Ottolenghi
Posted by lauranickoll | 
0 comments | 
Add to Recipe Book | 
Print this Article
287 Upper Street, London N1 2TZ
t: 020 7288 1454
w: ottolenghi.co.uk
It’s only been available for a week and already Yotam Ottolenghi’s new cookbook, Plenty, has five stars on Amazon and hoards of devotees. Ottolenghi’s vibrant fare is manna to food-loving vegetarians, releasing them from the grip of the usual unimaginative and lazy combinations such as quinoa, sun-dried tomatoes, goats’ cheese and pasta.
To get to the point, I’m a fan of his New Vegetarian column in The Guardian, and after eating at one of the four London establishments, it certainly lives up to the hype. The Upper Street restaurant-bakery-deli branch was packed, the late lunchtime queue a confused gaggle of voyeurs, those patiently waiting for a table, and others fighting for attention at the deli.
The pan-Med menu offers their deli dishes at £3.50-£4.50 each, suggesting that you combine two or three to create small/large plates. It being 3:15pm they had sadly run out of the famous chargrilled broccoli with chilli and garlic. Instead we had a gorgeous moist cornbread spiked with red chilli, seared beef fillet with coriander dipping sauce, marinated aubergine with tahini dressing and French beans and mangetout with hazelnut and orange. Bold food, confidently composed and inspiring to the palate.
Seasonal, local produce is not their thing and prices are rather cheeky, but it’s not worth holding a grudge. Ottolenghi is stirring vegetarian food from its slumber, confronting healthy food prejudices and preconceptions (which I am all too guilty of) and offering a unique experience: virtuous salad fare alongside the most sinful sweets I have ever seen. New Yorkers are going mad for Yotam’s two books, so no doubt he’ll be hopping across the pond before long.
Related Posts
Busaba Eathai
Kopapa
Wahaca
The Good Fork deli boxConnect
