"Hairspray Live!" on NBC: Where Is Jessie Spano With Her Caffeine Pills When You Need Her? by Randi / December 8, 2016
When I say Persepolis, you say…! If anything comes to your mind along the lines of an ancient city or a graphic novel or a movie about a graphic novel before you think ‘tiny magical resto-shoppe in Peckham’, then you are doing life wrong. Unless you wrote/drew that graphic novel or got a doctorate about that ancient city, then you get a pass. But for the rest of you diddadoofs, it’s the best restaurant in all of England, probably all of Europe if I may say so myself and if I may still consider England a part of Europe because I refuse to acknowledge that the entire world is falling to pieces. But food! Delicious, amazing, Iranian vegan food!
Almost exactly one year ago, I had one of the best meals of my entire life at Persepolis. You can read about it here and you should because I was funny. Every year since at least last year, Persepolis does a big Christmas feast for $30 (do I have to repeat again that when talking about stuff in the UK I mean for that $ to mean pound-dollars so please just read all $ as pound signs I don’t have the timeeee to figure out a workable alternative that fits my vision), and as you’ll see (or as you’ve seen) the food you get is worth so much more than that, both in terms of quality and quantity. It’s the best deal and the best food. Now, last year’s Chrimble feast was top 3 best meals ever, I think, for me. It set a standard that would be nigh impossible to ever match, and subsequently, this year’s was not as magnificent. As a feast, it wasn’t as well structured or cohesive as before, but the dishes were all still great. The famed chef, Sally (whose new cookbook named Persepolis should already be in your possession), told us at the start that she was forgoing the advertised feast menu (which is really just a ‘suggestion’ for her) and making us whatever came to her mind. This is the best way to have her cook for you, but the drawbacks of this method, which were inevitably going to expose themselves eventually, did indeed expose themselves. I made you think of something dirty didn’t I. Everything was very good, but as a meal it was a little disjointed. Nothing really felt like a main course. Luckily, it was a much more reasonable amount of food than last year, and we were joyous throughout instead of sobbing in first-world-problem pain.
As is custom, we started with Mr Shopkeeper’s (as Sally calls her husband) famous pomegranate-prosecco cocktail, which even I will admit is among the least disgusting alcohol mixtures I’ve ever tasted. I managed to catch all the pomegranate beads (that’s what they’re called) in only 2 sips before I gave the rest to the drinkers to finish! Success! Then, we enjoyed the Christmas crackers strewn about the table and pulled the strange little explosive paper toys with glee. This is a thing here. You pull on it like a wishbone, although it’s much less cruel. Instead of a wish which any idiot gets on their birthday anyway, whoever takes away the bigger portion gets the hidden prize inside. As luck would have it, I won my round and was elated to find a useful tool inside instead of a shit plastic toy or some such nonsense. Prize pictured below.
YASS TWEEZERS SO USEFUL
I feel like this prize (nail clippers were also used as prizes) demonstrates the ethos of the owners pretty well.
After a bit of a wait, as is customary here because of the lack of a real kitchen (Sally makes everything on like a single burner and a tiny little counter), the fabulous starters arrived. The starter-type dishes at Persepolis are the constants, nothing very new here, but they are great. First we got a plate of makdous – pickled stuffed eggplant, with two types of olives and peter pipers joining it. Another plate was a pasta salad with beet and an amazing bean salad, all topped with lots of fresh herbs. Then a third plate was half ajvar – a Serbian red pepper puree – and half soy yogurt. Both condiments were very impressive, although they are just condiments and would have been better served with noncondiments. But we had lavash, so all is well!
Next up was the best part of the meal, the famous fried ball plate. Or really the kibbeh and falafel plate but it was three types of fried-ball-change and it was amazing as usual. The homemade falafel, sweet potato patties, and the walnut kibbeh (the best) were all in fine form, but what sent it over the edge was the 3 sauces served with it. One was a fattet tahini sauce (that’s what it’s called I’m told I’m not being rude) that I would put on everything ever, better than the tahini sauces I make (almost every single day). Next was a garlic yogurt sauce that worked really well with the fryness. And last was a Persian curry, bright and a little sour and super effective at cutting the heaviness of the balls. I especially enjoyed using all three sauces at once though I fear admitting this will get me barred from returning.
