SEEING in last week's Letters how con- cerned Ms Joanna
Ritchie is about unnec- essary expenditure by The Spectator on my meals, it may relieve her to know that I was Invited, along with some 70 other fellow restaurant hacks and assorted loodies', by the proprietor Michel Roux to celebrate the 25th birthday of his Waterside Inn on the Thames, at Bray.
It was a champagne evening in every sense, with four vintages of that noble wine lined up to accompany an impeccably cho- sen, superbly cooked four-course meal. We began with Taittinger Comtes de Cham- pagne blanc de blanc 1990 en magnum as the perfect aperitif, and then sat down to a slice of poached wild salmon covered by a delicate, yet intense tomato consommé with chervil, poured over it at the table. This was accompanied by Mumm's excel- lent Cordon Rouge 1989, which continued with the next course, tronconnette de- homard poelee minute au porto blanc, o?". of Waterside's specialities listed by Roux in his three-cooking-star entry in the current Michelin Guide to Great Britain. It is indeed a sublime dish: splendidly fresh, juicy lob- ster, with the white port sauce having just the correct hint of sweetness to comple- ment the fish. After this came carre de veau poel6 et son jus a l'estragon: the veal meltingly tender, perfectly accompanied by the fresh tarragon, and the selection of petites legumes irreproachable. With this we drank Modt et Chandon's admirable Brut Imperial 1992 in magnums, before going on to Perrier-Jouet's glorious Belle Epoque rosé 1988, also in magnums. This accompanied a perfect peach, roasted with lavender and joined by a superb red-cur- rant sorbet — the ideal end to an unforget- table meal. It had been cooked by Mark Dodson, who came to the Waterside in 1983 and has been head chef there since 1988. He and the alumni chefs, Pierre Koff- mann, Christian Germain and Michel Per- raud, will be cooking celebratory dinners at Waterside during October. `Vaut le voyage' is what I say! The brothers Roux opened Le Gavroche in Lower Sloane Street in 1967, and in July 1981 Albert moved it to its present address in Upper Brook Street, Mayfair, Michel having already departed to open the Waterside Inn in 1972. Albert has now retired from Le Gavroche's kitchen, leaving his son, Michel Roux junior, in charge. At present the Michelin Guide awards Gavroche two stars, as against Waterside's three, but having dined there recently I would venture to suggest that Michel junior's cooking is as deserving of three stars as his uncle's, with Mark Dodson.
Gavroche is an impressive, if slightly heavy establishment. I went there with a Russian law student, Zarina Korolova, who is studying in Warsaw and is in London to absorb the best of English law and culture. She was keen to discover how Gavroche compared with Warsaw's Hotel Bristol, where we had eaten a memorable dinner earlier in the year. Having had aperitifs and ordered in the ground floor bar, we descended to the opulently appointed, well spaced and lit restaurant for the dinner we had chosen a la carte: there are prix fixe dinners at £60 and £85, and a set lunch, including half a bottle of wine per head, for £38 — something of a bargain.
Zarina started with artichoke hearts stuffed with snails, with herbs and a little garlic, which was delicate yet powerfully flavoured, and as agreeable a way of eating snails as I have encountered. I chose steamed lobster wrapped in spinach on a bed of girolles with sage. This was superb: exquisitely flavoured, the lobster teaming brilliantly with the spinach and mushrooms. We then shared a poulette de Bresse 'en vessie', the whole beautiful Bresse chicken poached in the bladder, prepared 'demi- deuil' with truffle slices between skin and flesh, and with a bouillon containing petites legumes. This was a wonderful dish: the chicken meltingly tender and full of the flavour of the bird brought out by the truf- fles, the broth and vegetables light yet flavoursome. A marvellously light, digestible dish, yet one with all the excite- ment and sophistication one could possibly want. With the first course we drank a half of excellent Pouilly Fume 1995, and with the chicken a remarkable Margaux, Chateau Deyrem-Valentin 1988, sumptu- ous and something of a Gavroche 'snip' at £16.90 the half-bottle.
To end the meal we celebrated the legacy of Papa Roux by taking omelette Roth- schild, the dish he used to prepare for dessert when chef to that family. In the hands of his son Michel, this soufflé omelette with apricots and cointreau was as mouth-wateringly delicious as ever, and one between two is unquestionably sufficient, especially when it costs £17.90. At £189.40 for the two of us, including coffee, petits fours, VAT and impeccable, charming ser- vice, Gavroche is undeniably expensive. Yet the room was full, the clientele a blend of business and private diners, British and from overseas, and the one thing in com- mon to all seemed manifest contentment.
A final word about Ms Ritchie: what made it sadder was that she wrote from Bath, where that great man George Perry- Smith effectively began the renaissance of English cooking when he opened his Hole in the Wall in the 1960s, that restaurant apparently still going strong under the cur- rent chef Matthew Benson-Smith. I'm afraid Ms Ritchie's disgust will not be allayed this week by my account above of meals in two of this country's starriest and most costly restaurants. I think the first and second worlds are entitled to an occasional treat.
The Waterside Inn, Ferry Road, Bray, Berks; tel: 01628 20691. Closed Monday, and Tues- day lunch.
Le Gavroche, 43 Upper Brook Street, Lon- don WI; tel:• 408 0881. Closed Saturdays and Sundays.
I hate bloody social climbers.'
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