Food &drink
Photography by Andy Paradise
Feast your eyes on this month’s finest
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. 38 Leicester Square, WC2H (020 7451 0167; thelondoner.com/ restaurants-bars/whitcombs) L UX U RY L ON D ON L I V IN G
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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!
appreciate the art of cooking even more, and the science behind it.
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.
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.
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
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.
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