Open house

The final Chef Eats Out event of this year will take diners to the recently refurbished Greenhouse restaurant, which reopened this week. Amanda Afiya tells more.

Those familiar with the long green canopy and copious amounts of wall trellis that greeted people to London's Greenhouse restaurant have a surprise in store - celebrated designer David Collins has transformed the Mayfair restaurant almost beyond recognition.

More than £300,000 has been spent converting the restaurant's faux-colonial interior into a dining room with light, elegant tones and an enlarged bar area (now accommodating up to 40 people) with dark brown leather flooring, pale green crescent-shaped sofas, chairs and stools. The 95-seat dining area has been reduced to 70 covers and now sports a large, hand-made oval display table, serving as a waiters' station and a central focal point to the dining room.

While the refurbishment focuses on front of house, the impact of the Greenhouse's two-and-a-half-month closure has not stopped at the kitchen door. "Paul Merrett]'s cooking has changed dramatically over the closure," explains Joseph Levin, managing director of the Capital Group, which owns the Greenhouse. "I have to admit that I was surprised when we had our pre-opening tasting - it was unbelievably good."

For Merrett, who previously held a Michelin star, the refurbishment, and in particular the reduction of the size of the dining room, has allowed him to give more attention to his technical approach to cooking. Other members of his brigade, too, have been able to use the time wisely. Senior sous chef James McLean has just returned from a gastronomic tour of France, while pastry chef Glen Trower spent an invaluable stage working with Eric Crouillère-Chavot at sister property the Capital, which was promoted to two Michelin stars this year.

In association with British Meat, the Greenhouse has agreed to give Caterer readers an exclusive insight into the restaurant's transformation. Merrett has created an inspiring five-course meal featuring casserole of duck liver, snails and pork confit with red onion jelly, foie gras and garlic butter ravioli; and Devon crab mayonnaise with new potato "dauphine" and red pepper and mango vinaigrette.

One of the highlights of the meal will be the main course - cumin-roasted loin of lamb with sweet potato saut‚, smoked aubergine confit, spiced pepper and pine nut jus. The lamb is rubbed in a marinade of dhala-jeera (a combination of dry-roasted and grounded cumin and coriander seeds) before being roasted. It is served on a bed of sweet potatoes, which have been preblanched and sautéd.

Merrett then serves an aubergine confit underneath the sweet potato. "The confit is made by slowly baking diced aubergine in the oven with a little olive oil, garlic and a couple of anchovy fillets, while we separately smoke some aubergines on the solid-top until they are really blackened," says Merrett. "We then scrape out the aubergine and put it into the confit."

He describes the jus served with the lamb as an "indulgent" recipe for a jus, "but entirely worth it". He browns lamb shoulders before braising them in lamb stock with cumin, saffron and star anise. "We keep turning it so the top half goes back into the jus - essentially, it makes a great jus and a fantastic staff meal with the otherwise discarded shoulder."

The meal will be completed with a dish Merrett calls inside-out apple charlotte.

Chef Eats Out at the Greenhouse will take place on Monday 19 November and will cost just £45 including wine. Guests will arrive at noon for a canap‚ and drinks reception. After lunch Merrett will give chefs a tour of the kitchen, while Levin will tell diners about his decision to "front" the restaurant on a daily basis while carrying out his duties as managing director.

If you would like to reserve a place at the event, please click here and fill in the details on the form.

The menu

Amuse-bouche
Casserole of duck liver, snails and pork confit, red onion jelly, foie gras and garlic butter ravioli
Devon crab mayonnaise, new potato "dauphine", red pepper and mango vinaigrette
Cumin-roasted loin of lamb, sweet potato sauté, smoked aubergine confit, spiced pepper and pine nut jus
Pre-dessert
Inside-out apple charlotte

British Meat

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Chef Eats Out provides a unique opportunity to experience at first hand the commitment to quality, quest for innovation and the passion to achieve the highest standards that are the hallmark of outstanding restaurants and chefs. It is appropriate, therefore, that the Greenhouse should be the venue for the next event. British Meat is delighted to continue its association with Chef Eats Out. It is also encouraging that chefs and establishments that strive for excellence should demonstrate their continued trust in the quality of British meat and its place at the centre of the menu.