Da Polpo

Once upon a time there was a widespread belief that 3 factors made all the difference for a successful foodservice operation: Location, Location, Location. Then came a man and rewrote this rule that had dominated the industry for many decades. His name was Russell Norman and he just added the fourth venue to his growing restaurant empire.

Norman made first a name for himself as Operations Director of Caprice Holdings, the FC Chelsea of the Restaurant industry, before leaving (during the recession) to go his own way. You won’t find fancy advertising of any of his venues in glossy magazines, nor discount vouchers online, yet his restaurants are packed on most days of the week and waiting times of over an hour on Saturday evenings are the norm.   

Judging by the outside of the venues, you are forgiven to mistake them for shabby Tourist trap holes. It won’t be love on first site, but don’t be mistaken.

Norman belongs to a new generation of Twitteraties and no other London based foodservice operator has been credited with successfully harnessing the power of the web to the extend he does. The man has currently over 5000 followers on Twitter with a steady increasing number joining day by day. Just 5000 followers don’t sound much if you can reach over 100,000 with conventional marketing initiatives. However, unlike the ‘spray and pray’ approach of traditional methods, these 5000 are loyal and repeat customers spreading the message to another 5000, which in addition will spread the message to another 5000 and so on. You can do the maths.

Polpo, his first venue, opened in October 2009, in what can hardly be described as a high footfall location, in Soho. Yet, Polpo became an instant success. Polpetto followed in August 2010 and found a home on the second floor of a Pub located close by. A location most operators would walk away from. Yet, Norman’s second venue also became a household name in Soho and beyond. Spuntino opened in March 2011, with caused no less furore than its sister restaurants. Da Polpo, his latest venue, opened this month close to Convent Garden Market and was reported in most mainstream publications.

But there is more to his success than the smart use of Twitter. Norman developed a distinctive style aimed at a particular group of likeminded customers. Twitter was merely a tool to selectively reach his audience, which pilgrim to his venues from near and far away.

Enter his latest venue ‘Da Polpo’ and you will understand what I mean with distinctive style. Exposed brick work and reclaimed furniture is hardly innovative any more, but the Norman's style is simply distinctive. I was already hardened up from other visits to Polpetto and Spuntino and went with an open mind and an empty stomach. 

So what can you expect? Lets start with the staff. Many of them look like the kind of Punks who pester you for a quid on the street on your way home. But again, don’t be mistaken. Our ‘Punk’ was a little wine connoisseur and provided us with a taster of a bottle of Custoza 2009, which she described as ‘cracking’ and cracking it was, so we had the whole bottle (£26.50). Menu descriptions were short and left a lot of room for imagination, but our ‘Punk’ was also a little Gourmet and navigated us with bravura through the menu.

The menu was broken down in sections such as Cicheti, Pizzette, and less intimidating sections such as Meatballs, Mains and Desserts. Cicheti turn out to be bite-sized snacks, which are traditionally found in Venetian wine bars. We sampled ‘Arancini’ (£2.50), which were deep-fried Risotto balls with Mozarella, and Potato & Parmesan Crocchetta (£1.50) to start with. Subtle in flavour and nicely seasoned, the type of snack I could probably never get bored off. The Fritto Misto (£8.00) arrived shortly after and was a mix of squid, anchovies and prawns deep-fried in a heavenly thin and crispy batter. Our first Pizzette to arrive was topped with Spinach and a raw egg yolk on the top (£5.50). A simple combination and the silky egg yolk gave a very nice texture to the dish. However, the second Pizzette (£6.00) to arrive was more to my liking. A thin and crusty base topped with slices of grilled Mortadella, smelly Gorgonzola cheese and pickled radicchio to balance the richness of the dish. Meatballs, or Polpette in Italian, were honoured with its own section on the menu. We sampled two varieties, classic beef & pork and a vegetarian variety made of Chickpeas, spinach and ricotta. Both varieties of Polpette were big, fat and juicy and arrived covered in a tangy tomato sauce. The Calf’s liver (£7.00) and grilled sirloin (£8.50) were mouth watering tender. The grilled asparagus with soft scrambled egg and Parmesan (£7.50) rounded up our selection of savoury dishes.

