Going OutRestaurants A theatrical taste of France
The Almeida: ideal for theatre-goers and theatre critics Possibly it was to substantiate Craig Brown's impression of him as being the first English person ever to go to France that Terence Conran opened this quintessentially French restaurant in Islington. Directly opposite the Almeida Theatre, it is a boon and a blessing not just to locals and theatre-goers but also theatre critics. Our very own Nicholas de Jongh extolled to me The Almeida's virtues recently and that, plus the restaurant's fifth birthday being celebrated this month, had me hurrying along. This is a properly grown-up operation with generous space between large tables, no music, an encouraging glimpse of a blue-and-white kitchen gleaming with copper pans, and a carpeted central area to absorb some of the noise of wellfed and watered chatter. By water I of course mean wine, some of which is usefully served in the 46cl pot Lyonnais. The menu is a roll-call of French provincial cooking, starting with onion soup and including items like oysters, snails, terrine of foie gras, entrecÙte-frites-sauce BÈarnaise, sea bass barigoule (with artichokes stewed in oil) and coq au vin. We started with six escargots a la Bourguignonne, which arrived bobbing in bubbling butter and a pot of mouclade, mussels in a creamy sauce enlivened with the pinch of curry powder that the French still cherish for anything vaguely a l'Indienne. Whether or not Pineau de Charentes was used in the sauce, as is also traditional, I couldn't tell. In a French restaurant, you can make a case for serving redlegged partridge, usually inferior in flavour to its greylegged British cousin. This bird, cooked a little too long with chestnuts and wild mushrooms, was served in an iron casserole. I should have had something green with it, but couldn't resist cauliflower gratin. Side dishes are included in the £22/23 price for two/three courses at dinner. Roosters and even capons are hard to come by in this country, which means coq au vin is rarely the robust, deeply flavoured dish it should be. The Almeida coq au vin was good but a rooster used in it would have crowed louder. In January customers have the chance to win cookery courses with chef Ian Wood and also try his menu of favourite dishes - a worthwhile resolution for 2007. The Almeida Almeida Street, London, N1 1AD Reuse content