The terminal episode

Graham Layer concludes his tour de force of culinary features for Surgeons’ News with a smörgåsbord of fine European dining

With the relaxation of most of the restrictions introduced during the pandemic, but with shortages still overt in the hospitality industry, I am fortunate to have visited a large number of restaurants in the last few weeks – and my taste buds have recovered.

I have noticed that prices are higher everywhere and staffing is a major problem – not just in the UK, but in the US, Canada and Europe – resulting in some frenzied service from often newly trained staff members who are willing but overwhelmed and underpaid. Can you think of any parallels closer to home?

Anna Haugh, the new BBC MasterChef: The Professionals presenter who has taken over from Monica Galetti, is the chef at Myrtle, an Irish restaurant on a side street in Fulham in London. Chef-owner Haugh started out at L’Ecrivain in Dublin and has worked at Elystan Street in London and Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant London House among others.

We had an outstanding lunch with eight tasting plates of Gaelic morsels, all supposedly originating from the various counties to provide “a taste of Ireland”. Black pudding bites wrapped in a delicate potato filo were a worthy extra to go with our drinks while we interpreted the menu. Attractive root vegetables followed, then a crunchy cheese mousse, pig’s head in a sort of sausage roll with cheese, outstanding poached thick fillet of sea bass with smoked potatoes, magnificent pink slices of lamb loin served with a tiny lamb pie, a novel tart lemon posset with cardamon and a Guinness cake with a honeycomb mousse, all finished off with multiple petits fours. An entirely memorable gustatory experience.

The new concept Ivy Asia brand has arrived on some high streets. A spicy mix of Far Eastern dishes as interpreted in the UK with a stylish flair, and the fantastic décor and staff uniforms create a real piece of theatre. The food was all round rather good, but left me clutching for omeprazole.

A version of Peking duck came adorning an enormous pewter duck placed in the middle of the table, and the dumplings of all sorts were mouth-watering. For the main courses, straightforward teriyaki salmon, a good curry and a generous pork belly bathed in a variant of chilli sauce. The place in Chelsea was packed out with everyone in the world seemingly celebrating their birthdays and having a great time. in Zonnebeke near Passchendaele is a few miles away in misty countryside, where our ancestors fought and died during grim First World War battles. The restaurant features superb local food. Our first course at lunch was various presentations of home-made pseudo-foie gras followed by pheasant with all the trimmings, then a plate of local cheeses. Belgian wines accompanied the menu. All perfect, uplifting and with charming service.

Menu Gordon Jones in Bath appears to be a rather ordinary establishment on a road junction, which is not easy to navigate. However, it is extraordinarily innovative and the chef-owner originates from Buckie in Scotland. Jones trained at the iconic Restaurant Martin Wishart in Edinburgh. He is larger than life and always present. The food is a surprise every day and is a multiple-course tasting menu, including local produce, particularly vegetables. Our surprises included a bao bun, a creamy mushroom soup, a crispy fish course and a glorious beef fillet surmounting a mixture of vegetables with a béarnaisestyle sauce followed by a number of sweet delicacies.

I visit Malta often. Our College has a good relationship with the excellent Maltese surgical teams and undoubtedly this will flourish over the years to come. I recently discovered a great restaurant, Terrazzo, a short walk along the cliff edge from the village of Xlendi in the south-west of the island of Gozo. It is affordable and in a delightful modern glass building with fabulous views of the village and the sea from the terrace. The young chef there produces superb fish dishes in true Maltese style with foraged accompaniments.

Customers can choose their preferred method of cooking and preparation of whole fish, which are on display on ice. Rabbit was prominent on the menu, as were various types of unusual and delicious pasta. Of course, sunset was wonderful and could not but improve the flavours of the food.

I was a tourist in Florence and was aware of the late chef Fabio Picchi’s Cibrèo, the famous Tuscan restaurant to the east of the Duomo. Expensive. Fortunately similar food, prepared by the same kitchen, is also available and affordable at the Cibrèo Trattoria next door and in the Cibrèo Caffè of the Helvetia & Bristol Hotel.

I was tempted by the cheaper brands, which are excellent in all respects: food, service and surroundings. Here we could have the classics: lasagne with a beef ragout, parmigiana di melanzane, the most outstanding tagliolini with cacio and butter sauce, stunning salt cod with leeks and potatoes au gratin, finishing with pannacotta or, the highlight, cheesecake with a bitter marmalade topping.

I stayed at Villa Neri, in Linguaglossa, Sicily. This bizarre hotel in a vineyard on the eastern slopes of Mount Etna looks like a contemporary crematorium without an entrance or exit. The in-house restaurant, Twelve Fountains, has a stunning, fashionable but captivating design and serves brilliant food full of intense flavours courtesy of the excellent soil on the fertile Etna slopes.

I chose individual items from the menu, but found they came interspersed with so many other nibbles that it felt very much like a tasting menu – Villa Neri residents enjoy this display at a considerable discount. The magnificent meal consisted of Japanese-style beef tataki, baked potato slices in cream with burrata, saffron ravioli stuffed with pork, followed by the most tender buttery sirloin of veal coated with cherries, aubergines and truffle. Gorgeous sweet desserts then petits fours on an exquisite ‘tree-oflife’ stand finished off the evening.

I commemorated Remembrance weekend in Flanders, Belgium. Despite being close to our shores, its culinary heritage is very different. Two restaurants stood out. I cannot speak highly enough of Découverte close to the Menin Gate in Ieper, which focuses on unusual concoctions. Our menu of smoked fillet of venison followed by salmon and then fillet of hare, finishing with a rhubarb dish, was welcomingly different, but also really interesting and tasty.

Beef done two ways: Japanesestyle beef tataki at the Twelve Fountains restaurant in Linguaglossa; inset, beef with vegetables and sauce in a French style at Menu Gordon Jones, Bath a mention Le in Springs, California, which I visited the San Diego ACS meeting. This is part of the cool Soho House Group based in the UK, which caters for piring young The restaurant o e s refined gourmet fare on a

I conclude my final column with a brief mention of Le Vallauris in Palm Springs, California, which I visited following the San Diego ACS meeting. This is part of the famously cool Soho House Group based in the UK, which caters for “aspiring young professionals”. The restaurant offers French-style refined gourmet fare on a stunning outdoor tree-lined patio. It is outstanding with no-nonsense service. It could not have been more professional and the team looking after me earned that 25%+ optional service charge that appears on your bill.

The meal began with perfect espresso martinis. Lobster ravioli followed and was in a velvety sauce, bursting with fishiness. The cold lobster salad was also superb, as was the sesame-encrusted tuna. The rack of lamb was generous and to die for, and all four of us concluded with fabulous emphysematous Grand Marnier soufflés.

I will not be reporting on my imminent stay and the tasting menu at Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons. Like the November announcement that Gary Jones, the two-starred Michelin executive head chef of Raymond Blanc’s famous Oxfordshire icon, “I am stepping down to pursue new opportunities” as Surgeons’ News now transitions. This is my terminal episode of 54 since 2009 and I really hope you have enjoyed our culinary adventures.