EATING a meal after a performance at the Barbican is
a problem. The Arts Centre is one of London's more impenetrable venues to find and park at, and having finally done so, to have to move away and park again is a bore, particularly as the surrounding area is not over-endowed with eating facilities. It thus came as interesting news that one of London's more reputed young chefs, Richard Corrigan, the Irishman previously in charge at Bentley's in Swallow Street and the Fulham Road Restaurant, had taken over the caterers Searcy's restaurant outlet, now to be known as Searcy's Brasserie, on the Barbican's Level 2, and was apparently doing rather well.
Alfred Brendel's series of concerts in which he played all five of Beethoven's piano concertos, accompanied by the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and Sir Neville Marriner, seemed a good opportu- nity to find out more about Corrigan and Searcy's and, sure enough, when the lift finally bore us aloft to the Brasserie we were joined there by Brendel himself, together with Sir Neville, Lord Gowrie, Sir Isaiah Berlin and other notables at an adja- cent table.
The music had been superb; would the food measure up to it? The Searcy's form is to offer two menus: a short, rather highly priced a la carte, and a set meal with three choices per course at a reasonable £17.50 for two courses and £20.50 for three. Sensi- bly, I think, Richard Corrigan has decided to withdraw his more complex carte from the after-concert clientele on the basis that it takes too long to prepare for a hun- gry mob who have all arrived at the same time, and we were thus limited to the menu du jour. From this, the retired stipendiary magistrate and ardent Beethoven-lover Pam Long chose beet- root soup with sour cream and chives, enjoyable if slightly lacking in intensity when compared with the Polish model, and I had some agreeable sauté black pud- ding, accompanied by a delicious, sticky and spicy apple and plum chutney. The third alternative was carpaccio or salmon with sweet and sour cucumber.
Next Pam ate some excellent roasted fil- let of cod, accompanied by broccoli and potato and herb gnocchi. The cod was beautifully fresh and roasted just the right amount so that the flesh was juicy and springy, and the gnocchi were impeccable. My shank of lamb with onions and pancetta and potato purée was an equally satisfying dish, earthy but not crude, and with all the flavours commendably distinct. Pam's prune and armagnac parfait was light yet admirably pruny, and my confit of pineap- ple with delicious pink grapefruit sorbet proved a telling combination. With coffee and a decent bottle of Beaujolais Villages the bill came to an acceptable £61.90. One final tip: in the long, narrow room it is much pleasanter if you sit by the windows that run down one side of it. Negotiate with Thierry Talibon, the manager.
There is one establishment just across the road from the Barbican Centre, in Cherry Tree Walk off Whitecross Street, that makes a pleasing post-performance venue. Baracca is a warm, friendly, unpre- tentious Italian family restaurant, where Remo, his wife Yvonne and son Alan will make you feel welcome. Patronised by a fair sprinkling of Barbican residents, regu- lars understandably trying to escape from their egg-box flats, it has the kind of satis- fied hum that you find in restaurants du guarder in Paris. The Italian cooking lights no fireworks but is entirely acceptable, with first-class soups and pasta and a list of daily specials chalked on a blackboard on the wall. Osso buco is always worth having if it's on, and so is asparagus parmigiana, with the melted cheese on top. Decent Sicilian house wine is £9.50 a bottle, the coffee is espresso and bills rarely exceed £20 a head. A good venue.
From the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank it is quite easy to cross Water- loo Bridge to the large range of restaurants in Covent Garden. Should you not want to do so, there is the restaurant in the hall itself. This reopened in 1995 under the con- trol of David Levin of the Capital Hotel, with Gary Rhodes as executive chef and the faintly off-putting title of The People's Palace. Nevertheless, in its splendid river- side setting it initially performed rather well, with interesting dishes, moderate prices and good-value set meals available at all times. Things have now changed: Gary Rhodes has left, Stephen Carter, like Corri- gan a former Stephen Bull employee, is chef, and a set menu is now available only between 5.30 and 6.30 p.m. This means that after the concert you are confronted by a rather pricy carte with starters in the £4.50 to £7 range and main courses £12.50 to £14.50, and the cooking is less enticing and interesting than before.
Recently I had quite a good pheasant and hazelnut soup, and French gourmet Nathalie some reasonable squid on rather dull roast focaccia with sweet chilli sauce. She followed that with seared swordfish and creamed noodles, overpriced at £14. At £13 my breast of chicken was dull and its truffle-oil mash had little taste or scent of the tuber. Desserts are £4 and the white chocolate cheesecake with blueberries, which we shared, was unremarkable. With one coffee and a bottle of decent Fitou at £9.95, the bill came to £52.95, plus service. No bargain in my view, and an experience which points one back north across the Thames for post-concert feeding.
Searcy's Brasserie, Barbican Centre (Level 2), Silk Street, London EC2; tel: 0171 588 3008. Open all week except for Saturday lunch.
Baracca, 2c Cherry Tree Walk, Whitecross Street, London EC1; tel: 0171 628 0270. Open Monday to Friday.
The People's Palace, Royal Festival Hall, London SE1; tel: 0171 928 9999. Open all week.
David Fingleton
Previous page