The appetizer/main hybrid dishes started coming out next (could successfully argue either side), starting with stuffed tomatoes. Sally came out to ask us if we’d had the Violife Mozzarella yet, because she loves it and used it in the tomatoes. A mixture of spices, rice, and the mozzarella filled the tomatoes, and they were pretty good, although the tomato itself seemed unadorned and so tasted like hot tomato.
It kind of looks like ribs here ah
The next dish was one of my faves because it was the most innovative of the meal. This super soft, sort of charred eggplant was covered in a sticky chili cinnamon sauce and stuffed with dates and nuts and it was beyond. You didn’t need a knife for it. And some bites would be syruppy and kind of sweet and then the next would be super hot from the chili. Such a fun game! This reminded me the most of last year’s meal, and so made me a little sad that it was the only such reminder of the usual innovation. Persepolis is the one place where I actually enjoy dried fruit as part of savory dishes. Or dried fruit at all, really. What Sally does with dates is pure genius. I would never think to cook them with eggplant, or with tofu like in her famous tofu scramble. It’s so incredible and creative.
voila! breakfast!
The next two dishes, our main features, were both grain based, and so I think that’s the reason why I was less impressed overall because I prefer beany and veggie things over dishes that showcase grains. It was a lot of grain, like in the pyramids. They were both of course delicious though. First was almost like a breakfast muesli (as opposed to any other kind of muesli (well I guess here we have dinner muesli)), with pearly bulgur (or spelt, or really it could be any non-rice grain I’m not an expert), black dates, raisins (or sultanas, I guess), slivered almonds, and any other assortment of dried fruit and nuts along with edible flower petals. Sugar dates! Sugar dates and figs! Sugar dates and pistachios! A pot of yogurt in the center really solidified the breakfast vibe. It was super delicious, spicy and warm and cinnamony, but definitely more of a breakfast dish in my estimation, rather than the main event at a meal like this. Dates in my eggplant represent about the limit of my tolerance for sweet food masquerading as non-desserts.
The second half of the grain event (DO YOU GET IT) was a traditional Persian jeweled rice dish, which I was super happy to finally get to try. Flavorful rice was mixed with fresh herbs and pomegranate seeds, with another container of yogurt in the center. I must say, this meal featured more yogurt than John Stamos’s fridge. I’m not a yogurt fan, but it’s really good and useful to cut intense spices or heavy fried foods. A pleasant rice dish, not so much. But as a side dish, I would love it. I do love pomegranate seeds despite the morbid mythological connotations (same joke different year).
Sally came over when we finished these grains and asked how we were doing. She said if we were full, she would bring dessert next, or if we still wanted to try savory food, she’d bring that day’s hot pot for us to try. I was kinda upset that we hadn’t had any main event dishes, or beans. I need teh proteins. My companions all agreed to try the hot pot, and luckily it was a split pea carrot stew. It was decent, similar to the kind of soup I make weekly. It came with a little cucumber salad and – you guessed it! – more rice and yogurt. I guess there was a theme! I’m glad we tried this extra dish, because as always we needed to build up our regular food foundation as much as possible to prepare for the onslaught of sugar that was to follow. Otherwise your body would splode from all the sugar. All the sugar. So much sugar.
So about that sugar! Sally’s dessert platters are among her most impressive skills. She always gives us way too much and we finish it anyway, and it’s always freaking amazing. Turkish delight, paklava, halvah, syruppy flaky pastries and nut-filled bars of unknown origin and name, it’s all wonderful and despite being so much and so sweet, even those of us with the smallest sweet tooth still eat it till it’s gone. This time, Sally also gave us little ice cream sundaes covered with bright pink sugary rose water to accompany the more solid sources of sugar. OH man! It was all soooo good. Oh and don’t forget the dates and the little cup of cotton candy! Man alive. Wilford Brimley is PISSED.
