Kitchen W8
Change in my employer's focus and subsequent job loss meant that my family and I moved to upstate New York in the early 1990s. A few years later, access to the web was introduced at work via a phone modem at one computer . I quickly figured out that a quick detour to work on a Saturday lunchtime meant I could get "immediate" access to the football results without having to wait for the weekly Guardian or Telegraph. While plodding round the internet I found an early version of the Hereford United forum where all you needed was a unique name and a willingness to participate to be accepted. With a relatively sociable crowd it was a small step from these on-line chats to meeting over beers on occasional visits to Hereford.
Hereford were relegated from the Football league in 1997 to the then GM Vauxhall Conference and Hereford fans with an internet connection had a new treat in store. Confguide was established by David Stevenson , a Yeovil Town fan, in 1998 and had a very active message board. In contrast to the Hereford forum, football was secondary to the discussion on every subject under the sun and the best way to describe it was that it had an atmosphere similar in feel to a virtual pub. Similar to my Hereford experience, occasionally groups of Confguide posters met up for drinks but the timing never worked for me.
Fast forward to 2010, Hereford were temporarily back in the League but struggling, Confguide had been sold with the forum moved to a new location and it seemed a good time to experiment with Twitter. The biggest challenge was interacting with people who had common interests but were five hours ahead of me. From my perspective, Twitter was like an uber-Confguide forum with a global audience. The evening at Kitchen W8 came about because a bunch of Twitter users had enough in common to make the step from virtual interaction to meeting up for food and drinks.
Step back a couple of months and I met with @cityjohn in November for a couple of beers with a note to do it again sometime. While tweeting back and forth during a wonderful meal at Denny’s @thescguy joined in and we ended up agreeing to meet for beers during this January trip. Closer to the time this morphed into food and beers and John was tasked with finding a restaurant for a bunch of fussy eaters. The nominated restaurant was Kitchen W8. I was totally up for it thinking it was the Table Cafe in Southwark. A quick Google search put me straight.
Kitchen W8 on Abingdon Road, just off Kensington High Street, was established by Philip Howard and Rebecca Mascarenhas in October 2009 and was billed as a neighbourhood restaurant. Mark Kempson is the head chef having previously spent time working with Philip Howard at The Square. The kitchen’s mandate is to take high quality seasonal ingredients and produce simple, modern English food.
By the time of our reservation, the group had grown to 5 (for a short while 6) with the addition of @corkgourmetguy and @stuartwilks. I had no intention of writing anything about this meal but ultimately it was too good not to pass on as a tip to others.
The front part of the restaurant has a couple of large tables designed for bigger parties and that’s where we ended up. First task was ordering a round of aperitifs while we looked through the menu. Although it only consisted of seven starters, eight mains and six desserts the choice took a while because it all sounded very tempting. With selections made it was time to dig into the baskets of crusty white bread.
Starters arrived and everyone looked first at their own and then at each other’s dishes. A chorus of appreciation echoed round the table and slowly but surely the first camera came out. Then it was a free for all as each of us realised that no one was going to be admonished for taking photos of their food. My chosen starter was the crisp-fried hen’s egg with parmesan polenta, wilted chanterelles, bacon and truffle. There had been a lot of discussion about how the crisp-fried egg was made and a consensus that it’s very difficult to go wrong with eggs. I can’t remember the preparation details but as the waiter described how it was made it was inevitable that I would choose it. It might not look elegant but this was a seriously wonderful dish. The eggs were a delightful centrepiece but it was the other ingredients that made this dish special. The parmesan polenta gave the whole dish a massively satisfying savoury lift and the mushrooms kicked it up another gear. The bacon crumbs were a more low-key addition. Both of us who ordered the egg and felt pretty smug about it but looking round the table everyone else had the same self-satisfied look because all the appetisers had been of similarly high quality. This all added up to five very happy customers.
Hereford were relegated from the Football league in 1997 to the then GM Vauxhall Conference and Hereford fans with an internet connection had a new treat in store. Confguide was established by David Stevenson , a Yeovil Town fan, in 1998 and had a very active message board. In contrast to the Hereford forum, football was secondary to the discussion on every subject under the sun and the best way to describe it was that it had an atmosphere similar in feel to a virtual pub. Similar to my Hereford experience, occasionally groups of Confguide posters met up for drinks but the timing never worked for me.
Fast forward to 2010, Hereford were temporarily back in the League but struggling, Confguide had been sold with the forum moved to a new location and it seemed a good time to experiment with Twitter. The biggest challenge was interacting with people who had common interests but were five hours ahead of me. From my perspective, Twitter was like an uber-Confguide forum with a global audience. The evening at Kitchen W8 came about because a bunch of Twitter users had enough in common to make the step from virtual interaction to meeting up for food and drinks.
