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Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

St. James’s Rose & Lychee Cocktail

Posted in Cocktails, Events, l'ortolan, tagged , , , , , , on May 2, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

St James Hotel and Club

Just a stroll away from Mayfair, Buckingham Palace and St. James’s Palace, St James’s Hotel and Club is one of London’s most desirable addresses. With its perfect location, long history, stylish and elegant interiors and a Michelin starred restaurant, St James’s Hotel has built its well deserved reputation with a formidable clientele of film stars, celebrities, authors and diplomats.

With fabulous suites and some of the best guest room terraces in London, the hotel boasts stylish, contemporary, yet elegant interiors finished with handmade silk wallpaper, black lacquered furniture, handcrafted Murano glass chandeliers and polished natural stone bathrooms.

St James’s Hotel and Club is also home to Seven Park Place, the deliciously small, but perfectly formed Michelin-starred restaurant by well known English Chef William Drabble who also oversees William’s Bar & Bistro. A comfortable, unhurried and sophisticated atmosphere, the Bistro is perfect for light lunches, pre and post theatre dinners or for supper, while the chic bar offers an extensive selection of cocktails and an impressive choice of wine and spirits.

St. James's Hotel 7 Park Place

Renowned for their exciting range of contemporary and classic cocktails, St James’s Hotel has created a special cocktail menu to celebrate the Chelsea Flower Show. Made with edible flowers this year’s floral concoctions include ‘Jasmine Buttercup’, ‘Elderflower & Basil Spray’, ‘Flower of Scotland’ and ‘Rose & Lychee Martini’.

We spoke to St James’s Hotel to find out exactly what goes into their floral cocktails – Why not have a go at creating the Rose & Lychee Martini yourself..?

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Rose & Lychee Martini

50 ml Vodka

25 ml  Lychee Juice

10 ml  Monin Rose Syrup

1 Dash of Peychaud’s Bitter

1 Rose Petal to garnish

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The Rose & Lychee Martini will available for guests to taste a week before the Chelsea Flower Show at our Day of Excellence on Friday 17th May – Register now to join us!

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Patisserie Demonstration

Posted in Cookery School, Events, Food, l'ortolan, Recipe, tagged , , , , on March 13, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

L'ortolan Macaroons

Yesterday our demo studio came to life with an afternoon tea inspired Patisserie Demonstration from L’ortolan Pastry Chef Samantha Rain. Our demonstration guests arrived to a beautifully sunny L’ortolan and introductions were made over tea and coffee in the bar. Afterwards the guests took their seats in the studio to learn how to produce a stunning selection of pastries both appealing to the eye and delicious – the perfect accompaniment for afternoon tea!

Macaroonier Sam demonstrated her perfect Liquorice Macaroons; a small light biscuit, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, made with ground almonds, sugar and egg whites. Macaroons are one of our favourite current sweet crazes so we asked our very own L’ortolan Pastry Chef for a lesson in baking the popular French confection.

Liquorice Macaroons

Ingredients:

300g Icing Sugar
300g Ground Almonds
10g Liquorice Powder
115g Egg Whites
80g Water
300g Sugar

Method:

1. Blitz together 300g icing sugar, 300g ground almonds and 10g liquorice powder and pass
2. Whisk 115 egg whites to stiff peaks
3. Boil 300g sugar and 80g water to 118°c and pour onto egg whites
4. Whisk egg whites until fluffy and add to dry mix
5. Once the Italian Meringue is cold, combine all the elements into a smooth paste
6. Pipe the mixture and leave to form a skin
7. Bake at 150°c for 6-8 minutes

Liquorice Pastry Cream Filling

Ingredients:

250g Milk
1 Vanilla Pod
60g Sugar
4 Egg Yolks
22g Cornflour

Method:

1. Boil 250g milk, 30g sugar and vanilla
2. Pour milk onto egg yolks and whisk, then place mixture back into the pan and cook out
3. Combine 30g sugar and 22g cornflour
4. Add Liquorice compound to taste

Liquorice Macaroons_______________________________________________________________

L’ortolan Cookery Demonstration Programme

9th April – 3 Course Dinner Party – Bring a little Michelin star flair to your dinner party at home with some ideas and inspiration from the L’ortolan kitchen.

23rd April – Chocolate Heaven – The perfect indulgent treat for serious chocoholics. During this masterclass you will be introduced to a variety of different chocolates including some of the world’s finest single estate chocolate.

14th May – Shellfish Masterclass – Delicious ways to prepare and cook shellfish – include a selection from lobster, oysters, clams, mussels, crab and razor clams depending on availability.

