Another Shaw thing
Since its launch 10 years ago, the 114-seat Fifth Floor restaurant at London store Harvey Nichols has been renowned for offering familiar, classic dishes which are both simple and comforting in their execution.
Now, following its £850,000 refurbishment (Caterer, 31 October, page 32), head chef Simon Shaw, who moved to the Knightsbridge venue from sister restaurant Prism two years ago, has put in a more cutting-edge offering. "I've been looking at produce a little differently and have come up with some new ideas about marrying ingredients which classically go well together," he says, having derived culinary inspiration from eating around the San Sebastiàn region of Spain.
For instance, grapefruit is traditionally a good partner to crab, with the acidic fruit providing a good foil to the sweetness of the seafood. Shaw's version of the partnership appears among the starters on the restaurant's à la carte dinner menu as a cannelloni of Cornish crab with shellfish caramel and grapefruit jelly (£12).
While the set lunch menu (two courses for £22 or three for £25) offers the more straightforward dishes that established the Fifth Floor's name, the dinner menu is where Shaw is showing off his new-found flair.
Besides the crab and grapefruit offering, starters include soft-poached hen's egg with Alba truffle, cèpe duxelle and white bean velouté (£9.50), and oxtail en gelée with potato dumpling, beetroot purée, vegetable salad and mushroom oil (£9). There is also an old favourite of Shaw's - tempura of Whitby cod with pea purée and mint dressing (£7.50) - which dates back to his time as head chef at Prism. "It's basically fish and chips, at the end of the day," he says, "but it is served in a very appealing way."
Wonderful coolant
The nine main courses include a lamb dish inspired by a visit to an Indian restaurant. "After eating a spicy lamb dish, I was served some watermelon, which acted as a wonderful coolant," Shaw says. "I then thought it would be interesting to put lamb together with watermelon, and found that it works incredibly well." The dish is a pan-fried loin of lamb which has been marinated in a mix of oil and ground garam masala, cumin, fenugreek, fennel seed, caraway seed, coriander seed and chilli for two or three days, and is then served with finely diced watermelon and pilaf rice (£18.50).
Among a choice of four fish dishes, Shaw has chosen an unusual cut of tuna: the torro (belly), as opposed to the more usual loin. "It's like eating a piece of beef rib - quite fatty, with a very meaty taste," he explains. An orange reduction, which helps break through the fattiness of the tuna, accompanies the £18 dish, along with tapioca pearls, broccoli and button onions.
Head pastry chef Patrick Chevrier is responsible for the six desserts on the à la carte menu, all priced at £7. These include a griotte cherry chocolate fondant with the unusual accompaniment of an olive oil ice-cream.
Despite the extensive refurbishment of the restaurant, which has created a sleeker room in keeping with the new style of menu, prices have not risen, with average spend at dinner expected to remain about £40 per head on food.
Fifth Floor Restaurant, Harvey Nichols, 109-125 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7RJ. Tel: 020 7235 5250. Web site:www.harveynichols.com
A selection of dishes from the dinner menu at the Fifth Floor restaurant
Roasted scallop and langoustine with boudin noir, chicken faggots and Jerusalem artichoke velout, £13.50
Roasted breast of quail with veal sweetbreads, parsnip fondant and oloroso-soaked raisins, £12.50
Salad of globe artichoke and avocado with chargrilled tiger prawns, lemon and black pepper dressing, £13
Fillet of Scotch beef with girolles, baby leeks and foie gras bonbon, £23.50
Roasted monkfish wrapped in pancetta with clam minestrone, cavolo nero and black olive oil, £18.50
Provençal vegetables with carrot purée and chickpea emulsion, £16.50
Apple ginger crème brûlée, £7
White chocolate parfait with raspberry red wine jelly, £7
Banoffee with caramelised banana and toffee sauce, £7
