It was fortunate to come across an interview on Monocle 24 with April Bloomfield and found out through her website that she will be cooking in St John Hotel for 2 days only. It was much busier than you would expect for Wednesday lunchtime. The cocktail “lust for life” of gin, violet, mint and lemon was just what it said and it was zesty, fresh and came in a beautiful tinge of purple. The snack of devil on horseback was boozy with a right balance of sweet fruit and salty bacon. The starter of pigs ear salad was exactly what it says: a whole pig’s ear served with a peppery salad with coriander, it was a nice balance of flavour and texturally perfect. The main of chorizo stuffed squid with beans and smoked tomatoes had a nice burst of smokiness that goes well with the beans and the squid. It was a very well executed meal and follow right on the St John philosophy of cooking. My companion had a haddock chowder and the Spotted pig burger which came with shoe string fries. The fries were fried with garlic and rosemary which gave it a lovely flavour of otherwise simple deep fried strings of potatoes. This came in at a good time as this is a tricky time for st John hotel as no sooner it received a Michelin star in early October that it went into administration. It can do with a boost and this was an excellent answer to that.
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