A Quick Jaunt through Dubai...& Even Quicker through the Other United Arab Emiratesby Randi / June 28, 2019Event at 10 Cable Street: Phenomenal Tasting Menu by Acorn Restaurant
This weekend, we had an INCREDIBLE supper club experience at 10 Cable Street, with a special dinner presented by Michelin-guided vegetarian restaurant Acorn, coming all the way from Bath to make me happy. It was a six-course tasting menu. You can see in my blog archives that I’ve had lots of vegan tasting menus in this city, and while they’ve all been good, overall they’ve been kind of boring (and always lacking in protein). While the protein issue wasn’t fixed here, as it was another fance restaurant focusing on the magical powers of cooking vegetables well, there was no boring to be found. These six dishes were all spectacular & interesting, with unique flavor profiles that you’d NEVER guess would work, but work (exceedingly well) they did.
Let’s take a look at all the food, course by course (one by one, till you shout ‘enough I’m done!’ except I can’t hear you so no).
Course 1: Pea sorbet in juice from the garden
I know, what? Pea sorbet? In GREEN JUICE? With a random sourdough crispbread on top? Are you shitting me? Honestly, although the crispbread felt out of place (and we got real sourdough bread later in the meal so that was enough (yay bread!)), this was one of my favorites. The juice held pickly celery bits, samphire (I LOVE samphire), fresh peas, mustard seeds, just a whole juice cleanse worth of goodness. It was so refreshing, and the impressively successful sorbet was unlike anything I’ve had before. I felt completely detoxified from it (and yes that’s b.s. but it felt like a happy summer day).
Course 2: Carrot, almond, and parsley
This was a play on carrots two ways: what seemed to be slow cooked and then charred, and then pickly discs on top (lol pickly discs), with a parsley ice, some almonds, and a dollop of cream. The parsley ice could have used salting, but otherwise this was very nice, although I would have preferred more of a saucing to make it more interesting. I feel like this was the one dish that I could have believed coming from a past restaurant visit, where it was all good, don’t get me wrong, but not exceedingly special.
Course 3: Cauliflower glazed in coffee, hazelnut polenta
As someone who doesn’t drink or like coffee, I’m shocked that this dish might be my favorite. The coffee-glazed cauliflower was GENIUS, absolutely a work of genius. There’s something about that coffee depth that really shines with the cauliflower, raising the so maligned but so hard-working vegetable to new heights. It worked so well. The creamy, super rich polenta was delicious, like a fancy ass breakfast porridge but fancyassier. On its own, it would be something I’d want more for a loaded-oatmeal-like dessert treat, but with the cauliflower this was all so right.
Course 4: Mushroom parfait, bobby beans
This dish was a mushroom lover’s fantasy, and since I’m a mushroom lover, I was clearly bowled over. The various mushroom parts of this dish were extraordinary. The king oyster mushroom was, as my seatmates pointed out, EXACTLY like scallops, with the same texture. I love oyster mushrooms. The jelly square was actually pure truffle goo, like WHAT in the world, how did they inject so much truffle flavor, and into what? What’s the base? Just pure fat? I don’t know but WOW. There was so much of it and it was so unbelievably rich that I had trouble finishing it, but it was so delicious that I wanted to. (And then I got a bellyache.) But a little goes a long way with pure truffle goop goodness. Tiny little cartoon mushrooms and green onions dotted the dish to brighten up the heavy flavors, a really smart and necessary addition, plus there were a few endive leaves just like chilling randomly. Bobby beans (you gotta say it like MMMBOBBY NEWPORT!) apparently just means regular green beans cooked in oil, but they were wrapped in a long magician’s scarf of a collard leaf which I adored, obviously.
Course 5: Strawberries, fennel sorbet
It’s not British summertime without perfect strawberries, but that fennel sorbet, like the pea sorbet, was the star. It was SUPERB. If you like anise flavors, this would have blown your G-D MIND. I mean come on it was fennel sorbet! It managed to be the right level of sweet without becoming medicinal, and while packing enormous fennel flavor into each spoonful.