Just when we thought we were done and could start trying to breathe again, Sally came out with ANOTHER dessert platter. Luckily, it was mostly fruit, but still! I think I ate all the pomegranate and watermelon. In the center is a yogurty custard kind of thing that you eat with the pomegranate chili syrup to its left. That syrup was something else! Such an interesting and detailed flavor, reminding us of the chili sugar powder mix that would come with fresh fruit from stalls in Thailand. Oh man.
So dessert definitely stood out for me as the strongest part of the meal. Well aside from the kibbeh plate and all those glorious sauces. And the eggplant was so good. Well overall it was a great meal. I may have lots of quibbles about it not being as good as least year for my taste or as full o’ beans, but still, we’re still talking great food.
PERSEPOLIS, PECKHAM, LONDON
Water speed: In a shocking surprise twist, a new waitress brought us carafes of tap and kept em coming! What a delight.
Service: As I’ve said before, it’s a true slow food experience, much more so than those fakers up in California. But they are the nicest people and it’s always worth the wait. The new waitress means it is sometimes easier to flag down assistance, except of course when it’s crowded, which it often is.
Bathrooms: There is still one! The light cord is right in the doorway so it kind of kept getting caught in my hair so that was fun.
Food: So good. Nothing can top last year and the feast felt more like a lot of side dishes but still, delicious amazing side dishes.
Bonus: Pretty much endless dessert, and it’s all the best.
Water speed: In a shocking surprise twist, a new waitress brought us carafes of tap and kept em coming! What a delight.
Service: As I’ve said before, it’s a true slow food experience, much more so than those fakers up in California. But they are the nicest people and it’s always worth the wait. The new waitress means it is sometimes easier to flag down assistance, except of course when it’s crowded, which it often is.
Bathrooms: There is still one! The light cord is right in the doorway so it kind of kept getting caught in my hair so that was fun.
Food: So good. Nothing can top last year and the feast felt more like a lot of side dishes but still, delicious amazing side dishes.
Bonus: Pretty much endless dessert, and it’s all the best.
Related Posts
Delicious Baked Polenta, Two Glorious Ways!
I can never have enough polenta. Isn’t it the best? It’s so cheap, it’s super easy to play with, and it’s Italian. Most importantly, it’s insanely versatile. You can make it straight for a plain side dish, fry up ready-made pieces, use it for dessert, and bake it in a pan with a variety of interesting toppings. Like a pizza or flatbread!
Recently, I went to London’s polenta-based restaurant called La Polentaria (review coming soon). I loved that polenta was front and center for all the dishes (obviously). I also loved that the walls had interesting information about polenta, like that it has more protein per serving than an egg! (So the wall said. I am not checking because I want that to be true.) Here are two recipes, one for a cheesy mushroom baked polenta casserole-sort-of thing, and one for classic polenta bruschetta. Both dishes would be great for entertaining company, although I prefer to hoard the entire casserole pan myself.
Recently, I went to London’s polenta-based restaurant called La Polentaria (review coming soon). I loved that polenta was front and center for all the dishes (obviously). I also loved that the walls had interesting information about polenta, like that it has more protein per serving than an egg! (So the wall said. I am not checking because I want that to be true.) Here are two recipes, one for a cheesy mushroom baked polenta casserole-sort-of thing, and one for classic polenta bruschetta. Both dishes would be great for entertaining company, although I prefer to hoard the entire casserole pan myself.
First, the bruschetta! Lots of bruschetta will use a raw tomato and garlic mixture, but that’s nothing special, really. If you want that, you can easily just chop up some tomatoes and mix with garlic and basil and olive oil. Easy peasy. But it’s winter so I wanted a warm cooked tomato topping. It really pays off to make your own and not use store-bought tomato sauce or any crap like that. I mean you could; you can put literally anything edible on top of hardened polenta and it would be delectable. But when it comes to sauce, this is the way to do it.
POLENTA BRUSCHETTA
Remember: it’s a hard ‘k’ sound. None of this ‘shetta’ bullshit.
