Fera Claridge's

Foraging its way to global recognition

Fera

When Gordon Ramsay and Claridges decided to call it a day in 2013, everyone was wondering who would take over the prestigious Claridges' dinning space. After months of rumours and speculation, it was announced that Simon Rogan, chef patron of 2 Michelin starr L'Enclumes and Cateys' 2013 chef of the year award. Regarded as one of the most talented British chefs right now, it makes sense that the hotel selected Simon to take over Claridge's and I wasted no time to book in as I was hugely impressed by his London pop up Roganic and his special dinner teaming with Alyn Williams at The Westbury.

pea wafer, fennel and flowers

stewed rabbit with lovage &
 mackerel, caviar and seawater cream

puffed barley, eel, watercress &
chicken skin, thyme, roasted garlic

Winslade, potato and duck heart

Portland crab with lettuce and seaweed

The new restaurant was renamed to Fera and completely revamped its dining room space and the kitchen, we opted for the 17 course tasting menu. Starteing off with some very colourful and creative snacks, the puffed barley with eel and watercress was my favourite snack of all, the peppery hint from the watercress matched well with the meaty and bold flavour of the eel. Prawns from Gairloch were fresh and clean to the palate, and the pork fat gave the dish a lovely savoury tone and a number of interesting textures from the borage and chicory. 

bread with bone marrow butter

raw beef, smoked broccoli cream, scallop roe and apple

asparagus with savoury, onions and chrysanthemum

prawns, pork fat, borage and chicory

grilled salad, truffle custard and sunflower seeds

plaice braised in nettle butter, radishes,
shrimps and horseradish

One thing I love about Simon is he makes vegetable dishes fun and exciting, his grilled salad was no different, delivered to the table by the man himself. The crispy earthy vegetables had a lovely mellow crunchiness to them, the sunflower seeds gave the dish a lovely oily and nutty aroma while the truffle custard gave the dish a creamy and robust finish. Beetroot and buttermilk was a wonderfully constructed dessert, with an usual uses of beetroot and licorice. The sweet and earthy undertones was somewhat unfamiliar but it tasted spectacular, the buttermilk was creamy but light and it worked greatly to tone down the sharpness of the apple marigold.

Herdwick hogget, pickled tongue, turnips

baked yoghurt, pear poached in perry and mint

beetroot and buttermilk, licorice, apple marigold

rhubarb, melilot, linseed and sweet cicely

chamomile milkshake

petit four

Fera was really great, food was top notch and the service was truly world class, tremendous in knowledge of the menu with great communication skills, spoken with passion and honour when describing the food, didn't miss a beat with attending our needs. It was really a masterclass of how service should be like when its comes to top end dining. Benchmarking the food wise Fera easily sits comfortably in the 2 star territory in London. In Fera, Simon has a wonderful platform to launch himself to become a globally recognised chef and time will tell if he can fulfil his ambition to reach 3 stars level.

Food 4.5/5

Executive chef: 
Simon Rogan

What I paid: 
£180 with 2 glass of wine

Average cost without drinks and services:
£30 lunch menu
£95 tasting menu


49 Brook St, London W1K 4HR

http://feraatclaridges.co.uk/