In A Nutshell
A supperclub style meeting that offers a 7 course tasting menu to the theme of ‘wild’ food – with music, champagne and half a bottle of wine. And set to the backdrop of a rooftop terrace in the beautiful Embassy Gardens
Where
The Radical Dining Society put on events all over London, but this one is held at The Ballymore’s Embassy Gardens, Nine Elms (Vauxhall)
Price
The £75 one which treats you to the whole meal along with a complimentary glass of champagne
The £10 one which grants you admission but no dinner. You can buy some cocktails instead.
Appeals To
Social butterflies and sociable foodies who want to hang out with new people on a rooftop in Vauxhall and discuss eating food combinations that they’ve probably never tried before
Adventurous eaters looking for a new take on fine dining (scorpion cocktail anyone?), and fine city views to compliment fine dining. And possibly fine company to compliment fine views (if you luck out)
Architectural enthusiasts of the urban persuasion who enjoy futuristic, towering skyscrapers and watching said towering skyscrapers in the process of being built (I am describing myself but I assume there are others out there who feel the same way)
Verdict
The food and drink weren’t quite so awe inspiring as you’d hope for such a pricetag, but there were some innovative things there and the overall experience was a lot of fun, especially with the sun setting and despite having a cold…
What’s An ‘Embassy Garden’ Anyway?
This one takes place on the site of the Ballymore’s marketing suite, in an area surrounded full of half built concrete superstructures and towering spires of glass and concrete. As the riverside concrete jungle starts to swallow your senses, you get a feel for the kind of experience you’re headed for.
Before visiting the roof terrace you can wander around the inside of the building, and if you’re like me – admire all the beautiful rooms that are hilariously/tragically out of your reach.
They call it the ’embassy gardens’ because it’s soon to be seated right next to the new site of the American Embassy. I am told that the Americans have decided to up sticks to Nine Elms as it will allow them to use helicopters more. Hopefully not attack helicopters, since Vauxhall is a nice area and probably doesn’t look nice after being torched with Hellfire missiles…
I am invited to this event’s soft launch which looks very promising indeed, despite a few teething problems…
This experience feels a bit like one of the scenes in The Fast And The Furious or another American action number in which various wealthy/famous people hobnob on a beautiful rooftop terrace somewhere before there’s either a massive explosion that wipes them all out, or someone getting dropkicked off the balcony. Thankfully, nothing particularly dramatic happens when I show up, but the truly spectacular views meant that nailing some pretty pictures was almost too easy.
There’s a DJ who serenades you with a Buddha Bar style downtempo mix of tracks and you can recline on chairs discussing important shit or just keep your mouth closed and watch food and drinks journos try in vain to out humblebrag each other.
At one point there’s a dance remix of Imogen Heap’s Hide And Seek. The music is slightly on the louder side of conversational – but you can still talk. Later it gets quite windy, which I enjoy (at some point I notice a few menus wandering off in the wind and get a few lashings from the long hair of the women sat next to me)
Also the wait staff are wearing Remy Martin aprons which is always promising and helpful because cognac exists.
The Food
The food at this one is a selection of dishes, whipped up by Culinary Wunderkind Toby Cartwright. He will later show up and be extremely bashful in the withering praise of the various clapping, smiling diners. He describes himself as an Inreque Eglasias lookalike. But I think Toby’s taller. I get the feeling that he much prefers the kitchen – which I admire.
I guess it’s conceptual fine dining, and it’s hard to classify it by region. I suppose the unifying theme is ‘wild’ (well…that’s what it says on the tin)
You don’t leave feeling stuffed either. The portions, order of food and timing is very well executed. Just don’t show up stupidly hungry expecting to fill your face. Fun and frolics for the tongue. No food comas here.
Anyway, here’s what they serve, in order of consumption.
Venison Crudo
I still don’t know what a crudo is. In retrospect this was my favourite dish. Sadly, too light on the (delicious, delicious) venison. The vegetables remind me of childhood visiting my friend who lived in rural Ipswich, and the things that grew in his garden (I think this is ‘douglas fir’)
Chilled Pea And Mallow Veloute
Not so keen on this one. You dig beneath the green soup layer to find peas underneath. There was supposedly crab, though I wasn’t able to discern any – and it has a mild chilli kick.
Cured Salmon
So-so. What I thought were little cooked insects actually turned out to be like tiny rice crispies, so there were a few seconds of gastronomic nostalgia to balance out the not-particularly-bodacious salmon.
Nettle Risotto
Green risotto! I’ve never had a bad risotto, but I’ve never had a green one either. The crunchy breadcrumbs are a nice touch, contrasting with the thick creaminess of the rice. The dish was a little too salty for me in the heat.
Wood Pigeon
Very gamey and very minimalist. I like game meat so the sharpness of the meat works for me. Pretty straightforward, I suppose…
Whipped Hazelnut Milk
As light as hazelnut flavoured air, and with bits of elderflower jelly. This one polarises people around me. I fall into the camp of *Oliver Twist voice* “Please sir. Can I have some more?”
‘Chocolate’
The better of the two desserts – the smokiness of it makes me think that there’s bacon in there initially. A Canadian woman suggests that a smoosh all the layers into one, which I do. I later regret taking her advice as the smokiness (which I am developing a fetish for) is lost in the overall creamy backtaste of the dish. Still good but I can’t really taste any chocolate here.
The Drinks
You’re also entitled to half a bottle of a wine of your choice. Since they’d run out of both pinot noir and riesling (my first choices), I opted for..
Harvey Nichols – Sancerre 2012
Quite floral, fruity and light tasting – plus it had a goat on it. But not Pinot Noir :(. Anyway, goats make things better. I would like a pet goat. I would called him Mephistopheles *sudden conversational detour ends*
‘Strawberry Scorpion Caipirinha’
You can’t really taste the alcohol in this one, but it sure tastes like strawberries. You can even see the little strawberry seeds in there. I like strawberries. And yes that is a tiny (dead) little scorpion in there. It tastes like a solitary, oddly shaped crisp. I eat it for extra protein :3
The Verdict (again, just in case you missed it)
I met some interesting people and tried some things I’ve never tried before. The food was creative, but not what I normally go for – and the teething problems are obviously not representative (I hope) of the final experience. The £75 experience would likely be wasted on someone who’s not keen to taste new and unusual dishes.
I’ll keep my eye out for other stuff that The Radical Dining Society is up to – this one’s got a lot of potential and was a night that I’ll remember for a long time. Well done and thanks again guys!
More Info
http://www.radicaldiningsociety.com/events/657-Walk_on_The_Wild_Side_
