A Man To Match The Meal: Gordon Ramsay At The London

I’m tough. A tough cookie. A cheeky lil pistol that tends to shoot bullets out of her mouth faster than she can yank her foot out of there-on the rare occasion that I’m wrong about something of course ;) Yeah that’s me.

So naturally, I find comfort and delectable sarcasm among other misunderstood folks whose honesty is often mistaken for some form of asshole-ism.

As you can guess, internationally renowned chef and asshole, Gordon Ramsay, wasn’t just my Tuesday night primetime tv indulgence, he was also one of my biggest curiosities. You figure a man with a mouth that loud and expressive had to have passed at least some of those qualities back into his food. But of course, like any self-proclaimed non-famous foodie, I could only approach the man’s cuisine with hopeful expectations that the bland palettes of British chefs was simply just a nasty rumor started by perhaps some bitter Americans.

Enter Chef Gordon Ramsay At The London Hotel. Brunch. A lovely Sunday afternoon.

I skip over the luscious silken fabrics of pastels, silver and the air of British Tea on well, a lovely Sunday afternoon. A place designed more for the duchesses of LA rather than the douchebags of LA.

Immediately I’m greeted with a menu chalk-ful of thought and oozing of taster’s choice. Pick three courses drowned with a glass of delicious champagne. I feel like I’m in New York again. Yes, I’m sold.

I begin my meal with a corned beef hash concoction. My gauge of deliciousness tends to spike off the charts when a chef can convince me that something I usually hate can actually taste like something other than gross. When the plate arrives, I can't help but smile. A balanced little assembly of careful plating and delicate bites almost made me forget that this dish is typically served as a mess of over-salted meatloaf resembling raw meat and grease. Seasoned to light savory perfection with a perfectly cooked egg, Ramsay took the idea of corned beef hash and turned it onto its sophisticated little ear.


Potato and Corned Beef Hash with Fried Duck Eggs, Manchego Cheese

I hate asparagus. It and I have just never gotten along and tend to avoid each other at all costs. However, much to my dismay Chef Ramsay’s signature dish happened to be Asparagus Risotto. I wait anxiously to be convinced. And convinced I was. The crisp crunch of the blindingly green asparagus and peas defied cooking beyond recognition. I didn’t even realize what I was eating because I had never eaten a vegetable cooked so perfectly. The creaminess of the risotto only intensified the texture on the rest of the plate.

Asparagus Risotto

Roasted Pork Belly? Count me in. Slight salty but tender to the touch and folded to encase the savory juices that only a pig can produce. It's good to be fat.

Roasted Pork Belly

As if my palette hadn’t been overwhelmed enough, I lunge into the Seared Rib Eye Steak with Horse Radish Pomme Purée and Truffle Sauce. Truffled, juicy, tender, fatty rib eye accompanied by a bourgeois cousin to the garlic mashed potato, I literally sank into my big, pink, silken chair. The meat glistened almost as much as my eyes just before they glassed over with indulgent shame.

Seared Rib Eye Steak with Horse Radish Pomme Purée and Truffle Sauce

Dessert at last.

Fruit panna cotta. A soiree of fresh fruit blend plopped onto a bed of fluffy panna cotta and it’s enough to make me forget my name...and the real name of this dessert. Sorry. Just describe sweet pinkish heaven and I'm sure they'll understand the reference.

Fruit Panna Cotta

Last up, a lemon curd tart with a drop of mascarpone cream. The only slightly and literally sour note to an otherwise delicious meal, I found myself drawn back to the mascarpone cream if not only to balance out the extreme acidity in this little tart. Sounds like an LA experience for sure. It was the only heavy handed element within Chef Ramsay’s creations.


Meyer Lemon Curd Tart with Mascarpone Cream

So at the end of day, you had to ask, did the meal match the man behind it? If you continue to see Ramsay as the brash, abrasive and overbearing caricature he plays on tv, then definitely not. The man I met that day was one full of thought, creativity and a delicious sophistication. Meeting in him person would just be a bonus.

http://www.thelondonwesthollywood.com/gordon_ramsay/gordon_ramsay_at_london.cfm