stars. That’s bound to bring prices down. You can get a three-course set meal for £25.50, which is real value.
MrO: The wines weren’t particularly cheap.
MrV: No – that Segla 2002 looked pretty steep at £95 a bottle when you can get it retail for about £25. Still, Knightsbridge rent and rates and the cost of a big cellar account for a good bit of the mark-up. All in all, I’m very impressed.

Mr Oil, Mr Vinegar and their friend from Italy consumed between them one gin and tonic, two vodkas with tonic, three starters, three main courses and two puddings, two bottles of fine claret, three aperitifs plus coffee and mineral water, at a total cost of £441.56.

Koffmann’s at The Berkeley
The Berkeley
Wilton Place
Knightsbridge
London. SW1X 7RL
Tel: +44 (0)20 7235 6000
koffmanns@the-berkeley.co.uk

www.the-berkeley.co.uk/pierre-koffmanns-french-restaurant.aspx