The Modern Pantry
47-48 St John’s Square
EC1V 4JJ
Tel: 020 7250 0833

Date of Last Visit: 26 October 2008

The Victims: Bernard, Sarah, Arielle, Rafa, Ana, Brian, Chris, Evelien, Seona, Dennis, Anna, Gustavo, Amanda, Michael, and Michael's girlfriend, whose name escapes me.

The Damage: £25 each

The Background: There are a few things I have an aversion to:
1. Halloween. It's my least favorite holiday. I hate wearing costumes.
2. Saving seats for people who are late in crowded trains, planes, restaurants, etc. where you are constantly asked "Are those seats taken?"
3. Organizing lunch or dinner at a restaurant for anything more than 8 people.
4. Paying the lunch or dinner bill when you have more than 8 people in your party and you haven't organized a set menu.
5. Cats.

Brian and I were planning a leisurely lunch for about 10 people. Well, in fairness, his was the idea, mine was the execution. Somewhere within all of this, I took to my deathbed with fever, while Brian invited some other friends to join our lunch. He left me a voicemail while I was comatose, suggesting as much. I e-mailed him back with the number of the restaurant and told him to please go ahead and change the booking.

He never got that message apparently.

So we're 6 more people than we thought they'd be. Mostly everyone is late. We've got a baby buggy. And The Modern Pantry is not happy with us. At all.

I won't bore you with the rest of the details. It all eventually worked out. But it was all so much more painful that it should have been.

The Food: I had the pancakes with proper American-style crispy bacon and I haven't stopped thinking of them since. Really. They weren't regular pancakes–I believe they were made with semolina. I thought the rocket on the side could use some dressing up, but with a little maple syrup, it all came together. Oddly, but together.

The Loo: Cleaner than a lot of what I've seen. But could still use a regular power-washing.

The Ambiance: Very light and Swedish. Despite Anna Hansen being a Canuckian Kiwi.

The Verdict: I'm going to go back. Alone. You should too. They really could have made a mess out of 16 meals, but they didn't. They got everyone's order right and it all arrived hot and at the same time. (Yes, you would think one should just generally expect this. But you can't now, can you?) 

The post The Modern Pantry first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Date of Last Visit: Saturday, October 7 2006

The Victims: Bryan, Stacey, John

The Damage: 55 gbp per person, and worth every penny

More to come later, but I had to post "Wow" before having my coffee. Bacchus was incredible.  

The Background
Bryan, 4:27 p.m.: Up for an interesting culinary experience tonight?
Me, 4:52 p.m.: Am feeling lame and tired. What did you have in mind?
Bryan, 4:55 p.m.:  There is a new restaurant in Hoxton called Bacchus that we are going to try.

Thus began our adventure. I did a couple of Googles on Bacchus and learned that it used to be a boozer, and that now it’s offering sous-vide cuisine. If you, like me, are not familiar with this concept, let me explain with the help of our friends at Wikipedia.

Sous-vide (pronounced sue veed, French for "under vacuum"; also called cryopacking or cuisine en papillote sous vide) is a method of cooking that is intended to maintain the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period of time at relatively low temperatures. Food is cooked, in some cases for well over 24 hours, in airtight plastic bags placed in hot water that is well below boiling point (approximately 60°C or 140°F).

When I was a kid, my mom swore by Seal-a-Meal. Our fridge and freezer were full of these bags of food. They came in handy because my mother would often cook enough lasagna to last for two weeks. In short, as soon as I read about sous vide, I was a believer. My mother was so ahead of her time!

As it turns out, Bryan heard about Bacchus from Dos Hermanos, they of London food blogging fame. Being the adventurous sort that Bryan is, he made a bee-line for a booking and I was kind enough to be invited along.

The Door: Oh my God, I couldn’t find the door in. I mean, it looked like the door, but then again, it didn’t. There was no handle or anything that I could see. I felt totally embarrassed until Bryan and Stacey and John arrived and did the exact same thing–but they even walked all the way around the outside of the restaurant. That was funny.

The Service: I arrived first and Aloisius sat me down and brought me a glass of Proseco, and then happily informed me that the glass was on the house because it was their absoltue last one. Who doesn’t love something like this? (Why don’t all restaurants make it a happy surprise that their guests’ first drinks are complimentary? What a positive way to start the night.)

