If you somehow you hadn’t heard already the 2010 London Restaurant Festival is now in full swing. The festival started last year, created by Evening Standard restaurant critic Fay Maschler. The two weeks are a celebration of London (and the UK’s) diverse selection of restaurants. Director Simon Davis’s goal is for it to become the Edinburgh of food.
It’s not a farfetched goal either, this year the celebration of gastronomy has expanded from one week to two, and the number of participating restaurants has risen from 350 to 550 – many offering menus for under £10. You can log on to http://www.visitlondon.com/londonrestaurantfestival/ and search through the 550 restaurants by price, location and cuisine. It is a great opportunity for food lovers to sample from restaurants from local bistros to Michelin heavy weights. The festivals Menu’s are the backbone of the two weeks and there are some amazing deals to be found. You can enjoy a three course meal at such London institutions as Gordon Ramsey at Claridges and Kai of Mayfair for only £30.
It is not only the Festival Menus that make up the fortnight though. There are a number of pop up restaurants, the jewel in the crown being Michelin quality meals served on the London Eye. 100 people paid £10,000 each (which goes to Charity StreetSmart) to enjoy a three course meal served by acclaimed chefs such as Gordon Ramsay, Mark Hix, Giorgio Locatelli and Atul Kochhar. If £10,000 is a little out of your price range (!!) there are plenty of other options to enjoy great food. The hip supper club, Savoy Truffle is holding a series of evenings with a full menu, Bombay Sapphire cocktails and wine included for £65. Tickets to eat at Ex Maze Chef Jason Athertons’s pop up restaurant on Binney Street sold out in minutes so get in and start booking now!
As well as the pop-up restaurants there is also the LRF market at the Old Spitafeilds Market. This year the theme is Malaysian and Mexican. Entry is free and there is a huge selection of authentic foods on offer plus local market stalls selling to the public. Also if you are in Covent Garden over the next two weeks checkout the Street Kitchen, an innovative mobile food project and the UK’s first ever destination street vendor selling gourmet cuisine. Jun Tanaka, executive chef at Pearl Restaurant, and Mark Jankel, accomplished chef and founder of The Food Initiative will serve food from a vintage airstream caravan at various locations around London.
This event must be on the top of the list for any diehard carnivore! A giant Sunday roast being held in Leadenhall market, topped off with gin and tonic. A host of famous chefs will be cooking, including Mark Hix, Rowley Leigh, Richard Corrigan and Fergus Henderson. A whole range of meats have been sourced from Whole Foods Market, including cuts of beef, lamb, wild roe deer, game birds, Tipperary pig, and quail. These meats will be served with gravy, roast vegetables, and pudding cooked by the Chamberlain’s restaurant at Leadenhall Market.
Log on to The London Restaurant Festival website now to find out more and get involved. We have our first meal at 101 Pimlico tonight and have just booked an 8 course tasting menu at Mestizo in Camden for only £45!
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