Our last night in London brought us to the famed 2 michelin star restaurant Story.
It's a beautiful setting a block from Tower Bridge overlooking a small park with a statue and elegant clean tables that hold no more than 10 parties in the small space with an open kitchen.
The huge staff seems to multiply as the evening goes on with more and more people delivering food and wine. It's a simple fixed price 10 course menu that offers that offers 2 different wine pairings although you are welcome to order your wine a la carte.
Will started with a Manhattan which he said was a bit sweetish and then he said he doesn't really like them very much. My Caviar Martini was delish and came with a small dollop of caviar and a tuile on the side!
It seems that in London, amuses are now "snacks" and we received four:
- Crispy cod skin with Cod roe emulation and gin botanicals was okay and won no prize as the first bite
- Rabbit sandwich was a terrine of the leg wrapped in fried polenta with pickled bergamot and garnered huge praise
- a yellowfin tuna tartar in a nori cup was yummy
-Storeo was an Oreo look alike that had burnt hay cookie filled with goat cheese mousse and while nice was more of a cute gimmick
The actual 1st course was where we began to be impressed with a Carlingford oyster from Ireland barbecued in chicken fat and served in a shrimp XO butter sauce with chili oil and 3 types of seaweed that was paired with IMA "Oysters" sake from Japan that was very rich and unctuous.
The only choice on the menu that is set, is the caviar course that offers you a hot caviar course or a cold caviar course, so we decided to try one of each and the cold easily won.
The former was served with a warm cauliflower custard mixed with Maple syrup and apple vinegar in butter sauce with a beer tuile that was a tad too sweet. A Neuburgunder from Somm in the Must from Kremstal in Austria was a funky wine pairing.
The cold course was truly fabulous served with tomato and vanilla mayo, pickled shallot and tiny flowers made from beetroot. The caviar is called Platinum and comes from Belgium and was quite delish. It was paired with a delicious Brundlmayer Gruner Veltlliner reserve 2016.
A single candle was placed on the table and lit; then the next course arrived which was entitled Sunday Roast. There was an enriched brioche/ Japanese milk loaf that was their version of the Porter House roll, which we were supposed to dip into the gravy, a beef extract which was mixed with the melted candle actually made from beef fat!
Since it was so rich there was a celery relish with pickled horseradish and parsley to cut the intensity. The pairing was quite ingenious in a Premium tonic from Spain which was made with Pedro Ximenez Sherry mixed with tonic as a quasi-cider of only 5% alcohol that was very tasty and refreshing.
Please excuse the fact that Facebook is missing pictures of the caviar dishes.
Course number 4 was a simple raw scallop with cucumber ash, elderflower and horseradish. There were small cucumber balls as well as black ones which were the ones cooked in ash as well as necessary and leaves the horseradish cream and dill oil had an intense acidity which was cut by a drink served with it called Gin Garden which had elderflower, mint cucumber and dill, which was fruity and had an intense lemon flavor.
2009 Digby fine English reserve brute came to the table from Sussex Kent and Hampshire blend which was the 1st vintage they made and was stored and aged for 9 years, a very impressive big nose bubbly. A superb Crispy skinned John Dory was the course with red pepper fish sauce is with red pepper fish sauce saffron mayo a tomato sauce is a tomato sauce vierge and courgette ragu.
The pasta course was Agnolotti made with corn and truffle from Australia, the sauce was a corn butter sauce with champagne vinegar, popcorn shoots pickled girolles and corn flowers that was out of this world. I was happy to see red wine in the form of a 2015 Nebbiolo from Rocche Viberti that was so smooth after 18 months in oak!
More red followed with a 2016 Brunello di Montalcino "Castello Di Argiano" from Sesti that exhibited huge legs and great flavor. The course it was served with which I guess you would call main was squab pigeon with globe artichoke and green peppercorn sauce. There was a gamey breast and a crunchy leg kind of confit leg with hazelnut roasted artichoke puree and more.
The next course was oddly entitled Paddington Bear and was a favorite snack of the bear in the form of a marmalade sandwich on a brioche with Cardamom parfait and mascarpone cheese and shaved frozen foie gras!! We also got a cute little towel that looked a marshmallow on the side but as soon as add water it grew into a regular towel to wipe your hands.
The next course was easily our least favorite of the entire night entitled chocolate garden mint paired with a drink called After 8 with vodka, rum java, mint, creme da cacao, creme de menthe and cream that was excruciatingly sweet.
The dish itself had tapioca, chocolate, mint and nitrogen and the tapioca pudding was warm underneath; this was an explosion of cloying mint so sweet neither of us could finish it.
Bye bye birdie was my name for the last course which was an English strawberry consomme course with sour milk and pine. Yogurt and strawberry cracker and strawberry tartar and white chocolate chunks made a very nice contrast.
The wine was a 2018 Riesling Kabinett from Niederberg, Helen Schloss in the Moselle, but Will begged for a sweeter Balfour Late Harvest Chardonnay 2028 from Kent, that apparently was never meant to be and was harvested too late so became a dessert wine.
Just in case did you wanted more there was a raspberry tart with frozen gel and cream; honeycomb with elderflower toffee and edible paper and a macadamia crunch with dark chocolate.
The service was excellent and the meal was interesting interesting but we liked Frog 3 nights before much better for a much lower cost--and yes MORE FUN and BETTER FOOD!