Remember: it’s a hard ‘k’ sound. None of this ‘shetta’ bullshit.
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hahaha this is the longest picture ever I love it 
I ran out of pictures |
Next up, we have a ridiculously addictive vegan-cheese topped mushroom casserole. I never buy vegan cheese like ever, but all this talk about the new Field Roast Chao slices over in Murka has made me quite envious. But apparently, the UK’s best vegan cheese, Violife, is just like the Chao stuff! So I bought it. And it is soooo gooooood. It asked me to be used over a homemade pizza but come on I can’t plan weeknight dinner long enough in advance to account for rising yeast dough. Ain’t nobody got time for that! So instead this is kind of like a polenta pizza! It even has my favorite pizza topping: mushrooms! I also threw on cannellini beans because I love beans.
Cheesy Mushroom & White Bean Polenta Casserole
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The Frog Restaurant in Hoxton: One of London’s Best Vegan Tasting Menus
Over the weekend, I tried the vegan tasting menu at a non-vegan place and I was blown away – I think it’s one of the best vegan tasting menus out there! I know I’m starting off with a REAL bold statement but damn if I’m not telling the truth. You may already know all about our crippling addiction to tasting menus and eating at all the Michelin-starred restaurants that will accommodate vegans (you can read about some of those here), even though as previous Vegan Michelin Series reviews will tell you, it’s all usually very good but kind of like ‘eh it’s still just a well-cooked vegetable; is it worth all this money’. But I was pleasantly surprised by The Frog, a very hip very cool restaurant in Hoxton Square that’s doing actually creative tasting menus, even for vegans, and has received a Michelin Bib Gourmand in recent years, which warrants its place in this series (but honestly it was good enough that I’d be putting it here even without official Michy recognition).
I know I said in one of the last of the Vegan Michelin Series that we were probably going to stop for a while but a) that was like a year ago so we did b) this was a very special occasion and 3) this tasting menu was only £50 per person! That’s like normal eating out in London prices! (Side note, are you so glad I learned how to use the £ sign and stopped saying ‘pounddollars’. That’s growth.)
Like all tasting menus, this menu describes what’s to come using as few key words as possible so you really have no idea what to expect but it looks and sounds g-d elegant. Also, the sparsely worded menu makes it seem like you aren’t getting a lot of food but as usual we had to roll ourselves home. They quickly brought our first snacks, which I appreciated because I was as hungry as I was excited and also I can’t stay out too late especially when we have to walk through SHOREDITCH on a WEEKEND to get home man alive it was a nightmare of drunken crowdedness.
My first bunch of snacks were called “heritage carrot, roasted hazelnuts, mint” and “kohlrabi, nori, tarragon”. I like these words but was curious to see what they meant when put together.
The little kohlrabi bite was good, though the nori was extra strong and made it a bit too salty for me. But that carrot bite was literally incredible. I was/am almost embarrassed to be so bowled over by a jesus forking cracker with barbecued-tasting carrots on a delightful carrot puree but it was magical, and it makes my head hurt to think about how this was possible. This was my first Jon-Lovitz-on-Friends impression in a while (“Like it?? I could eat a hundred of ’em!”). This goddamn carrot cracker was my first indication that this was going to be amazing. (But seriously why was this so good?? How did you do it? What dark magick hath you wrought?)
Our next snacks – oh, so for tasting menus and Michelin-y places they like to throw a bunch of small bites at your face before you get to the actual courses so you feel well-liked by the chef and full as fork sooner rather than later – were just as good if not better! I got a sourdough cracker topped with pea hummus and dollops of…something jammy? I got jammed! Just as I weirdly went off about how amazing a simple bite of carrot was, I’m going to do the same about versions of sourdough right now. This cracker was amazing. I wish I could buy bags on bags of these crackers since they somehow nailed the exact perfect strength and texture for holding hummus, and as you know I eat hummus every day. EVERY DAY SON. I forget what the jammy dodger drops were all about but it added the perfect bit of sweetness to cut through the mild flavors. And guys, HUMMUS! Most of my tasting menu overviews complain about how they never think to give vegans protein because they’re always too busy going ‘oh look at me, look at me, I can cook a vegetable like you’ve never seen it before’ and you’re like ‘that’s fantastic and you’re right but also my muscles’ so I was prettay, prettay stoked to get peas so early on.
