FOOD&DRINK

Feast your eyes on this month’s finest

Photography by Andy Paradise

NEW OPENING Showstopping teas

Baker to the stars, Lily Vanilli is set to launch a decadent

afternoon tea in the green marble-lined Grand Saloon at the newly renovated Theatre Royal Drury Lane this month. Lily’s menu, which will be available to non-theatre goers, too, takes inspiration from the Regency period, with sweet treats including delicate pink lemonade tarts with elderflower jelly set with tiny hand-cast, gilded chocolate cherubs. Meanwhile, the savoury offering sees the likes of a signature Lily Vanilli puff pastry sausage roll made with Cornish sausage meat, roast bacon lardons and a cider vinegar deglaze. Warm scones are served with salted whipped butter, as well as the usual cream and homemade jam. Rounding off proceedings, a trolley will roam the room serving scoops of heady absinthe mint choc chip ice cream, made to a top-secret recipe. And everything will be served on a tea service designed by British designers Kit and Willow Kemp, featuring mythical characters taken from costume design illustrations for the theatre’s ballets, comic operas, pantomimes and Edwardian musical comedies over the years. Lily says: “I love the fact that the tea is made up of classics that everyone genuinely wants to eat: jelly, ice cream, cake, custard and sausage rolls… I can’t wait to see the theatre come to life, with guests sitting in the incredible Grand Saloon to get stuck in and revel in the hedonism and decadence that the Regency period was so well known for.” As if you needed an excuse to get yourself back down to theatreland…

The Grand Saloon, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Catherine Street, WC2B (thelane.co.uk; lilyvanilli.com)

LONDON FOODIE

Shailesh Deshmukh

Executive Head Chef, Whitcomb’s at The Londoner

What’s the last thing you cooked?

That would be the escargot with ’nduja lemon butter from our Whitcomb’s menu. It is such a unique dish – so satisfying.

What’s your signature dish?

A fragrant speciality from Hyderabad: dum biryani. I enjoy the precision and accuracy required to create the perfect texture and aroma. And it tastes incredibly delicious!

What do you cook on your days off?

I love to experiment with different cuisines from around the world, but I always include one element from my experience, as I like to always have memories of home and comfort. It is like travelling to a new place without forgetting about my roots.

Best meal you’ve ever eaten?

That would have to be in Chicago at Moto, by chef Homaro Cantu. It was an incredible experience: I did not know what to expect every time I was presented with a dish, and my senses were excited, but never overwhelmed. It was an experience that made me appreciate the art of cooking even more, and the science behind it.

Guilty food pleasure

Without a doubt, ice cream – I would happily eat it at any time of day! I’m a bit of a traditionalist, so it has to be Madagascan vanilla.

What should no kitchen be without?

I could answer with something very intricate, but the only thing that is absolutely essential in a kitchen is passion. A lot of people may think that it is necessary to have the rarest and most prestigious ingredients; I believe that with passion even the most common produce can become a masterpiece.

SWEET TREATS Something wicked this way comes

With Halloween on the horizon, we’re hopeful that we might be able to host a ghoulish gathering this year. Whether or not that proves possible, we can’t wait to sink our fangs into the seasonal offerings of a couple of Fabric foodie favourites. Darkly delicious spooky specials from Crosstown come in the form of limited-edition Dough Bites: black cocoa sourdough fi lled with a fresh home-style raspberry jam and topped with a dark berry glaze. Available to order from mid-October for delivery between 29 and 31, they are priced at £37.95 for a box of fi fteen. Or, £2.70 each, £8 for a box of three in store. crosstown.co.uk/halloween Meanwhile, true to form, Cutter & Squidge has gone all out with a collection including headless gingerbread men, severed gingerbread fi ngers, brownies sprinkled with graveyard bones, ‘blood splattered’ macarons and a vegan caramel fudge cake in the guise of a pumpkin. Of course, the Biskie’s have been given a monstruos makeover, too. They look almost too good to eat, but we urge you to – all are devilishly divine and available now.

cutterandsquidge.com

BOOK THIS Ways with wine

Exciting news for oenophiles: natural wine expert, Provisions Wine & Cheese has announced the launch of its wine school this month. Taught in a six-week block, the course will be led by energetic and passionate resident wine educator, Sam Povey. Focusing on organic wines, true to Provisions’ ethos, the immersive lessons will focus on how to read a wine label and pair wine and food, as well as offering insider tips on how to master a restaurant’s wine list. Starting with the basics of tasting, Sam will debunk the jargon used to describe a wine’s appearance, aroma and taste. Next up, an exploration of different vineyards across the world, looking at how climate infl uences taste. This will be followed by focused sessions on white, red and rosé, and sparkling and sweet wines. After which, you’re sure to be the toast of the town.

