HIDE (upstairs) Ollie Dabbous, Piccadilly. London

As we are all living though some very interesting times I thought it a good time to run through some of my recent and past travel, wine and food experiences.

Heres a recent one from a lunch at Hide in London.

Stay safe!

David

Admittedly, a touch of food fatigue tinged with trepidation had creeped upon me approaching our lunch at Hide Upstairs. Two previous days of Michelin starred eating had consequences, two stars in two days… blah blah blah. How was I to consume more! I know it sounds pompous and at a level of wanker-ness that my wife says I’m only capable of, but I was almost a little over Michelin.

Simon Rogan’s brilliant interpretation of English food had left me grounded, the flavours of Elystan Street were so deep one could bath in them, and then there was a rather anonymous late-night Club Sandwich and a bottle of Champagne in the depths of the Fulham. So honestly, when all this is considered, what could Ollis Dabbous do.

In my mind it was decided. A couple of quick courses, a glass of wine…. maybe two or three, then a catch up with English mates at the pub. Lunch at noon home by three, pub at six.

Planned and ready to execute.

Well as it turns out I was wrong. Rarely have I felt like a sixteen-year-old girl at a Justin Bieber concert. I thought I’d given this dining slash cooking thing a pretty good go. I’ve dined out a bit more than the average punter and often I have found that tasting menus fail to deliver the connection that I crave. But Hide was different, different in it’s well spaced dining room, soft tones in blondish wood and welcoming staff. And the food….

Everyone raves about the staircase at Hide, it is a nice staircase, a wonderful Fibonacci spiral. But honestly who cares about a staircase when the food is this good. There is a simple complexity to this food. This is subtle, well-conceived and crafted food. Plated to an inch of its life and served with a degree phlegmatic finesse.

And if this weren’t enough, to top it all off, Ollie Dabbous is a really really nice guy.

Having never previously met, he came to the table and chatted openly about the food, the restaurant and a host of other things, first class.

In the words that follow I will attempt not to rave on and on, but we did try almost everything thing on the menu all with matched wines. The wine service was excellent and the wines themselves were interesting and very well matched to each dish. From Champagne, to South Africa, New Zealand, Italy, France and everywhere else, this was one of the most eclectic wine services I have had in a recent while.