Course 6: Chocolate, olive oil, and parsnip
We were all nervous about this one, because, while chocolate and olive oil are friends, who invited parsnip? I don’t even like parsnips; it’s like my least-eaten vegetable. (Damn between coffee and parsnips this dinner sure challenged my tastes.) How were they even going to combine the three ingredients? Well, geniusly, of course. The chocolate was in a rich, wonderful ganache that I could eat every single day for dessert, happily. There were harder little chocolate bits underneath it that I very much enjoyed finding. But the surprise was the parsnip, in the form of a third and final impressive sorbet. The creaminess of the parsnip made it more like an ice cream, and somehow, someway, by the grace of god, it was actually delicious. There’s no wiggle room in making parsnip ice cream; one drop too much of sugar and it’s gross sugary parsnips. But they nailed it, and it’s mind-boggling. The whole dish was covered with drops of candied ginger to tie it together and it was so good.
As if that weren’t enough, they sent us home with little treat gifts! Inside these little cloth (“his napkins are made of shirt material!” “cloth”) sacks were handmade truffles and caramels. I KNOW!
And they were DELICIOUS. I don’t know whether to thank the venue or the restaurant for these, but thanks to everyone. What an adorable, delightful capper to a fantastic dinner.
Acorn Restaurant Supper Club at 10 Cable Street, Whitechapel, London, UK
Water speed: There were carafes of water already on the (communal) tables when we arrived! That is the best way to become my friend! Sure the glasses were only 2-sip-holders but with a carafe at the ready, it was great! And even though I kept finishing the pitchers quickly, someone would IMMEDIATELY come to replace it. Super impressed.
Service: Very good considering how hard it is to serve dozens of people the same thing at the same times. I loved that the head chef came out to tell each table about each dish. It felt very special.
Bathrooms: 10 Cable Street has one lil guy that is kind of smack in the middle of the dining room and feels a little weird; I might just go home next time! But it’s fine. The only problem was that the communal tables had bench seating and, in a long dress, I COULD NOT get in and out of my seat without looking like a fool LIKE A FOOL. So dress appropriately. (Also, if you have limited mobility, contact them in advance about your seating.)
Food: So impressive and delicious, we are honestly considering a trip to the Bath restaurant.
Bonus: It’s nice to eat a great meal surrounded by like-minded folks! I said folks lol! We talked to really nice people and had a ball. Also, did I mention I live pretty much next door? I can’t wait to see what the next event at 10 Cable Street is.
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Vegan Guide to Michelin Restaurants: Gauthier, Soho
*This post is part of a series in which I eat fancy Michelin-starred meals and then brag about it.
Happy Valentines Day, everyone! Oh, Valentines Day is over, you say? Counter: Valentines Day is about love and chocolate, therefore every day is VDay. To celebrate (the actual one) (well not the actual day (it was a school night!) but close enough to it that it was undeniably for VDay) relatively recently, Husband took me to out to a fancy dinner in London’s main drag of Soho. Now I hear your doubts, because I had them too: What, Soho?! Soho is only good for 1) bros barfing in the streets before it’s even 6pm because alcoholism is a huge and underacknowledged problem in the UK in large part due to the ingrained nature of pub culture and also the lack of sunshine and b) sad sack vegetarian options at chain restaurants (cough *Pret a Manger* cough). Although there is some decent food to be found in Soho, I never heard of a fancy restaurant there that could make a fancy meal for a vegan that was actually impressive or at least better than what I cook at home. Luckily, Husband has read the entire internet and so he discovered the vegan-friendliness of Gauthier, a restaurant that was awarded a Michelin star a few years back.
Happy Valentines Day, everyone! Oh, Valentines Day is over, you say? Counter: Valentines Day is about love and chocolate, therefore every day is VDay. To celebrate (the actual one) (well not the actual day (it was a school night!) but close enough to it that it was undeniably for VDay) relatively recently, Husband took me to out to a fancy dinner in London’s main drag of Soho. Now I hear your doubts, because I had them too: What, Soho?! Soho is only good for 1) bros barfing in the streets before it’s even 6pm because alcoholism is a huge and underacknowledged problem in the UK in large part due to the ingrained nature of pub culture and also the lack of sunshine and b) sad sack vegetarian options at chain restaurants (cough *Pret a Manger* cough). Although there is some decent food to be found in Soho, I never heard of a fancy restaurant there that could make a fancy meal for a vegan that was actually impressive or at least better than what I cook at home. Luckily, Husband has read the entire internet and so he discovered the vegan-friendliness of Gauthier, a restaurant that was awarded a Michelin star a few years back.
