A few days earlier The Rag Factory, just off Brick Lane, looked like this...
Now, and for the next week only, thanks to the Challenge Anneka work ethic and good taste of Mesdames Hart & Fuggle, the rehersal space is alive with the impending joys of spring...
If you've managed to reserve a place, you're in for a treat. If next week goes arctic again as predicted, let the Hart & Fuggle be your temporary refuge from the frost. Inside, all is warmth and conviviality. As well as the crocuses and buds in jam jars on the tables, the tables (on loan from Petersham Nurseries) are laid with thoughtful touches - tealights, bottle openers for your BYO's, mini pots of lemon curd to take home for your toast...
On display are artworks from the likes of illustrator Emma Dibben (creator of the much-loved, much-imitated seasonal food sketches in the ol' Day Job Publication), up-and-coming artist Mary Ramsden and sculptor Joseph Paxton. The temporary kitchen is very much open-plan, hell - there's even a ginger tom running around - the overall effect is cosy without being twee, cool without being Shoreditchy.
A Veuve Cliquot sharpener and a peppy Keen's Cheddar straw gets everyone in the zone for a serious feed. The carbing begins in earnest with generous bowls of a gentle pear and celeriac soup, punched-up with ribbons of Neal's Yard Colston Bassett and sublty sweet twists of frazzled parsnip, served with hunks of fresh bread.
6-hour lamb shoulder is as soft and tender as you'd hope, and comes with cavolo nero and a hillock of fluffy semolina gnocchi - comfort food at its most elemental and soothing...
A rich dessert would've been overkill, but mismatched teacups filled with clementine jelly and a small Sauternes syllabub, followed by ripe clementines, brought the meal to a pleasantly-full-but-I-can-still-walk conclusion. I would've taken a picture of pud, but I was too busy having fun.
If you want to visit The Hart & Fuggle and haven't reserved a spot, if you check the Twitter feeds of @alicecooks and @thelarderlout they will flag up any cancellations. If not, fear not, I suspect this won't be the last time London's newest dynamic duo pop-up for supper somewhere. A little birdie told me...
http://www.thehartandfuggle.com/index.html
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3 comments:
What a wonderful word 'syllabub' is. Greatly enjoying your writing.
ooh am so pleased they're doing more nights - I can't wait to go back! Love those little touches and I can confirm that the lemon curd was deelish.
Douglas - syllabub is indeed a great word. So glad you are enjoying it - that's great to hear.
Mademoiselle Geek - I forgot to take home my curd. Gutted doesn't cover it.
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