Masterchef Pop-up: Friday 12 September 2014
You’ll soon come to realise that I love to go out and eat. For now I’m mainly going to post pictures but a full online blog is in the works and hopefully in the next couple of months there will be some exciting developments on that front.
These pictures are from my visit to the Masterchef pop-up restaurant in the Bluefin Building, Southwark. The restaurant is only open for a month and if anyone has the opportunity, I would definitely recommend going. Not only for the food but also for the spectacular views from the rooftop bar.
We went for the tasting menu, and the concept of this menu was to bring former Masterchef contestants together to create a menu that epitomised their cooking but also fitted together as if created by a singular individual. An extremely hard ask bearing in mind they all go to the final based on the different cooking styles and to my knowledge haven’t worked together since.
We went in Week 2, when the chefs cooking for us were 2011 winner Tim Anderson, and his fellow finalists Tom Whitaker and Sara Danesin Medio and despite the length of time since the show the menu they crafted worked extremely well.
My personal highlight was the cola-braised pork belly with squash, fennel and dashi foam made by Tim. The pork belly was extremely soft and full of flavour and I would go as far as to say I found it very hard to think of a time I’ve ever had a better tasting pork dish. Tom’s dessert of s’more mille feuille and campfire sorbet (think tea flavourings) was also brilliant and having eaten his food I can definitely see why he ended up winning the 2011 show.
Sara’s cooking was also very good, with the confit salmon being my second favourite dish of the night. Texture wise it was perfect and the micro herbs and lemon created the ideal balance of flavours. Sara also made an extremely well crafted mango mousse with passion fruit that had such refreshing and delicate flavours that it was the perfect way to end the night.
Unfortunately, we both found Tom’s rabbit with radishes and mustard to be a slight let down, though Tom made up for this with a fine main of poached char with scallops and mussels, or a Seafood Delight as I took to calling it.
All in all, I would say that the Masterchef pop-up definitely satisfied my taste buds and has made me even more impatient to see the next series of Masterchef: The Professionals as it enters a Michel Roux Jr.-less existence.