it looks like it’s light out but it was not in fact it was very very dark I remember because I almost tripped over already-drunk lads on the way in
In a shocking twist, Gauthier didn’t give us the usual telephonic assurance that ‘oh sure we can accommodate vegans’ like somebody that I used to knowwww somebodayyyyy. I’ll try not to do that a lot more but I cannot stop singing it every time I see or hear the name of this restaurant. (I will also probably stick an incorrect L in there a few times but I will try to remember that I am not talking about Jean Paul.) Anyway, no, I didn’t have to call and ask pweeease feed me Seymour (lets me save my phone anxiety for Congress!), because the fancy French restaurant offers two tasting menus – one omnivorous, one vegan – AS PART OF THEIR REGULAR MENU. Like, if you sit down in one of the dimly candlelit dining rooms spanning the several floors of an old Georgian townhouse on a cushy chair at one of the tables covered with starched white tablecloths and white napkins, you are given a menu that has two pages, and ONE IS VEGAN. That is not a thing that happens! Not at places like this! I think the casualness with which they incorporate the veg tasting menu option into their legitimate Michelized French fine dining is the greatest part about this restaurant. It’s so natural and effortless. Maybe it’s maple leaves. In fact, we could only overhear two other tables in our dining room (the tables are very generously spaced, thanks because I hate other people), and all of our three tables had a veg menu coming. At one table was a young couple definitely on an early date, and the girl ordered the vegan tasting menu. At the other was a group of 4-5 30-something friends, and two of them ordered the veg tasting menu just because it sounded interesting. I heard them say that they weren’t vegetarian but it sounded more interesting than the regular and worth a try. Peopleeee that is how you get more people to try vegan food! Just make it normal and natural and easy cause you didn’t have to cutttttttt me offffffffffffffff…
The experience started off well. The host took our coats and didn’t bat an eye when I also handed her my thick blanketscarf that I love so much that I think I’ll probably write a post about it someday soon. But so it’s giant and anyone else would have been like ahhhh I can’t see, why is there so much blanket! but she handled it like a French pro. We were seated upstairs in the smaller dining area from the still smallish one on the ground floor. Hooray for less chance of cold air hitting me every time the door opens! After only a few minutes, the waiter brought us water and kept us filled the rest of the evening save for one or two slow moments. Huge success for London service! I faked looking at the menu for a few minutes before I was like, what am I doing, obviously I’m getting the vegan menu!
THE FOOD
As is standard in tasting menu situations, you are brought offbook food to begin. My little snack was an interesting giant cracker, resembling the folds and volume of lavash but in cracker form. It came with two little dishes, one of hummus and one of avocado cream. They were fine, nothing special, but the fact that I was given hummus and avocado, two of my favorite things, plus a breadstuff, made me super happy.
the lighting ain’t michelin starred AM I RIGHT UP HIGH
My first main course was a celeriac and watercress veloute. I just looked up what veloute means – a sauce like velvet. That is a great word for this! It truly was! The celeriac and watercress velvet sauce was lovely, mild but with a hint of the brightness of those two vegetables with none of the bitterness. In the velvet sauce was tiny little baby ravioli that was soo good. I could have eaten a whole bowl of them, but I guess that is what pasta places are for and not fine dining. The ravioli was accompanied in the velvet sauce (I’m going to say velvet sauce as many times as I can) by pieces of crisp green apple, which sounds weird but went perfectly with the velvet sauce components. All those green flavors were so carefully chosen and so compatible. According to the menu, the velvet sauce also contained ‘fondant’ but I didn’t get any wedding cake so I’m gonna ignore that part.
ohh this onion’s wearing an onion hat fiddle dee dee and la di da
Next was the Stuffed Roscoff Onion, which I assume is a type of onion. Despite being all about onion, I really enjoyed it! The onion was filled with potato cream (like liquidier mashed potatoes) and drizzled with a balsamic vinegar reduction. It was a lot of onion, and I wish they could have bioengineered (GMOS BABY) a thinner outer layer so that it wasn’t such big bites of thick onion casing, but it was still very good. It conveyed a sort of meat and potatoes feel but without the meat. Obvs. I just googled “Roscoff onion” and the first result was the wiki for “Onion Johnny” and I am laughing too hard right now to read what it says.
