The Chiltern Firehouse has been illuminating London's restaurant scene since opening in 2014. Located in the heart of London's Marylebone, the building was one of the first purpose-built fire stations in London, dating from 1889. The firehouse was decommissioned in 2005. Mainly offices and storehouses, there was the odd crusty dormitory for night-duty firemen to sleep in, which was then turned into an occasional exhibition space. Carefully restored by hotelier André Balazs, the man behind the celeb-friendly Chateau Marmont in LA and New York’s Mercer Hotel, the exquisitely designed space is overflowing with A-listers every night of the week. "The place is hotter than the surface of the Sun. I reckon even God would have to wait for a table," quipped restaurant critic Tom Parker Bowles. What draws them in is the design, but what makes them stay is Lisbon-born chef Nuno Mendes's incredible food, from crab doughnuts with coral dusting, monkfish cooked over pine and char grilled Iberica pork with courgettes to brunch recipes and elegant snacks such as cauliflower florets with truffle purée.
Greeted by a handsome, top-hatted doorman and escorted through a lush cobblestone garden courtyard and past the Chiltern Fiehouse’s oyster cart, we were seated at an intimate table for two beside the restaurants iconic corner nook with a fireman’s pole skewered through its centre. In the kitchen, Michelin starred chef, Nuno Mendes, who spent sixteen years in the United States, working with such world-renowned chefs as Wolfgang Puck and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and his menu represents the diversity and seasonality of modern American cooking. Beginning with a glass of English champagne served by one of the restaurants desperately handsome waiters, we also marvelled at the beauty of the interior with its high ceilings, large mirrors, polished marble tables and hand woven Indian jute ceiling as well as the large open kitchen which is at the heart of Chiltern Firehouse. Showcasing the the food and ambiance of the restaurant, chef Mendes published a cookbook last year that's sold at the Chiltern Firehouse — a culinary opportunity not to be missed. After a wonderful lunch, with lots of interesting eavesdropping and people watching, we left a little heavier with a cookbook under my arm and a promise to return next time we are in London.
The Chiltern Fiehouse’s oyster cart in the garden courtyard features a rotating menu of native oysters, including Ostra Regal Oysters from Bannow Cove in Ireland
A glorious dark pink Dahlia in the Chiltern Firehouse's cobblestone garden
The fashionable brasserie-style interior is absolutely beautiful with high ceilings, large mirrors and polished wooden and marble tables custom-made in Vietnam
Beside our table was a circular booth skewered by the original fireman's pole,
surrounded by an alcove of mirrors
Michelin-starred chef Nuno Mendes draws on a career split between the US and Europe to create a changing menu of reimagined classics and bold new flavours, with an emphasis on seasonal healthy eating
The table setting with blue linen napkin and John Jenkins crystal stemware
The lunch menu celebrates the contemporary, ingredient-focused cuisine of chef Nuno Mendes
Langham English Sparkling Wine from Dorset
Ostra Regal Oysters from Bannow Cove in Ireland at a whopping £5 each
Housemade mignonette sauce for the oysters
Seasonal Crudité
La Latteria Burrata with Heirloom tomatoes and chili sauce with browned bread crumbs
2017 Weingut Stadt Krems Lossterrassen Gruner Veltliner from Austria and a Salice Salentino from Puglia
Firehouse Caesar Salad with roast chicken, anchovies and parmesan
Maldon salt in an elegant silver bowl
Truffle Gnocchi
A cookbook is no substitute for a coveted reservation, but for fans of the Chiltern Firehouse who dream of its Caesar salad with chicken skin, Nuno Mendes' lavish cookbook may be the next best thing
The Ladder Shed Bar, so named due to being where firemen once used to store their ladders,
is officially only open to residents and their guests
The new wing of the hotel was built with handmade bricks to look just like the firehouse, with its very same Victorian arches and crenellations
Creamed Corn from Chiltern Firehouse
Serves 6
Recipe courtesy of Chef Nuno Mendes
6 whole corn cobs
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large leek, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1 tbsp crème fraîche
1 pickled jalapeño from a jar, diced
2 tsp snipped chives
1 lime, juiced
Maldon salt
Hold the corn cobs upright on a chopping board and cut the kernels off of 3 cobs. Place the kernels in a bowl — you should have about 12 ounces of kernels. Place the cobs in a large saucepan and cover with 1 quart of water, then bring to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes, uncovered, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface.
Once the corn stock is made, remove from the heat and discard the cobs. Heat the butter in a saucepan, add the leek, and sauté for about 3 minutes, then add the garlic. Continue to cook for a few minutes over low heat, then add the corn kernels. Cook for 2 minutes over medium heat, stirring, then add the stock. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat, partially covered, for 2 hours. Purée with a stick blender and pass through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, then set aside.
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Roast the three remaining corn cobs in the oven for 40 minutes, turning them occasionally, until the kernels are cooked all the way through. Remove from the oven, leave until cool enough to handle, then cut the kernels off the cobs. Heat the corn purée in a saucepan, then drop in the roasted kernels. Stir in the crème fraîche, pickled jalapeño, and chives, and season to taste with lime juice and salt.
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