Last Wednesday evening, I had the pleasure of being invited along to one of my favourite Chelsea pubs, The Builders Arms, for a bloggers’ food and wine matching evening.
I was accompanied amongst others by Kings Road Rocks, Lux Life and London Larder – a real delight to finally meet in person after almost a year of online interaction. I’m not sure if I’m alone, but I have to try really hard to remind myself that we are only just meeting in real life and that a huge bear hug isn’t good etiquette.
After much excited nattering, we were seated where we were introduced to the lovely folks from Geronimo Inns who gave us a brief history to the venue. The Builders Arms gained it’s name when it housed the builders working on the construction of St Luke’s Church. Apparently there’s a tunnel that runs from St. Lukes through to The Builders Arms which was used so that the priest didn’t have to look at the workers crossing the road and wouldn’t be caught having a cheeky tipple. Who knew?
We were joined by James Ellis, the co-founder of Ellis of Richmond – modern day wine specialists. They’ve had a close relationship with the Clevely family who own Geronimo Inns for many years now and informed us that John Clevely is actually one of the few Masters of Wine, explaining his deep affiliation with serving fine wine in their pubs.
The dinner consisted of the following:
Quail “Hinle Wake†served with Roaring Meg Pinot Gris 2011, Central Otago, NZ
Brandade of Salt Cod & Potato served with Gavi di Gavi ‘Ca do Bosio Single Vineyard’ 2011 Piedmont, Italy. Interesting factoid of the day for you here, a wine can only be called Gavi di Gavi rather than simply Gavi if it’s produced from vineyards within the village of Gavi.
When I was told that it was cod mixed together with potato, I was a little cynical, but it was absolutely delicious and not stodgy at all. I’m definitely going to be giving it a go myself at home.
Roast Saddle of Mutton Stuffed with Sweet Breads, Seared Giroles, Dripping Scones & Pan Gravy. This was served with Tinto Roble Tempranillo, Bodega Vina Vilano 2011 Ribera del Duero, Spain and Sangiovese Cabernet, Ripa delle Mandorle 2011, Tuscany, Italy.
Lastly and definitely my favourite was Eccles Cake with Shorrocks Lancashire Bomb served with Muscat Beaumes de Vines, Vidal Fluery, France.
Now, I have a slight admission to make. When the dessert was served, I actually thought that the cheese was ice-cream. I’m a rookie, I realise. The Eccles Cake was massive and I wasn’t sure how it would go with the cheese, but it was amazing. Complaining the whole time that I was full, I managed to scoff the whole thing! Oops.
It was a truly delightful evening, sheltered away from the cold winter evening that had descended upon us. I can’t recommend The Builders Arms highly enough; it’s off of the Kings Road and therefore a lovely little escape, filled with locals (and Pippa Middleton rumour has it), good booze and scrumptious food. Definitely worth a visit!
