Fernandez and Wells, Somerset House WC2: Cafe of the Week

Fernandez and Wells, Somerset House WC2

I’m a big fan of Spanish mini-chain Fernandez and Wells. Step inside one of its three teensy Soho café-bars and you can pretend you’re in a Seville backstreet rather than central London – the coffee, Iberico ham, cheeses and wine list are all excellent.

Fernandez and Wells opened its fourth branch in Somerset House in 2011. But, if like me, you go expecting another hole-in-the-wall joint with seating for all of three people and a small dog, you’ll be in for a surprise. Fernandez and Wells at Somerset House is huge. Spanning three rooms in the East Wing of this 18^th Century neo-classical building, the café seats more than 100 ham-fans and coffee-lovers. Some of the intimate, pseudo-dive feel of the other branches is inevitably lost to the high ceilings, dangling chrome strip lights and white walls. On the plus side, it looks beautiful, modern but classic at the same time, in keeping with the building. Also, you can get a seat.

The counter at Fernandez and Wells, Somerset House

Like the other branches of Fernandez and Wells, the menu is simple – various hams, cheeses and simple tapas, along with sandwiches and cakes from the long, gleaming counter.

Lomito Iberico de Bellota, Fernandez and Wells

We visited for lunch and ordered a plate of lomito Iberico de Bellota, cut from the blade end of the loin. It was insanely good - iintensely piggy and nutty, with a shimmer of grease. One of the cafe's three rooms is known as the 'ham room' - there's a big leg of 36-month-cured Iberico on the bar ready to carve and fat hams hang down one wall of the room. The Iberico was as good as I've eaten anywhere in London, including at the excellent Jose in Bermondsey.

A daily special of squash soup was full of flavour and chilli heat, but a bit thin and watery. It came with thin slices of dark sourdough (possibly a rye-blend), which were cold and stiff with a blackened crust. I couldn’t tell if they were just a bit stale and crusty or had actually been briefly toasted and left to go cold. The white sourdough served with the lomito was fresh, chewy and gorgeous – they should’ve just served the soup with that, too.

Slurping down the soup, I got serious order envy over J’s roasted chicken sandwich ; tender chicken stuffed into a crusty bap with an incredibly creamy, garlicky aioli, rocket, tarragon and chilli flakes.

Tiffin, Fernandez and Wells

The flat whites were flawless, and from the collection of tempting cakes on the counter we shared a couple of slices of a dark and rich tiffin. If you love the intimate, buzzy atmosphere of the smaller branches of Fernandez and Wells, you might find a bit of that missing here but isn't it great to know that hidden behind the many Prets, Neros and Starbucks that pockmark the Strand, you can find a cafe with true style. And a seat. 

Fernandez and Wells, Somerset House, The Strand, London WC2R 1LA

Feta, pea and Jersey Royal frittata with minted yogurt recipe

Feta, pea and Jersey Royal fritatta with minted yogurt

If May is a colour, it is shades of green. Callow yellowy-green new leaves, the year's first cut grass, bunches of fat asparagus and clumps of watercress. All back-lit with a healthy dose of sunshine. In my mind, anyway.

So what is May 2012 playing at? May 2012 is in the throes of an identity crisis, confusing itself with grey, grizzly old February.

But just because the skies are leaden and the rain is rattling at the windows, doesn't mean that May's annual bounty of new season produce isn't in the shops and ready to be played with. I love all the Italian primavera dishes at this time of year - risottos and pasta served simply with asparagus, mint, and soon, the first of the broad beans and summer peas. Frittatas are an ideal vehicle for some primavera greenery. In this frittata recipe, I've used a liberal sprinkling of mint leaves and peas to provide May's missing hit of green, while a golden crust of Jersey Royals, eggs and Feta recreates the AWOL sunshine. Serve it with griddled asparagus and yogurt swirled with mint and garlic, while ignoring the falsely-optimistic weather updates on your iPhone. Siri lies.

Feta, pea and Jersey Royal frittata

Feta, pea and Jersey Royal frittata with minted yogurt

300g Jersey Royals, scrubbed
170g Feta
200g frozen peas, blanched in a bowl of boiling water
6 large free-range eggs, beaten
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
10g butter
1/2 large bunch of mint, shredded
Sea salt
Black pepper

For the minted yogurt

150ml full-fat natural yogurt
1 garlic clove, crushed
Sea salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
2 tbsp mint leaves, finely chopped

Boil the Jersey Royals in a pan of salted water for about 12-15 minutes, until tender but still firm. Drain, then cut into thick slices.