Blursula
I would very much enjoy the next dish for dinner tonight, if they made it bigger/normal dinner sized. The Tofu & Swiss Chard Gratin combined many of my favorite things in a familiar, delicious way, with an upgrade in garlickiness, which is quite impressive considering how much garlic I use in my own cooking/life. The little tofu circle was firmer than you usually find when non-Asian restaurants attempt to use tofu. It was topped with Swiss chard plus an herby green puree sauce on top. Then, oh but the garlic. Roasted garlic puree covered everything, and then fried crispy garlic pieces. I think the puree might have been black garlic which makes me very happy, and based on zero knowledge I’m going to say black garlic is more potent than regular because man alive was I oozing garlic from the pores for days (months? we’ll see!) after eating it. Would recommend!
looks like bones it’s not
My Whole Caramelized Parsnip came next, which I was not very excited about because no matter how much this country tries to foist the love of the parsnip upon me, I’m just not very into them. They are like fruity earth bads. But this was good! The whole parsnip was served with a minted parsnip puree and all in a liquorice-infused broth, so they were really playing it risky with things I usually hate but together they worked well. There were Terra chip-like thingers atop the food pile so that’s nice. All in all this was a very nice dish but seemed much more British than French, and a little meh for my tastes.
flitteries
Continuing their theme of using one ingredient in many different forms in one dish, no matter how uninspired it would become, the next and final savory dish was Roasted Cauliflower, which also had a raw cauliflower salad with it. I’m okay with cauliflower but not when it’s being presented just as itself. I like it as fake mashed potatoes and like whipped into a cheese sub. Just roasting cauliflower and then also NOT roasting cauliflower and putting it on a plate for me does not impress me much and now I have a new song in my head. Thank goodness it was also served with a bit of truffle puree, which can save anything, but it was too much cauliflower to not nearly enough truffle puree. I guess because you have to be stingy with that most amazing stuff but then have more of another sauce. Also cauliflower is a REAL hard food to end on when you are already full. It’s hard to eat it when you don’t really want to eat anything more. You start with a vegetable like that, not end with it!
this is not nor could it ever be mistaken for a salad
I was excited for an Italian-style salad ender before the dessert came, as my menu said the next dish was to be a Clementine Givree, which was described in the menu as a Clementine and Coriander Salad with walnut oil. I was so excited for this, but then I was given…mango sorbet? I do not like sorbet. I have had so much sorbet at restaurants over the years that unless you are giving me chocolate sorbet (or vanilla; no one has ever made that that I’ve seen) I do not want it. So to get fruit sorbet when I was expecting salad? my favorite food? Blurghhh. I guess Givree means ice but then why did you describe it as a salad? And why was it super super sweet and mango flavored? I am still quite mad.
garbanzo goop
Why was I mad and not just disappointed?? Well, because my next dish, my first ‘official’ dessert, was Mango Vacherin, which I’m guessing means flipping MANGO SORBET BECAUSE I GOT MORE OF IT. I mean, I should have said something but by this time it was getting busier in the restaurant and I just couldn’t. Also, it was presented differently so it wasn’t the exact same plate, though it was the same main component, so I feel like we would have argued over that and things would have gotten lost in translation and it would have been more annoying and frustrating than two servings of blasted supersweet mango sorbet. The saving grace of all of this, and one of the coolest things ever, is that this second helping of sorbet was served in a meringue shell – MADE OF AQUAFABA. Yes, vegan blogger friends, the liquid from the can of chickpeas that whips up like egg white and opened up literally millions of doors for our cooking and baking achievements, the goop (not Gwynnie’s) that we haven’t stopped raving about since it first appeared on our radar circa Vida Vegan Con 2015, well that shit has made it to an actual French restaurant. I heard the waiter trying to explain to the table next to us what it was and it did not succeed because later I overheard them saying to each other “I don’t understand how they got chickpeas to look so white” so alas, not everyone is #blessed. But I was and still am pretty excited about this discovery and so pleased to see amazing vegan innovation used in the mainstream. As long as they don’t take credit for it.
