I haven’t been updating because I have been really really busy, but I have another guest post to keep my loyal reader(s) occupied until I return in full force. Joyce has been lucky enough to go the Ivy, the new restaurant of Francois Geurds, who is a loyal disciple of Heston Blumenthal. I made her promise she would do a guest post for me, and here it is:

I’ve always enjoyed going out to new restaurants and letting the experience wash over me, but I absolutely adore it when my boss pays and it is called “work”. Yesterday’s meal at Ivy was an absolute delight, if only for watching my bosses and the two chefs (who’ve dined in the finest restaurants all over the world) be deliciously bitchy about every little detail. Which would usually annoy me, but these guys know their stuff. As do the people at Ivy, who bombard you with delightful impressions from the moment you walk in the door.

They sat us down on a lush, fluffy couch in a beautifully styled segment of the restaurant, and immediately presented us with a very modern take on the bread basket, as well as a lovely glas of champagne. The first amuse swiftly followed, and let´s just say it made me happy. Not just because I hadn´t eaten anything all day and would´ve happily wrestled a grizzly for some leftover camp food at that point, but also because I like my food simple, packed with flavour, and beautifully presented, and that´s exactly what the toasted cherry tomato with black olive ice cream was. Next up was a barbecued cucumber and green apple skewer, which were served from a real hand held barbecue, with a garlic mayonaise (aïoli) that we had to squeeze from tiny plastic bags. Tasty, but nothing special.

We were then treated to a swig from a hookah filled with hints of menthol and eucalyptus, which was very refreshing, but a little gimmicky. If they had done it later in the meal, or just left it on the table so we could enjoy it all through dinner it would have made slightly more sense. The best amuse was of course the famous piccalilly icecream, with the tomato and liqourish cone and exploding sugar. A feast in your mouth, although I do think the exploding sugar is very close to cheating (we use it at our restaurant all the time, and it’s more about the element of surprise than actual flavour). We opted for the 7 course menu, with the 5 course wines (which was plenty, believe me!) and we started things off with a beautiful looking shrimp and ginger beer dish, which was served in a miniature fish bowl. Inside was shrimp tartar, fried shrimp and crispy shrimp skin, served on a ginger beer gel and topped with a ginger beer and lime mousse. A little bit too much gel for our taste, but very nice indeed, although the heavily acidic white (almost green) wine wasn’t the best match. Next up was the dish that almost made Holland’s premier culinary reviewer jizz his pants, white asparagus with (duck) foie gras on toast, so expectations were very high indeed. The creamy asparagus and green peas were packed with flavour, but the toast was very salty (and I usually love salty foods) so the thinly spread foie gras couldn’t quite deliver. And the dry croutons used to keep the toast above the cream were just bland. A beautiful dish in principle, but not quite there yet in execution. The next course was amazing though. Panfried seabass with pumpkin toffee. The wow factor was delivered by the pumpkin toffee, created by slowly cooking the pumpkin multiple times, so it’s own natural sugars caramelise to a golden brown, sticky substance, that compliments the seabass beautifully. A tiny piece of toast with salty cured ham to finish it off. Simple, elegant, delicious! And the high continued with the lovely sweatbread in a crispy skin, with vongole and parsnip cream.

The wines got better as the meal progressed, but my memories of them fade as I drank more. I didn’t take notes, or pictures, because A: I didn’t want to look like an amateur (read: tool), and B: I didn’t want to interrupt the carefully constructed flow of the dining experience. Next up was the nitrococktail which was prepared at the table. Fun to watch, and our melon cocktail with mango chunks was quite refreshing, but it wasn’t the mindblowing experience I had hoped for. The lamb that followed was cooked to perfection, but unfortunately the seven courses ended on a low. The blood orange ice cream was good, but dessert was the first dish of the evening that didn’t look fantastic, and the rest of it I can’t even remember. Just meh. However we managed to turn things around by asking for the cheese cart (if you want an extra cheese course you have to ask apparantly, they won’t offer you it) which I had seen rolling around and had my lusty eye on all evening. I literally wanted to climb in and live there. There were too many to choose from, and they were all incredible. Deep and complex in taste, complimented by a lovely ruby port from 2002. The cappuchino was moronically served in a whiskey glass, so it was impossible to drink. But my boss was very impressed with their tea selection. A tiny bit of dark chocolate would’ve been the perfect ending, but no such luck.

Overall it was a great evening. Ivy displays amazing attention to detail, the staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and let’s not forget they’ve only been open for four months.You will have to save your pennies if you want to go there though, the five of us rang up nearly 800 Euros. It wasn’t the best meal I’ve ever had, but there were some excellent dishes, and they will have earned the Michelin star they will no doubt be awarded next year.

(editor’s note: Can you tell how jaded she has become since her return to the restaurant world? Exploding sugar? *yawn* Nitrococktail? Been there, done that. Never mind that I would happily donate my kidneys (I still need the liver) to eat there. But thanks for the great review anyway Joyce! You know I’m just kidding, right?)