The Drinks: Bryan took control of the wine list and took Aloisius’ suggested of the Spanish Gewurztraminer. It was very green and fresh. I liked it. Then again, I’ve rarely met a wine I didn’t like. Bacchus gets HUGE points for its wine list that actually includes descriptions! I am so tired of staring at a wine list divided by country and/or color and not knowing anything past that. Tasting notes are key.

The Bread: I thought the butter was great, but I felt the bread was a little average. Maybe it was the size of the portion? Or the basic-ness of it? It was probably on purpose to put the highlight on the food, but I was starving and could have used a more interesting, bigger slice.

The Starters: We all ordered something different. I would be lying if I could tell you what they all were. I had linguine and squid ink–I think–and it was lovely and delicate. There was a moment of panic as I passed my plate around the table and everyone helped themselves! I am not good at sharing. I was very jealous of John’s pile of tuna. It was delicious.

The Mains: I went for the pork and it was the best pork I’ve ever had. It was lovely and pink and moist. I wish I could remember everything it came with, but I was so focused on the deliciousness of the pork, all other details have faded away (helped, perhaps, by our one bottle of Spanish Gewurztraminer and our other bottle of rose Sancerre). I was jealous of Bryan’s steak with mustard. I do love mustard. John had the cod and Stacey the halibut. Again, plates were passed around and I didn’t taste a bit I didn’t enjoy.

The Service: I need to come back to the service. Aloisius was really wonderful and personable. He brought out the chef–Nuno–to meet us. Nuno is Portguese but has spent a lot of time in the U.S. in San Fran and New York. Bryan and Nuno traded small world stories, and Nuno told us about how he made it over to London. Previously, he’s worked with Jean Georges Vongerichten. The staff all pretty much introduced themselves–Peter, one of the directors, Jay (sp?) the host, and our American server. (Whose name I forget! Apologies.) They were eager to please and I can only hope that this level of personal attention doesn’t get lost or become old for them at any point.

The Dessert: Again, we all ordered something different. I’m on a polenta kick at the moment, so it was polenta cake for me. Stacey had CHEESE ice cream, which was fascinating. I can’t be sure I liked it, but it was intriguing for sure. All of this was accompanied by a French Tokay. Lovely.

Decor: Scandinavian. You know I’m a sucker for that. Also, I felt like I was the first person to ever use the ladies’ room. And I loved the prints by Klaus Haapaniemi. I wasn’t a huge fan of the brightness of the lights–I think they could be a little more mysterious and romantic with the lighting. But there are worse things.

The Verdict: Go and go again and again. 

The post Wow: Bacchus first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Date of Last Visit: February 15

The Victim: Con Ann

I am in love with Tom & Dick’s. Firstly, check out their Web site: http://www.tomanddicks.com Love the groovy music. Secondly, the service is some of the friendliest and nicest I’ve ever experienced. Thirdly, although we only had appetizers, they were fantastic. The calamari was delicious; you will notice when given a choice of appetizers, I often go for the calamari. In fact, I consider myself a calamari connoisseur. Delish. We had some veggie tempura–with sweet potatoes! Always a good thing. And then there was one other–ah, the scallops on some sort of buttery toast. Yummy.

Our waitress recommended the rioja and it was great, and 16 GBP for the bottle. She also recommended we become Very Important Friends of Tom and Dick’s, so we signed up for that as well.

Tom & Dick’s serves as an art gallery as well, and they change their art monthly, I believe. This month, it was a Brazilian artist and her stuff was decent, but I wasn’t going to bring any home with me. Also on the atmosphere front: the music was fantastic.

The bathroom was the loveliest I’ve ever experienced, and the upstairs restaurant looked really fun and romantic.

Strangely, my friend Rutton lives right across the street from this place! I thought Alexander Street sounded familiar, and then when I got there I was like, "Hey, I’ve been here before." Now I have two reasons to go back to Alexander Street, for sure.

The Verdict: Go if you’re a guy looking to impress a girl, or a bunch of girl’s looking for a girls’ night out. (Ask for the dining room upstairs. Very cute.)

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