167 Holloway Road, N7. Tickets, priced at £300, are available at provisionslondon.co.uk

DELI PRODUCTS A taste of Italy

Since opening on Brewer Street over 75 years ago, the iconic Italian delicatessen Lina Stores has been serving Londoners with the very best products from handpicked artisanal suppliers and small-scale producers in Italy. And now they’ve launched a line of their own gorgeous products, too – the perfect reminder of sunnier days as the temperature drops. The collection includes organic extra virgin olive oil made with plump Apulian olives and packaged in a hand-painted ceramic pot; rich and complex balsamic vinegar aged in wooden casks and bottled in Modena; candy-striped tins of whole peeled DOP San Marzano tomatoes and passata made from sunripened tomatoes grown in Puglia. There’s also a selection of indulgent biscotti and pasticcini, and a trio of bottled aperitivi – limoncello, negroni and vermouth. Look out for the Christmas selection, which will launch at the end of this month, and promises own-brand festive hampers and gifts, including two panettone – one made to the traditional recipe and one with chocolate. Irresistible.

RECIPE Bettina Campolucci Bordi’s Spiced Pumpkin Pie

SERVES 6-8

West Hampstead’s plant-based chef Bettina Campolucci Bordi found fame on social media through her blog, Bettina’s Kitchen. Five years later, she’s just released her third recipe book, Celebrate (£20, Hardie Grant). It’s full of delicious recipes that are perfect for celebrations and special occasions. Next up on the annual calendar of events, Halloween – so, what does she recommend for spooky gatherings? “I couldn’t leave the pumpkin pie out, could I?” she says. “This lovely pie includes a pinch of spice and has lots of creamy texture. It goes well with ice cream or some whipped cream! It’s a must in my humble opinion.”

INGREDIENTS

For the pastry: 250g plain (all-purpose) flour | pinch of salt | pinch of sugar | 115g vegan butter, chopped into small pieces, plus extra for greasing | 60ml plant milk (I like oat milk)

For the filling: 480g pumpkin purée (see Cook’s Tips) | 120g ground almonds (almond meal) | 100g brown or coconut sugar | 100ml plant milk | 60g vegan butter | 60g plain (allpurpose) flour | 2cm piece of ginger root, peeled and grated | 1 tsp ground cinnamon | 1 tsp ground cardamom | 1⁄2 tsp ground cloves | 1⁄2 tsp baking powder

To serve: 280ml whippable plant cream | 1tbs maple syrup | 1 vanilla pod (bean), split and the seeds scraped out, or 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas 4). Grease a cake or pie pan (with a removable base so the pie will come out easily) with some butter. 2. Make the pastry by adding all the dry ingredients to a bowl. Use your hands to rub the chopped butter into the flour mix. Then add the milk little by little and mix well to form a dough. You can either use the pastry straightaway or, if you have time, rest it somewhere warm for 15–20 minutes. Alternatively, keep in the fridge overnight. 3. Roll the pastry dough into a disc that’s larger than the base of the cake/pie pan, with enough to go up the sides. Put the pastry in the pan and use your index fingers and thumbs to press into the base and sides so it lines the whole pan. Trim off any excess dough that comes over the edges with a knife. You can use the excess dough to create a criss cross pattern on top of the pie if you like. 4. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork and pre-cook in the oven for 10 minutes. 5. Meanwhile, add all the ingredients for the filling to a food processor or blender and blitz until well combined. 6. When the pie case is ready, remove from the oven and add the pumpkin filling. Smooth the filling flat with a palette knife, then bake in the oven for 45 minutes. 7. While the pie is baking, whip the cream with the maple syrup and vanilla. Chill in the fridge until you are ready to serve. 8. Once the pie is ready, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before serving with the whipped cream.

COOK'S TIP An easy way to cook a whole pumpkin, skin and all, is to roast it in the oven at 180°C (350°F/gas 4) for 1 hour. Once cooked, simply cut off the top, remove the seeds and use the cooked pumpkin for this and other recipes, such as risottos and salads. The pumpkin will last a week in the fridge, and you can dip into it whenever you need it!

COOKWARE Gizzi’s edit

Fancy yourself as an aspiring chef? Hone your kitchen skills with a new range from Skeppshult for John Lewis that has been curated by brand ambassador Gizzi Erskine. Consisting of 10 pieces of sustainable cast iron cookware featuring stylish Swedish walnut handles, the collection is available online this month. Dubbed the Gizzi Edit, every piece has been chosen by the celebrity chef to help buyers to create their own must-have kit. She tells us: “Each item picked for my collection was done so on the merit that I believe every kitchen should have it! I’ve used Sekppshult cookware professionally for years, because of its durability and stylish design. I’m always so impressed by the results I get when using this cookware, and I’m so excited to introduce John Lewis customers to the Skeppshult Gizzi Edit.” From casserole pans and gratin dishes, to swing spice mills, once you’ve tried them, you won’t know how you cooked without these heroes in your kitchen.