Meanwhile, make the yogurt sauce by stirring the crushed garlic into the natural yogurt. Stir in the finely chopped mint leaves and scatter a few on top. Season and set aside.

Pre-heat the grill to medium.

Heat the butter and oil in a large, heavy-based, oven-proof frying pan over a medium heat. Add the potatoes and fry for a couple of minutes before pouring in the beaten egg.

Add the peas and crumble in the Feta. Scatter the mint leaves over the top and season.
Fry the frittata for about 3-4 minutes until the edges turn frilly and the egg begins to firm up.

Place the frying pan under the grill for a further 2-3 minutes until the top is puffy and golden.

Cut into wedges and serve warm with the yogurt and some griddled asparagus. It is also delicious served cold the next day, with the yogurt sauce as a dressing for a spinach and watercress salad.

Friday Find: Star Wars spatulas

Star Wars TM spatulas, Williams Sonoma

May the fourth be with you. Yes it's the one day a year where Star Wars geekery is (almost) socially sanctioned. Living with a Star Wars lover, and being something of a fan myself (Phantom Menace and most of Attack of the Clones aside), I couldn't resist an appropriately-themed Friday Find today...

These Star Wars spatulas are part of a range of official, Lucasfilm-approved kitchenwares from US cookshop chain Williams Sonoma. Williams Sonoma now ships to the UK, but unfortunately these spatulas and most of the Star Wars merch isn't currently included. But if you're planning a trip to the States - stock up. The range also includes an R2D2 spatula, pancake moulds and cookie cutters.

williams-sonoma.com

Ozone Coffee Roasters, Shoreditch EC2A: Cafe of the Week

Ozone Coffee Roasters, Shoreditch EC2A

Ozone Coffee Roasters is my new favourite brunch spot. This huge, 120-cover cafe in Shoreditch is an ambitious offering from New Zealand roastery, Ozone Coffee. Like the equally swish Allpress and St Ali (now Workshop) before it, Ozone's size and bells-and-whistles fit out is testament to how seriously the Antipodean coffee companies are taking the London cafe scene.

Ozone being a New Zealand import, I took along my two favourite Kiwis, A and R, to put it to the test. 'They've got Kiwi Marmite!' was the first, but by no means last brunch-time cry of delight from A and R.

The cafe occupies two floors of a former industrial building, hidden away on Leonard Street just behind Old Street tube. We ate on the ground floor, an expansive space designed by the same people as Riding House Cafe, with a big bleached-wood counter and espresso bar in the middle, copper pendant lights and turquoise and white brick booths.

We piled into a booth, with more cries of delight for the squishy Kiwiana cushions on each bench...

Ozone Coffee Roasters booth and NZ air force cushion

The coffee, roasted on site, was unbelievably good. The flat whites were smooth and full-bodied with a luscious crema and my long black with soy had hints of vanilla and hazelnuts. It was as rich and complex as a good red wine.

Upside-down flat white, Ozone Coffee Roasters

 Everything on the brunch menu sounded delicious, including organic porridge with candied pistachios (next time!). I plumped for baked eggs with halloumi, lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes and labneh. Here it is...

Look at that sunshine yellow and golden Halloumi crust and know that when you break into it, there'll be a baked egg and a tomatoey chickpea and lentil stew waiting inside. If I was nitpicking, the egg could have been a tad runnier and the Halloumi layer, while delicious, tasted of generic mature cheese rather than Halloumi in particular. Nitpicks aside, it was delicious and I wouldn't hesitate to order it on a future visit. V had the meat version - a similar cheese topping but with braised mince and a baked egg inside. The ragu was rich, sweet and winey - it was incredible, like being allowed to eat lasagne for breakfast.

A's oven-roasted tomatoes and slices of creamy avocado were served on a wooden board with rounds of sourdough. I didn't try this one, but she looked pretty happy. R's egg's Benedict came served on two dense bubble and squeak cakes with a silky Bearnaise spooled over the top...

Ozone Coffee Roasters, eggs Benedict

I'm hugely impressed by Ozone Coffee Roasters and if I still lived in east London, they'd be prising me out of those booths with a broom every Sunday. Tube engineering works allowing, I'll be heading back for more brunches there and I know a Kiwi or two who wouldn't mind a repeat visit either. Nice one, New Zealand.

Ozone Coffee Roasters, 11 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4AQ
ozonecoffee.co.uk

(Photos 1 and 2 copyright Adrienne Pitts)