11th June – 3 Course Fish Supper – How to select and prepare the ‘catch of the day’ and cook your fish to perfection.

18th June – Summer Barbecue with the Big Green Egg – The Big Green Egg can be used to smoke, bake and slow cook as well as a barbecue. Join chef on the terrace and discover some new techniques and recipes.

To book your L’ortolan demonstration please call 01189 888 500 or email info@lortolan.com

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An Evening with Alan & Gerard

Posted in Alan Murchison, Events, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 9, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Alan and Gerard L'ortolan

It’s a rare occasion indeed when Alan Murchison and Gerard Basset combine talents to deliver an evening of spectacular food, astonishing wines and conviviality.  Both masters in their respective fields, Alan and Gerard will be sharing their knowledge of food and wine and regaling guests with anecdotes from their years in the trade.

About our hosts…

Michelin Starred Chef, Alan Murchison, has held a Michelin star at L’ortolan for 11 years and is the inspiration behind the 10in8 Fine Dining group of restaurants. Prior to taking up his position as Executive Chef at L’ortolan, Alan trained with Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons.  Alan has appeared several times on BBC2’s Great British Menu as both competitor and mentor and his recipes are regularly featured in the national media.

Gerard Basset is arguably one of the greatest wine professionals of his generation, the reigning World Champion Sommelier and the only person ever to simultaneously hold the Master of Wine, Master Sommelier and MBA Wine honours. Gerard co-founded the hugely successful Hotel du Vin Group and latterly the award winning, New Forest boutique wine hotel, Hotel TerraVina.

Alan and Gerard are business partners and have been friends for more than 10 years.

L'ortolan Prestige Menu

About the evening …

Alan and Gerard invite you to join them for a very exclusive evening at L’ortolan.  Aperitifs and canapés precede a sensational seven course menu devised by Alan with wines selected by Gerard.  Of course, during dinner Alan will comment on the food and Gerard the wines, but more than that, they will talk about their careers with some behind the scenes stories.  There will be plenty of opportunity to ask them both questions during this relaxed and informal evening.

For further details please visit our website or call 01189 888 500 

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A Shellfish Masterclass

Posted in Cookery School, Food, Recipe, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

L'ortolan Shellfish MasterclassWednesday saw the demo studio come to life once again with an entertaining Shellfish Masterclass from L’ortolan Chef Ian Swainson. Due to the bank holiday weekend the demo was rescheduled for the following day, so we breathed a sigh of relief in the morning when the freshly caught shellfish arrived.

Our demonstration guests arrived early and introductions were made over tea and coffee in the bar. Afterwards the guests took their seats in the studio to learn how to prepare dressed crab, cooked lobster, clams mariniere and oysters with pickled shallot & chilli.

Here is one of the recipes that Ian demonstrated:

How to make Clams Mariniere

Ingredients

1kg – Clams (washed)
200ml – White Wine
1 – Banana Shallot (diced)
1 – Clove Garlic (pureed)
100ml – Double Cream
Parsley (chopped)
25ml – Riesling

Method

  1. Take a large saucepan and heat until very hot.
  2. Add the clams and pour in the white wine, cover with a lid. The clams will steam in the wine very quickly.
  3. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.
  4. Finish with the cream, followed by parsley and Riesling.

Following the demonstration Ian showed the guests around the L’ortolan kitchen and introduced them to the rest of the culinary team. Once the party were seated in the main restaurant for their lunch, Ian took a couple of minutes to demonstrate how to remove the tail meat from the lobster that was cooked earlier. Take a look at the video.

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L’ortolan Cookery Demonstration Programme

11th September – Shellfish Masterclass – If you love shellfish but like many find preparing and cooking it a daunting task, then our Shellfish Masterclass will teach you how to transform it into some wonderful and tasty dishes.

9th October – Game Cookery – As we embrace the game season the L’ortolan Chef’s will be revealing secrets behind some of our favourite signature dishes

30th October – Food and Wine Matching - Basics

27th November – Food and Wine Matching - Advanced

18th December - Turkey Masterclass - taking the strain out of Christmas

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Summer BBQ with Alan and the Big Green Egg

Posted in Alan Murchison, Cookery School, Events, Food, l'ortolan, Suppliers, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 28, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Big Green Egg Lortolan Demo
On Tuesday seven enthusiastic guests joined us for the Summer BBQ demonstration with Alan Murchison and Head Chef Nick Chappell. With the welcome arrival of the British summer sun, the terrace made a very pleasant setting for the event, creating a true BBQ atmosphere.