I can’t believe I wrote so much about a g-d cracker with hummus but it was really good.
Also pictured above was one of our favorite things ever and also our downfall: the bread. The Frog’s rye sourdough bread was forking phenom, and while Z got his with the place’s very famous chicken butter (gross)(not like ‘gross’ Z said it was great but I mean like gross for us sorry), I got a pat of house-made vegan butter! And by ‘pat’ I mean ‘patrick’ really because this was a lotttt of butter, and it was forking delicious. So delicious that we…asked for more bread. I know. You NEVER ask for more bread at a tasting menu. We are not new to this! We know the drill – you are already super full before you even get to dessert, and then they keep bringing you more food than you can handle and you leave feeling disgustingly full but like so happy but also SO hurt! We know all this! We done f-ed up because of that damn delicious bread. And the butter. Dammit bread and butter! Why are you so good? We had so much and then I was already full before my first actual course came. NEVER ASK FOR MORE BREAD (except honestly do because it’s so good).
My first actual course, thank you I’m already full, was “celeriac, apple, dates”. The combo of celeriac and apple is prime fancy restaurant territory and I was like oh this will be nice but basic. Turns out this was not basic but ya basic, because guess what was inside that bundle of celeriac? TOFU! It was like a tofu cream cheese stuffed inside the bundle. Restaurants NEVER do tofu anything except chocolate mousse so this was a really nice surprise. Yasss for protein, yes for tofu in the savories! This was really good. But the best part was that Z also had a cream cheese filled dish, and when the waiter described his dish and mentioned “the richness of the cream cheese”, Z said (after he left) “well thanks for letting me eat all that damn butter.” He was hurt too. It was so good.
My next course was “roast cauliflower, kimchi, yeast”. I know – I was like ‘jfc they’re going to bring me a hunk of roasted cauliflower and call it a steak, aren’t they? ffs’ because for some reason I was still being all defensive even though everything so far was wonderful. I should really be more optimistic because hot damn guys, this cauliflower dish was like one of the most mind-blowing things I’ve ever had. I still can’t even believe this dish. There were a few roasted cauliflower florets but not like you’ve ever had before. They tasted like General Tso’s chicken, complete with the sticky sweet sauce in the middle. But 100x better than you’ve ever had. The cauliflower kimchi was super pungent and spicy (nice) and the creamy sauce itself was remarkable. I guess the yeast was maybe a sprinkling of nooch? I’m not sure; I didn’t ask because I was too busy saying ‘holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.’
I was so happy and so satisfied, and I relaxed a little knowing that we hit the peak of the meal and nothing else coming was going to top that (sounds weird but that’s a little relaxing, like the pressure is off). But I was wrong.
I was wrong because next up was the “flatbread, cashew, sweetcorn, jalapeno” dish and it was Mexico. It was Mexico on a plate. (It’s fitting too, because starting this week on the Travel section of this site it’s time for our epic Mexico trip. I KNOW! So I know what Mexico tastes like, guys.) This was a perfect food. I don’t know what else to say about it. The sturdy little flatbread had the most incredible texture and (I’m sooo sorry) mouthfeel, and all the components on top – that cashew cream, the corn, the jalapeno, the herby oil – exist just to be placed on that circle of magic. I made Z have a piece even though he was equally full and, in his words, “I got my own problems here!” and he agreed that it was akin to disc of rainbows. He didn’t say that.