just knock that trolloppy dollop of sorbet off my chocolate and we’ve got a party
After the thrill of the aquafaba died down, I realized I still had another dessert coming. Joshgads, I was full! But the next dessert was chocolate and that NEVER happens at omni restaurants, let alone French restaurants. It’s always – as we have seen for two courses now – fruit sorbet, which is why I despise it. So it was a mixed bag o’ feelings when my Chocolate and Passionfruit Tart came out with — PASSION FRUIT SORBET. Jesus f-ing H that’s three scoops of fruit sorbet in one meal, 2 scoops worth that I let melt instead of choking down. Like, guys, I know you are really world class French chefs and it’s amazing that you are cooking entire vegan tasting menus on the regs, but did you really think 3 courses of fruit sorbet was a good plan? It’s not a good plan! I’d rather you failed to plan because you done planned to fail. Luckily, the chocolate tart was incredible. It was so thick and gooey and melty, like when you melt chocolate chips to bake with but you let the microwave go too long and/or you add a cold liquid and the chocolate seizes instead of liquefying? you know what I mean? or do you always melt your chocolate without a hitch? It was like seized chocolate but with a little bit more give and lot less broken heartedness. Oh man I loved this! Just like eating hot truffles (the chocolate kind not the above mushroom kind).
you say it like fweeeeeee
As usual with these sorts of tasting menus, when we thought we were finished, having asked for the bill, another plate of desserts came out. Husband got little French pastry cakey jawns and I was given a little pate de fruits (see caption) and two ginormous vegan marshmallows! That was very exciting but I was too full to eat them both. I wish they incorporated these into a more interesting first dessert with the meringue instead of the sorbet, and then if you want to force sorbet on me do it at the secret check-food stage so I can decline it without seeming rude. Regardless, it was very cool that they had vegan marshmallows. Maybe I’ll make rice krispie treats now. Treat.
Overall it was a very enjoyable meal, with some low points but mostly medium-to-relatively-high. I wasn’t blown away, but aside from the sorbets, it was a truly lovely dinner. I would totally recommend this place to groups of mixed company (vegans and omnis) or anyone looking for a fancy time in Soho.
Overall it was a very enjoyable meal, with some low points but mostly medium-to-relatively-high. I wasn’t blown away, but aside from the sorbets, it was a truly lovely dinner. I would totally recommend this place to groups of mixed company (vegans and omnis) or anyone looking for a fancy time in Soho.
Gauthier, Soho, London, England, United Kingdom, Europe?
Water speed: Great! London, you’re getting it! I could cry with pride! As fancies do, they offered still or sparkling and we do one of each and it’s so nice.
Service: Very nice to start, although as the restaurant got busier it was harder to flag anyone. But nice, and great for London where customer service is usually like haha no.
Bathrooms: The bathrooms were seriously like a scene from Moulin Rouge, with dark burgundies and interesting mirrors and like a whole vanity table set-up? It was weird how much time I wanted to spend in there.
Food: Very nice and solid, although not as innovative as I would like. The British seeps through. If they got rid of the triple sorbet horror show it would be very horosho. #wordplay
Bonus: It is so damn cool to know that a fancy restaurant will cater to veganism without having to do a lot of preparatory legwork. And it’s nice to have an upscale option for going with nonvegan fancies, like business colleagues or relatives.
Water speed: Great! London, you’re getting it! I could cry with pride! As fancies do, they offered still or sparkling and we do one of each and it’s so nice.
Service: Very nice to start, although as the restaurant got busier it was harder to flag anyone. But nice, and great for London where customer service is usually like haha no.
Bathrooms: The bathrooms were seriously like a scene from Moulin Rouge, with dark burgundies and interesting mirrors and like a whole vanity table set-up? It was weird how much time I wanted to spend in there.
Food: Very nice and solid, although not as innovative as I would like. The British seeps through. If they got rid of the triple sorbet horror show it would be very horosho. #wordplay
Bonus: It is so damn cool to know that a fancy restaurant will cater to veganism without having to do a lot of preparatory legwork. And it’s nice to have an upscale option for going with nonvegan fancies, like business colleagues or relatives.
Veganizing “Friends”: My FAJITAS!!!