Step back a couple of months and I met with @cityjohn in November for a couple of beers with a note to do it again sometime. While tweeting back and forth during a wonderful meal at Denny’s @thescguy joined in and we ended up agreeing to meet for beers during this January trip. Closer to the time this morphed into food and beers and John was tasked with finding a restaurant for a bunch of fussy eaters. The nominated restaurant was Kitchen W8. I was totally up for it thinking it was the Table Cafe in Southwark. A quick Google search put me straight.
Kitchen W8 on Abingdon Road, just off Kensington High Street, was established by Philip Howard and Rebecca Mascarenhas in October 2009 and was billed as a neighbourhood restaurant. Mark Kempson is the head chef having previously spent time working with Philip Howard at The Square. The kitchen’s mandate is to take high quality seasonal ingredients and produce simple, modern English food.
By the time of our reservation, the group had grown to 5 (for a short while 6) with the addition of @corkgourmetguy and @stuartwilks. I had no intention of writing anything about this meal but ultimately it was too good not to pass on as a tip to others.
The front part of the restaurant has a couple of large tables designed for bigger parties and that’s where we ended up. First task was ordering a round of aperitifs while we looked through the menu. Although it only consisted of seven starters, eight mains and six desserts the choice took a while because it all sounded very tempting. With selections made it was time to dig into the baskets of crusty white bread.
Starters arrived and everyone looked first at their own and then at each other’s dishes. A chorus of appreciation echoed round the table and slowly but surely the first camera came out. Then it was a free for all as each of us realised that no one was going to be admonished for taking photos of their food. My chosen starter was the crisp-fried hen’s egg with parmesan polenta, wilted chanterelles, bacon and truffle. There had been a lot of discussion about how the crisp-fried egg was made and a consensus that it’s very difficult to go wrong with eggs. I can’t remember the preparation details but as the waiter described how it was made it was inevitable that I would choose it. It might not look elegant but this was a seriously wonderful dish. The eggs were a delightful centrepiece but it was the other ingredients that made this dish special. The parmesan polenta gave the whole dish a massively satisfying savoury lift and the mushrooms kicked it up another gear. The bacon crumbs were a more low-key addition. Both of us who ordered the egg and felt pretty smug about it but looking round the table everyone else had the same self-satisfied look because all the appetisers had been of similarly high quality. This all added up to five very happy customers.
My chosen main was smoked haunch of venison with Jerusalem artichokes, roast onion, bulgur wheat and port soaked raisins. The smoked venison cooked medium rare had a mildly smoky touch that worked perfectly with the underlying flavour of the venison. Every ingredient in this dish gave a massive contribution to the whole and there was nothing that did not belong. The Jerusalem artichoke puree, roasted onions and softened peppercorns were all strong support acts to the venison. The nutty bulgur wheat underpinned the whole and added a pleasant textural contrast. This was an excellent dish and it turned out to be in good company. The pork chop with bacon gnocchi, the sea bream with hazelnut spätzle and the braised beef cheek with beef and onion pie all received glowing endorsements with the smoked beetroot purée that was served with the beef cheek singled out for particular praise.
After two phenomenal courses dessert was something of a must. I went for the light option of poached new season’s Yorkshire rhubarb with clementine ice cream. The dish arrived with the only mis-step from the kitchen. The slivers of clementine around the dish looked like someone had had a violent sneeze whilst plating the dish. Aside from that the dessert was a terrific mix of fresh flavours. I’d expected the clementine ice cream to be the highlight but it turned out to be the sweet rhubarb jelly that I could not get enough of. The poached rhubarb in the base of the dish was splendid too. The delicious nutty tuile that came with the ice cream rounded everything off to perfection. With plates cleared away we lazily drank the Alves de Souza Caldas white port that accompanied dessert and revelled in the satisfaction that comes from knowing you’ve just had an excellent meal.
Five very different people got together on a whim and had a bloody brilliant time. Who knows if our paths would have crossed without a free-flowing social medium like Twitter but it certainly made it easy. When people say they don’t understand the point of Twitter, this is the type of experience I point to as a benefit.
Overall verdict
Given the company, we would have had a great night wherever we’d eaten. However, the choice of Kitchen W8 was inspired and the combination of friendly, spot-on service and excellent food helped make this a night to cherish.
Would I revisit Kitchen W8?
In a heartbeat. It almost seems risky that another visit might not live up to this experience. However, the food was so strong that it is more likely that the return would be no less enjoyable but simply different.
Overall Rating - 5/5
Overall verdict
Given the company, we would have had a great night wherever we’d eaten. However, the choice of Kitchen W8 was inspired and the combination of friendly, spot-on service and excellent food helped make this a night to cherish.
Would I revisit Kitchen W8?
In a heartbeat. It almost seems risky that another visit might not live up to this experience. However, the food was so strong that it is more likely that the return would be no less enjoyable but simply different.
Overall Rating - 5/5