That marked the end of our savory dishes, but there was a special in-between course that killed us both – the cheese doughnut. Mine was an oily fried dough slab covered in cashew cream and cashew dust and it killed me. Oh my god. I don’t eat too much heavy food and this was like an Iowa state fair concentrated into three bites. It was like a funnel cake from a carnival without the sugar, manhandled into a denser substance, and then topped with forking cashew cream. It was so heavy, is what I’m saying. And yes it was pretty darn good, but I think it needed either some salt or some sugar, because without any additional flavor, its flavor profile was just Fat. Every gluttonous tasting menu situation has a point where you suspect the restaurant is making fun of you, and this was theirs. Z said “this isn’t a doughnut; this is a way to get people to eat fondue with their hands!” I asked him if he liked his doughnuttier, cheese-filled version, expecting him to say ‘eh’ or something, and he sighed in fullness and horror at what he was eating and said “fucking of course”. Hilarious. We were mocking how full the other was (so full) and I said to him ‘you have to finish all that coconut!’ Here’s his dish after he ate his doughnut. (Read the caption.)
Luckily, we had little palate cleansers before dessert.
This strawberry sorbet was perfect, and I loved getting it as a little palate cleanser and not as my whole dessert. I think most restaurants have learned from their sordid past of offering vegans fruit and fruit sorbets for dessert and calling it a day, and that’s a reality I like to think all my complaining has helped bring to fruition.
I do wish that they had put this on the vegan menu though, or told me I was getting a strawberry sorbet palate cleanser, because the vegan dessert option has you choose between strawberry or pineapple and I chose strawberry. So I had two servings of this (the second on my actual dessert). Unless…maybe they had made my strawberry sorbet for my dessert and then just gave me more of it to have a palate cleanser while Z had his? Interesting.
I’m not too mad about doubling up on the sorbet though, because like I said it was delicious, and more importantly, the vegan dessert was much more than just sorbet. It was more tofu! In the form of chocolate! And yes this isn’t exactly creative but man alive I’ll never look a gift chocolate tofu mousse in the mouth. I’ll be too busy putting it in mine. This may not have been the most interesting dessert, but it was great, and I’d rather have something tried and true and delicious than another curry ice cream fail.
As usual, just when you think you’ve made it, they bring you more food to end your experience. With our bill came these chocolate truffles. Luckily, they put them in a little to-go container for us, and I got to enjoy mine the next day. It was truly great, like this entire dinner. I would highly recommend a trip to The Frog for a go at their tasting menu, especially if you need a fancy place that caters to vegans and weirdos who aren’t vegan. I believe they change their menu monthly, so get in for these amazing dishes while it’s still August. I can’t wait to go back.
THE FROG, HOXTON, LONDON, UK, EUROPE PLEASE STAY EUROPE
Water speed: Honestly, LUDICROUSLY good. Like more attentive than American Chinese restaurants where they refill your glass after every sip you take. But since we had water carafes on the table, it was a little unnecessary – you don’t have to refill my glass after every sip when I have the full bottle within reach! I can do it myself! But still, I’ll never complain about having good water service. I mean I guess I just did. But it was great. They replaced the 6 or so bottles I went through very quickly too.
Service: Really great. Like I said, sometimes it was a little extra with the water service, but overall this was some of the best if not the best service in London. Case in point: During one course, I finished my dish and my 10th bottle of water, but Z still wasn’t done and I said I’m sorry but I’ve had 15 bottles of water so I excused myself and when I got back, he told me that they came to refold my napkin (as they do) but did not take my finished plate away! THAT IS A FIRST. They did exactly what you’re supposed to do but no one ever follows that rule. Every other restaurant has always taken the empty plate away while the other diner/s were still eating, which is forking rude and also not the correct move, so bravo. The sommelier was good too and Z said he enjoyed the wine pairing.
Bathrooms: Okay so this was the only real negative I have to report. There are two single stalls, one plain, one disabled, and they were…not good. They were like the bathrooms in Starbucks but less nice. We were both really surprised.
Food: So surprisingly awesome. Some of these dishes are on my Most list. It’s so nice to find a vegan tasting menu that definitely shows respect to vegetables but also makes them fun and interesting.
Bonus: The tasting menu cost is very reasonable. It’s a fraction of the cost of other Michelin-y ones out there and yet much better. Great stuff.