Blurry floating food! Guac in background!
We’re at that point in our Veganizing “Friends” fun when we have to acknowledge the worst mistake my beloved show ever made: Trying to make Rachel & Joey happen. UGH! The worst, right? Even if you didn’t like Ross, you still wanted him to end up with Rachel. (It’s pretty much the point of the show, though Monica & Chandler’s relationship was my favorite.) And even if you are some Crazy McCrazerson who didn’t want Ross & Rachel together, there’s no way in hayell that you wanted Rachel & Joey together! It’s like incest! And weird! Awkward for everyone, and especially awkward for Ross. Which brings us to FAJITAS. (I’m legally bound to use all caps.)
As you may recall, Ross understandably but wrongly decides that the best course of action in response to the news of Rachel & Joey is to pretend that he’s fine with it. Not just fine, but fiiiiine. I think he says “I’m fiiiine” about 30 times during the course of this episode. The episode is even called “The One Where Ross Is Fine”! You gotta feel bad for him, even if he acts like a total ass.
As you may recall, Ross understandably but wrongly decides that the best course of action in response to the news of Rachel & Joey is to pretend that he’s fine with it. Not just fine, but fiiiiine. I think he says “I’m fiiiine” about 30 times during the course of this episode. The episode is even called “The One Where Ross Is Fine”! You gotta feel bad for him, even if he acts like a total ass.
To further convince everyone that he’s fiiiine, an unhinged Ross plans a double date dinner party with Rachel, Joey, and Ross’s current girlfriend Charlie. Oh it’s going to be weeeeeird. But he’s making FAJITAS!
The internet really wants me to make Ross’s FAJITAS. So many videos and gifs! It’s like Christmas! Or Cinco de Mayo! So guess what?
How much do you love his face in the above? If your memory of the episode is rusty, watch the video on the left. Warning: He is extremely hyperactive and agita-inducing in this video, and the editing doesn’t help. But it’s still worth it. If you just want to hear Ross say FAJITAS, watch the one on the right.
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Let’s get down to the cooking, shall we? Fajitas and tacos are usually seen as interchangeable, as long as they involve meat, because when most people think fajitas, they think of the sizzling cast iron pan of meat. In fact, fajita originally referred to the cut of beef used in the dish, hence differentiating it from a taco. I also like to think that the tortillas for fajitas are bigger, but that’s probably due to my first fajita experience like 20 years ago.
While we’re definitely going to use bigazz tortillas for wrapping up all the components (and saute a lot of onions of peppers because that’s what stands out to me!), we’re not going to try to veganize the cut of skirt steak to make these FAJITAS more authentic. F that! I’m in the mood for tempeh, so I’m making tempeh! The most brilliant part of Mexican cuisine is that you can wrap a bunch of different things in a tortilla and it’s freaking delicious. Here’s what I did for my FAJITAS:
While we’re definitely going to use bigazz tortillas for wrapping up all the components (and saute a lot of onions of peppers because that’s what stands out to me!), we’re not going to try to veganize the cut of skirt steak to make these FAJITAS more authentic. F that! I’m in the mood for tempeh, so I’m making tempeh! The most brilliant part of Mexican cuisine is that you can wrap a bunch of different things in a tortilla and it’s freaking delicious. Here’s what I did for my FAJITAS:
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COMPONENTS:
For the tempeh:
For the onions and peppers:
 Adding the stuff to the pan For the squash and beans:
 Post-beans For the Brussels sprouts:
I know you know by now that these are one of my favorite foods, when properly doused in oil and nearly burnt. Amaaaazing.
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 Lots of things in various bowls!  Beautiful, innit  Why do veggies always shrink down to nothing! I mean, I know why, but still why.  Pre-beans    |
I think that’s everything! Get some lettuce, tomato, salsa, make your favorite guacamole, and layer all of these various parts on top of your tortilla. I know nothing is really sizzling, but I tend to burn my hands often and badly, (like Ross!) so I left that part out. You go on with your sizzling self, though!
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1 Comment
Wow 😮 I just might make parsnip soup today…
What a beautiful presentation of veggies
We have to talk about the coffee use .. since I am not a coffee drinker but you convinced me it might be the cherry on top
Wonderful blog
Would love to go with you to Bath