After the initial welcome, Alan introduced the guests to the Big Green Egg, a barbecue that has quickly shot to fame on our screens in recent cooking shows and has become very desirable in the finest restaurants in the UK and Europe.

The Big Green Egg is a charcoal based ceramic cooker that offers a wide range of precise cooking modes never seen before on a barbecue. It can grill, roast, smoke or bake pizzas in temperatures ranging from 80 – 400C.

Alan Murchison and his team began using a combination of large and small Eggs in the kitchen about a year ago, and were quickly won over by its diversity of cooking techniques; smoking, baking, slow cooking for a range of different dishes.

“This is the Formula 1 of barbecues. Every now and again a product comes along which redefines everything. The Big Green Egg is it.” Alan Murchison

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L’ortolan Day of Excellence

Posted in Alan Murchison, Events, l'ortolan, Suppliers, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2012 | 1 Comment »

L'ortolan Reading Audi
Our ‘Day of Excellence’ last Friday was a huge success and attracted over 200 guests, old and new. A big thank you to everyone that attended and raised £800 for Hospitality Action in the raffle. We extend our  gratitude to our partners and suppliers who provided the afternoon with fabulous food and wine tasting and stunning displays.

Sommelier Craig welcomed guests with a glass of Pommery champagne and goodie bag before whisking them off on a tour around the restaurant to sample the many delights on offer. Our ‘behind the scenes’ team from marketing and reservations were on hand and enjoyed meeting  guests that they’d had the pleasure of previously arranging bookings for.

Upstairs in the bulthaup demonstration kitchen, Thermomix kept guests entertained with a rolling demonstration using their unique food processor – a favourite with L’ortolan chefs and great for anyone with food allergies and intolerances.  Cacao Barry brought their popular chocolate samples from around the world whilst Peter from James Gourmet Coffee gave visitors the chance to experience the change in coffee flavour as it progressed through the brewing process.

James Gourmet Coffee L'ortolan

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Changing Perception on German Wines

Posted in Events, Wine, tagged , , , , on February 7, 2012 | 1 Comment »

German Wines L'ortolanIn the world of wine a dark cloud continues to hover over German wines. Many perceive them as sweet, dull and unfashionable. But for adventurous wine drinker there is much to discover about Germany’s wine regions and the rewards are well worth the effort! Renowned Sommelier, Stephen Nisbet has seen his fair share of resistance to the German wine market within the UK, and strives to change people’s perceptions.

In 2008 at L’ortolan we dedicated each month to pairing a different wine region with the Gourmand menu. Wine by the glass is always a popular choice for diners, so when German wines was proposed as a theme it was confronted with some opposition from the rest of team; concerned that would not appeal to a wider audience. Fine German wines are renowned for their complexity of flavours, which makes them suitable for pairing with a wide range of foods, so they were an obvious choice to include on our global tour of fine wines.  It was decided not to publicise the wines with the menu, instead subtly introduce guests to the German wine pairings with each course.  The pairings were well received and diners wowed by the diversity. As a marketing exercise it grew customer’s knowledge and understanding – confirming Germany’s well-deserved place on the map.

At L’ortolan we stock white, sweet and even red German wines, including top wines from Wirsching, Göttelmann, Friedrich Becker and Werner Näkel. Some of these L’ortolan favourites will feature in this month’s Fine Wines of Germany wine tasting events.

Wednesday 22nd February – Fine Wines of Germany
Stephen will take guests on a journey through different regions, varieties and estates and discover the sheer diversity of wine.
4.30pm to 6.30pm – An Afternoon of German Wine Tasting – £49 per person
7.00pm – German Wine Tasting Dinner – £95 per person

Find out more about our programme of wine tasting events

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Another Successful Burns Night

Posted in Alan Murchison, Events, Food, l'ortolan, Marketing, Whisky, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 1, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Last week we welcomed a full house for our Burns Night Supper with whisky tasting.  The night is always a favourite for Scottish Executive Chef Alan Murchison and it was a huge success enjoyed by all!

We kicked off the celebrations with an afternoon of Tutored Whisky Tasting hosted by Stephen Nisbet. Stephen introduced guests to six whiskies during the afternoon accompanied by perfectly matched canapés.

Whisky Tasting Burns Night L'ortolan

Our afternoon guests enjoyed a few drams of whisky

The evening saw a selection of whisky transformed into cocktails and four course dinner with whisky paired to each course. Alan Murchison and his team served traditional favourites like the sirloin of beef, watercress, tortellini of haggis and oxtail and foie gras.  You can follow more of Alan’s tweets from the kitchen @AlanMurchison

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