The invitation was unmissable.
A lunch to celebrate what I consider to be the world’s greatest wine.
And it was to be held at one of my favourite restaurants.
And even the date had extremely personal connotations.
What, as they say, was there not to like?
The lunch was to celebrate sherry and in particular the publication of a book entitled Drinking, Eating, Loving Sherry published by Planeta Gastro and compiled by the offices of Sherry Wines and the Manzanilla Regulatory Council. I happen to be in the small camp of those who think that sherry is the most versatile of all wines and that it can, and should, be drunk at any time of the day or evening.
In addition, no wine is as moreish. I have been invited to numerous meals where a single style of wine is on show: a champagne house or a Bordeaux estate, for example. At such meals I find myself desperate for a glass of something different. Not sherry. It comes in many, many styles: light, nutty, rich, crisp, appetising, invigorating and comforting. The only drink I would ask for at the end of an all-sherry meal is another glass of sherry, please.
The lunch was to take place at Quo Vadis on Dean Street in London’s Soho, the restaurant that was reopened in 2007 by Sam and Eddie Hart and reinvigorated over a decade ago by the arrival of Jeremy Lee as its inspiring head chef. Since then Quo Vadis has established itself as a restaurant, and a club, that offers great drinks, delicious food with a quirkiness attached, and the feeling that you will be well looked after from the moment you walk in until several hours later when you walk out but not quite as purposefully as you entered this unusual building.
The lunch was on 31 October, not just Halloween but exactly 15 years after we had hosted out older daughter’s wedding breakfast there, taking over the ground floor for the one and only time the two relevant extended families have got together.
I climbed the many stairs in anticipation of an excellent and informative lunch and was pleased to see César Saldaña (addressing the guests in the picture above) and Carmen Aumesquet, respectively the president and promotions director of sherry’s Consejo Regulador, already in the room. As this lunch coincided with the terrible floods affecting the Valencia region and that of Jerez, our initial conversation was obviously about the suffering inflicted by the torrential rains. It was interesting to hear that because of the long drought in the Jerez area, the water – but definitely not the damage or the suffering – has actually been welcomed in certain areas.
Then as I mingled, there emerged the first sign that all might not be well. Could I really be in the photographer’s line of vision wherever I stood, I wondered, trying to make room for him while he attempted to arrange a picture of the plate containing our first course – a large plate laden with small pieces of toast covered in the happy mixture of smoked eel and horseradish (a Lee creation).
Then there was the not unexpected sight of Jeremy Lee greeting his many friends in the room as we sipped La Gitana Manzanilla. But this was not the Jeremy one has come to know at lunchtime in his restaurant when normally he would be wearing a white chef’s jacket. Here he was in civvies. The explanation was quickly forthcoming. He was clearly in pain and still recovering from a hip replacement and would not be back in the kitchen for a few days.
There were to be three speeches, from Cesar Saldana, Sarah Jane Evans MW and JR, all of them interesting in their own way but the former’s was the most arresting. In it he recalled that it was over 20 years ago that the Institute of Sherry Wines had taken the then extremely brave decision to market sherry with gastronomy and to launch Copa Jerez as a biennial competition. (They invite top chefs and sommeliers from around the world to pair three styles of sherry with three courses, which are then presented to a panel of judges – read about our very own Tam Currin’s experience as judge for the UK finals last month here). Today, the association seems so obvious but at that time it cannot have been anything other than highly divisive. But for a wine that comes in so many styles, it has been a significant breakthrough and has associated sherry with the many emerging top chefs of Spain and the rest of Europe. Evans made the room laugh when she recalled the era of the ‘schooner’, the tiny little thistle-shaped glasses that the British used to serve sherry in, while JR stressed that sherry was Spain’s unique gift to the world of wine and wished it were easier to find in Spanish cities other than Jerez.
The meal then got underway but in an unimpressive style. It had been decided to serve, with Valdespino’s Tio Diego Dry Amontillado, the two second courses ‘family style’. They were set on the table in impossibly heavy dishes, particularly the one piled high with roast red peppers, charred pumpkin, burrata and pesto, seen above gamely lifted by Amelia Singer. Instead, rather like at school, we each had to pass our plates to the person in front of whom the dish had been placed. This could have easily been corrected if the serving plates had been smaller and more numerous. By now, it was well after 2 pm. (Saldana observed, ‘I know you British eat early’.)
One of the challenges of serving in this way is judging when everyone has finished – and some people eat extremely slowly! Eventually, the first plates were replaced but with equally heavy platters on which an enormous number of slices of roast pork sat on onions and grilled bitter leaves. This required similar strength and dexterity. And it also took some time. By the time this course had been cleared, it was 3.20 pm and several guests were looking anxiously at their watches.
I was sitting next to one of our hosts who was aware of the situation but powerless to do anything positive. She kept signalling to the numerous young staff to hurry the dessert along but there was no manager present. Eventually, the two women on each side of her had to leave and at 3.40 so did I, as the chocolate cake was being served with Fernando de Castilla’s surprisingly pale cream sherry in, unexpectedly, tumblers with ice and a slice of orange.
The lunch proved to be in quality terms less satisfactory than I had hoped for but one that contained quite a few lessons for all those concerned.
First, a note to restaurants: don’t make the photographer have to jostle for good shots. Let them come early, or set up a space out of the way where they can photograph the food.
Also, use smaller and lighter plates of food for ‘family style’ service. Your young waiters may be able to carry the heavy platters but your older guests cannot, particularly when they are sitting down.
To the sherry lunch organisers: as the British palate is becoming more attuned to increasingly spicy food, they could consider holding next year’s lunch, if there is one, at one of the JKS restaurants where the South Asian food is excellent as are their wine lists.
And to all those who are involved in booking a private dining room – and all of them will be very busy in the coming months – make sure you have contact information for the manager in charge, just in case you need something to be communicated directly to the kitchen.
Finally, to every wine lover, do drink more sherry. The Manzanilla En Rama from La Gitana (£19.95) went well with the smoked eel as did the Amontillado Tio Diego from Valdespino (£24 per bottle) with the pumpkin and the Oloroso Don Nuño from Lustau (£26.90 per bottle) with the pork. Time for another glass, I believe ...
All photos credit Richard Heald Photography.
Every Sunday, Nick writes about restaurants. To stay abreast of his reviews, sign up for our weekly newsletter.
