Caractère | London (UK)
This Ferrari-Roux joint-vision has a strong caractère of its own.
A subtle blend of Aglo-French and Italian influences flowing through remarkable dishes!
Caractère is a classy yet casual, contemporary restaurant situated in Notting Hill, London (UK), on a corner of Westbourne Park Grove. It’s just around the corner of Brett Graham’s Ledbury** and Clare Smyth’s Core**. Caractère was opened last year October by Emily Roux and her husband Diego Ferrari.
The atmosphere of the restaurant catches you the moment you walk in, with it’s velvety seating, cushion-strewn sofas and bare brick walls. High-end, inviting, comforting and relaxed.
Head Chef Diego Ferrari was born in Milan and trained under Alain Ducasse in Paris. Before opening Caractère, Diege had been Head Chef at London’s Le Gavroche** for the last three years.
Emily Roux, born and raised in London, was trained at the famous Paul Bocuse Institute in Lyon France and formerly worked at Alain Ducasse’s renowned Louis XV*** restaurant in Monaco. This is where the culinary couple met. Emily helps out in the kitchen during the day and is Maître D’ during the evening. Emily also happens to be the daughter of Michel Roux Jr, and the granddaughter of Albert Roux. Albert opened Le Gavroche** together with his brother Michel Roux Sr back in 1967. Michel Jr is the Chef Patron since 1991.
Front of house is managed by Eugenio Simonelli, another Le Gavroche** veteran and Sommelier is Romeo Bisacchi, formerly from restaurant Enoteca Pinchiorri*** in Firenze Italy.
It’s safe to say that there’s a lot of experience and focus on high quality fine dining in this team. So the expectations are set!
Caractère is open on Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner. The menu is not divided into starters, mains and puddings, but into character traits, namely Curious and Subtle (the starters), Delicate (fish dishes), Robust (meat dishes), Strong (cheese) and Greedy (desserts). You can go à la carte or go for the 6-course Tasting Menu (at £78), where you pick a course from all categories. Each trait has three choices, except Strong, which has only one. During weekdays they also offer a 3-course Spontaneous Lunch Menu (at £39), including coffee & water.
We had dinner on a Friday night about a month ago and went all the way with the Tasting Menu.
Two canapés were first to arrive. A small pita bread with prosciutto and wafer thin crisp with cod roe. Tasty bites!
Soda bread with a nice crust and light salted butter. On the left side a long crostini sitting in it’s special holder. Sticking out on one side only as we already ate the other half. Loved the leaning butter knife balancing on its base.
From the “Curious” section, I had the sea-bream, which was nicely marinated and seared with a blow torch. Fresh roasted beetroot with some young parsley and borage. Bottarga borealis (dried cod roe) scattered over it to add a touch of saltiness. Good acidity level of the dressing. Chuncky elements on the dishes delivering delicate flavour combinations. Excellent!
Joanne had the sweetbreads, which were cooked nicely with a light flavoursome batter. Grilled heritage tomatoes with basil dressing to counter the bold earthiness of the veal sweetbreads. The thyme jus blending the dish together. Few dollops of black garlic and pesto to add further complexity. Love it!
From the “Subtle” section, I had the risotto. Risotto made from Acquarello, a brand of aged carnaroli rice, which is pretty much top of the range. Nice and creamy as you want it, or all’onda (flowing in waves) as the Italians say, with a generous amount of girolle mushrooms. A red wine reduction for a bit of boozy tang and toasted hazelnuts for crunch. Textures and flavours were right up my alley, it was exceptionally good.
Joanne had the celeriac pasta dish. This dish is a nod to Cacio e pepe (“cheese and pepper”), which is a classic Roman pasta dish with Pecorino cheese and black pepper. In this dish, thinly sliced celeriac took the place of the pasta, Creamy Pecorino sauce pungent with pepper. Excellent texture overall. The dish was finished with a few drops of 25-year-old Balsamic vinegar from Modena, working well with the earthy celeriac. A very clever cover of Cacio e pepe, yet with an unique identity.
The “Delicate” section was next, with the fish course. John dory nice and firm and well grilled. Almost a bit chard in taste. The leek adding a bit to that. Lovely taste together. The beurre blanc was a bit too acidic and on the verge of overpowering the fish. The squid added luxury and texture and did the foraged sea vegetables. All together a great palette of flavours!
Beautiful seared cod with proper crispy skin. Artichoke and spinach, with red onion crisps and buckwheat seeds. Buttery sauce with spinach was really different and very nice. Another great fish dish.
The “Robust” section was next were I had the pigeon. Pigeon breast roasted on the crown and a scrumptious breaded confit leg. Lot of mustard in the seasoning which made the taste quite bold. Bitter radishes, a quite acidic parsley puree, black grapes and a lovely pigeon jus. Not sure of the balance of this dish, as a lot of strong flavours are battling it out on the plate. Great pigeon and I’ll trade my chicken wings for those confit legs any day!
Perfectly roseate roasted lamb rack for Joanne was incredibly juicy, with the most delicious jus. The glazed rattes potato and rainbow chard proudly accompanied the lamb. Quality ingredients done proud. More of that lamb jus please!
Next was the “Strong” course. Baron Bigod cheese from cow’s milk, with a gentle mushroom flavour as the cows were fed mushrooms (I didn’t taste that…). Seeded cracker was great with the cheese and quince compote. Didn’t understand the salad though, with again a quite acidic dressing. Was it to keep an acidic theme? I’m worried for the dessert!
And finally we had the “Greedy” section with the dessert. Sweet strawberries with the velvety mascarpone sorbet. a sablé Breton cracker and strawberry coulis with olive oil ganache. In the small bowl some lovely ice cream with sweet strawberries and strawberry sauce on top. A true strawberry divine!
A lighter than expected chocolate bar, filled with a lovely mousse and a bit of crunch of pecan praline. Salted caramel with pecans on the side. You simply taste the great quality of the chocolate used. This dessert makes you greedy indeed. Extraordinarily good guilty pleasure.
Like the Italian cuisine the food looks familiar, simple and direct, but boy is it good! All dishes look pretty and inviting and have a nice level of complexity and surprise elements. They’ve found the right level of edge and polish. Like the restaurant’s interior, with it’s a pleasant, intimate feel. The waiting staff add to the feel, with the informal look, yet very correct hospitable service.
This Ferrari-Roux joint-vision has a strong caractère of its own, without even comparing it to any other Roux place. A subtle blend of Aglo-French and Italian influences flowing through remarkable dishes in a pleasant way, all showcasing delicate finesse and robust flavour combinations. Like its starters, I’m very curious to see were this gastronomic venture will go and definitely greedy to come back soon!