We decided to fill the little bit of space we had left in our stomach with something sweet. We had a boring choice of Tiramisu, but thought it would be a good dish to benchmark against the other hundreds of Tiramisu’s we had in our lives. The dessert was served in the same type of glass used for wine (very resourceful) and had a bold coffee flavour. We went adventurous with the ‘Nutella’ Pizzette, which was, as the name indicated, covered with Nutella. I have been told afterwards (by Italians of course) that this is in fact a common dish that can be found in restaurants and cafes throughout Italy. Italians are known for being obsessed with Pizza and Nutella. It appears a logical evolutionary step to combine the two. Affogato al caffe (£2.50), the third choice was again a ‘classic’ Italian Coffee Culture dish made of a shot of hot espresso poured over a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream. The perfect caffeine loaded finish needed after a marathon of food (what a tough job I have).

As expected, Norman’s newest addition under-promised and over-delivered. At the end we left £35 a head for the 3 of us including wine and service charge. However, if you manage to restrain yourself, whom I am having difficulties with at times, you would get away with less.

Buon appetito.   

Kopapa

Yes, I went out for diner in notorious tourist trap Convent Garden. You might say that as a Londoner I should know better, right?

To be fair,  the likes of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon or The Ivy have been around for quite a while if you wanted good food in the area. These are far from dead and have a loyal fan base. However, how many of us can truly afford these places? If they are outside your budget, the choice available hasn’t been particularly appealing so far.

For my own defence, where I eat out is not always a matter of choice. I regularly have to visit newly opened restaurants, as part of my job to find “fresh and exciting” foodservice operators who could be the “next big thing”. Sounds fun, but believe me, you have to put up with a lots of rubbish food and crap service. It’s a bit like Russian roulette. You might go to a small place, run by an independent ‘no name’ operator and get a really decent meal (still in love with Yalla Yalla in Soho) or you go to a ‘high profile’ opening, where big bucks were spend on the interior but food and service is ueber rubbish (I still get a stomach ache just by the thought of Otarian in Soho). Do not always believe the hype in the press.

Anyway, diverting the topic back to Covent Garden:

The area had a remarkable number of quality new openings over the last couple of months. Property Developers Shaftesbury just open St Martin’s Courtyard with a foodservice line up, such as the likes of Jamie’s Italian, Cantina Laredo, Dishoom Bombay Cafe and most recently Bill’s Produce Store.

I am not entirely convinced about Cantina Laredo, but the other operators are definitely a good addition to an area dominated by the likes of Bella Italia and other shitty branded operators.

Bill’s Produce Store aims to recreate the atmosphere of a traditional Farm Shop. The interior looked a bit artificial, but I can be cynical about it as much as I like. Ultimately it is the consumer who decides and they love the place.

Anyway, diverting the topic back why we actually went to Covent Garden:

Covent Gardens’ newest addition is Kopapa by Kiwi ueberchef Peter Gordon (The Providores). The visit to Kopapa for me and my Mrs was meant as treat from my boss for a well done job on a recent project, but the prospect of eating out in Convent Garden in a ‘fusion’ restaurant rather made me shiver than cause excitement. I am deeply suspicious about so called fusion food, but I gave it a go as the place has already established itself as one of the hot spots to eat out in the area.

My Mrs was also not particular exited that I dragged her all the way to Covent Garden so our dinner was not off to a good start with two dinners who didn’t really wanted to be there in the first place. However, we had the most exiting meal in a very, very long time.

Don’t be put off by the Canteen style interior of the place or the uncomfortable seating. What you get is Michelin star worthy food for not so Michelin star prices. The menu is quite comprehensive and even as Hospitality professional I struggled to understand half of the ingredients, but our waiter Shemek was brilliant. The menu was divided into different categories such as small Tapas style dishes, a variety of sharing platters and the “old school” starter-main-dessert compilation. Shemek was not only able to describe the dishes vividly, but was happy to suggest several dishes. Blindly trusting his opinion, we eventually ended up with a different order than planned. Before I start describing the dishes we had I have to warn you that I will repeatedly abuse the term ‘complimented’ and ‘balanced’, as that was exactly what all ingredients did on the plates, course after course. Peter Gordon does not just incorporate Asian ingredients into his cooking style, but also partly adopts their cooking philosophy. I am not throwing every Asian country into the same pot; these use different ingredients or cooking styles. However, what is very common is the play with contrasting textures and flavours. Asians love to pair crispy ingredients with soft ones or acidic ingredients with sweet ones. The aim is to add depth and complexity to dishes. Take for example the Sweet & Sour Soup from China or Tom Yam Soup from Thailand with chilli (Hot) and Lime juice (Sour). These are two different dishes from two different countries, but are made on same cooking principle of pairing contrasting flavours. If you still haven’t grasp it, think of our (less adventurous) equivalents of Pork Pie (Salty) & Piccalilli (Sour) or our Cheese (Salty) and Grapes (Sweet).   

