db eats: Launceston Place
23rd February, 2010 by Gabriel Savage - This article is over multiple pages: 1 2Our waiter must have realised he was in for a long night. Barely had he left that table for two by the window to settle in with an aperitif when a terrible smell spread through the dining room.
Leaning down for a rummage in my handbag, my hair had landed in a candle, with the resulting inferno by my right ear forcing a temporary distraction from the intensely flavoured, beautifully light espresso cup of cauliflower and truffle soup.
Head sommelier Mickey Narea skilfully got the meal back on track. Recoiling almost imperceptibly from the scorched stench hanging over our table, he volunteered to save us from the additional trauma of decision making by taking care of the wines for each stage of the six course, £60-per-head tasting menu.
A self-confessed hispanophile, Narea’s selection of a 2008 Albariño from Terras Gauda was a natural and spot-on match for the scallop. Far more than just a refreshing seafood quaffer, it was one of those wines where your hand automatically moves back towards the glass for a second sip, just to make sure your tastebuds didn’t miss anything first time round.
Next up came what was undoubtedly the pairing of the evening: venison tartare with walnuts, bittercress and a quail egg, accompanied by the 2006 Cuvée Laurène from Domaine Drouhin, the Burgundian producer’s Oregon arm.
Just as the walnut kicked in at the end to give extra texture and depth to the dish, so too the combined flavours on the plate brought out a surprising Old World earthiness in the wine. However unpretentious you try to be about wine and food pairings, there are occasions when a match is so spot-on that it merits an interruption to the more serious dinnertime business of scurrilous gossip exchange.
The rest of the evening passed in a mouthwatering succession of dishes, which balanced impeccable execution with a creativity that occasionally bordered on just the right side of humorous.