Anyway, diverting the topic back to our food:

First dish to arrive was South Australian yellow tail Kingfish sashimi with yuzu beetroot salsa (£6.40). What you get is a Ceviche style dish made of chunky cut slices of super fresh fish dressed in a pungent citrus dressing with beetroot cubes to add a bit of much needed balancing sweetness. All ingredients worked beautifully together and perfectly complimented each other. Overall a very fresh, light dish bursting with contrasting flavours, bite after bite.

The second dish to arrive was equally good. The smoked Magret duck breast with goats curd, beetroot confit and pickled pineapple (£6.50) was skill-full prepared and lovingly presented. The smokiness of the duck worked perfectly with the creamy and rich goats curd and (again) with the citrusy pickled pineapple cubes, adding a much needed balance to the richness of the other ingredients.

For the main courses we went for the Lamb rack (£17.40) and Duck Confit (£16.00). But I guess Peter Gordon would not be Peter Gordon if the dishes would be served without a twist. The Lamb comes from New Zealand (what a surprise) and was ‘dusted’ with cumin and black pepper. As a supporting act, the meat was complimented by sweet Potato fondants, candied Aubergine puree and rosemary jus. There was the black pepper fighting with the sweetness of the caramelised Aubergine and sweet potato fondant, the aroma of the cumin fighting with the rosemary jus. When I say ‘fighting’ don’t think of a Cage fight, see it more like ‘two beautiful women covered in oil and mingling on the floor’ type of fight.

Also the duck confit did not disappoint us. The duck leg was of a decent size and prepared the old fashioned way, boiled soft in its own fat and fried crispy after. Any classic trained French chef would have find deep pleasure in eating it. Soft, juicy and flaky meat surrounded by a crispy fried skin. I could have eaten the leg just on its own, but again, it was the sides that really elevated the dish into culinary heaven. The sour cheery jus balanced perfectly with fatty richness of the duck and the crunchy bok choy added another contrasting texture to the dish. I was a bit mystified by the Malaysian twice-cocked potato dumplings. These were neither sweet, salty, hot, savoury nor sour. These neither tasted of anything, but tasted of something. Japanese have an additional flavour called Umami. It’s a kind of flavour which is there, but it’s not there. Japanese believe that Umami is present in particular ingredients, such as Bonito flakes (dried tuna). Whether Peter created this Umami factor deliberately or unintentional, the dumplings really added an interesting edge to the dish.

On closer inspection of what the neighbouring tables were having, we noticed that we were actually the only ones having ‘proper’ main courses. Everyone else in the restaurant was trying selections of hot and cold Tapas sized dishes. Although we enjoyed the main courses, we robbed ourselves of the opportunity to sample a wider variety of dishes. The selection of wines and cocktails was also very decent, but I was more curious about the New Zealand Steinlager beer. My wife had a Coke, her all time favourite.

While we had some of the most exciting dishes we ever tasted, I also wish to give a deserving praise the service we received. I previously stated that we had a brilliant service from our Waiter Shemek, but ‘brilliant’ means different things to different people. Very often a good service is simply defined by its procedural aspects and very often the conviviality factors seen as something nice to have, but not necessarily required.

While the procedural factors, such as standards, are important to provide a consistent product, it is the conviviality factors that make a restaurant visit truly memorable. Shemek knew the menu inside out, regularly toped up our water and was always at hand when needed. However, what made his service ‘brilliant’ were the little extras nobody expected him to do. Whether it was his excitement about the new dishes on the menu, or the times he came unasked at the table to check if we were well locked after. You can train staff to talk the right way, walk the right way or smile the right way. However, it is not difficult to spot the difference between fake or genuine. We had that night somebody locking after us, who genuinely cared about us having a good time (and so we did).  

Just to add a bit of moaning at the end: the seating was seriously uncomfortable and the tables were in my opinion not sufficiently spaced. Peter stayed loyal to the Interior designer, who also designed The Providores nine years ago. However, I do sometimes question if Interior designers actually ever bother to eat out. Maybe they do, who knows? The seating could have been designed deliberately uncomfortable, to ensure that customers do not stay longer than necessary.