Addendum,
1 Seething Lane EC3
 The
opening of a fine dining restaurant
in the City of London (the financial
heart) used to be a particularly welcome
event. The City used to be a culinary
desert until relatively recently. Every
lunchtime there was a traffic jam as
taxis took City slickers to the West
End for long business lunches. But
now there is plenty of choice, and
Addendum brings yet more opportunities
for the gastronomically inclined to
enjoy. The chef is Tom Ilic,
who gained a brilliant reputation at
Bond's in the City, and before that
at The New End in Hampstead, both of
which we reviewed earlier in Dine-Online.
Addendum's
presence is not immediately apparent
from the street, hidden away as it
is behind the rather bland looking "Brasserie".
The other entrance is via the lobby
of the Apex City of London Hotel,
within which Addendum is located.
But don't be put off - this is no
typical hotel restaurant in the old
sense, rather it is a smart stylish
restaurant where a friend and I dined
really well the other evening.
Now
that the game season is long over,
offal has become the latest fashionable
food on many London menus. This is
good news for me, since I love it,
and we have food writers and TV presenters
like Hugh
Fearnley-Whittingstall and Clarissa
Dickson-Wright to thank for the revival
of interest in those parts of food
animals that had become unmentionable
in our sanitised, supermarket led
world.
Tom
Ilic comes from Serbia, where they
probably have fewer qualms about
pig's cheeks, calves' sweetbreads,
cock kidneys and calf's head, all
of which have recently featured
on his list of starters alone.
Not that there isn't plenty of
choice left for the more squeamish
among you - anyone for Cornish
crab, or smoked haddock tortellini?
I had the calf's head croustillade
- the meat is rather like a rillette,
and comes in a crisp fried envelope
of pastry and some yummy caramelised
sweetbread and lots of fresh, bright
green broad beans. It was dressed
with sauce ravigote, described
by the great Carème in his Art
de la Cuisine Française au XIXe Siècle.
He calls, amongst other things,
for chopped gherkins, capers, lemon
juice and Chablis, and it must
be strained through silk! Tom's
sauce was piquant, not over-reduced
and cut the richness of the dish
well.
 My
guest Jeremy started with a "tasting
of foie gras " which included
an ultra smooth paté, a suitably
robust terrine and a pan fried
lobe of the virgin liver accompanied
by a confit of poached rhubarb.
He was very enthusiastic about
this veritable fantasia of
foie gras, and went on to base
the rest of his meal around themes
and variations.
His
next adventure was a passacaglia of
pork - loin on pickled cabbage, belly
with crackling and apple, tête de
porc with parsley mash, and black
pudding on a patty made from trotter.
The detail of all this showed care
and skill, and must require intense
efforts of preparation. Meanwhile
I had some delicious scallops, diver
caught of course, with croquettes
made from the little bit of highly
flavoured meat from the porker's
tail. So none of that little piggy
was wasted.
Jeremy's
final set of variations was a chaconne of
chocolate, which included a molten
centred fondant, a wickedly dark
chocolate tart and an ice cream with
a soft mousse-like texture. He was
able to allow me a tasting but it
was clearly quite a sacrifice on
his part! Other desserts included
caramel mousse and poached pear,
roasted figs, and banana tarte tatin.
There's a first class wine list,
and the sommelier is a lady whose
night off it was when we were there.
Her place was ably filled by a charming
young South African, Leah Fellstad,
who was knowledgeable and enthusiastic
about both the food and wine. We
enjoyed an excellent meal and have
no hesitation in recommending Addendum.
Clifford
Mould May 2006
Addendum
- no 1, Seething Lane, London EC3N
4AX
T: 020 7977 9500
www.addendumrestaurant.co.uk
Starters £7.50
- £14.50 (Foie Gras) Mains: ££18.50
- £24.50 (Black leg Norfolk chicken
with truffles) Puddings all £7.50
Open Monday - Friday for lunch and dinner
Brasserie open every day
Passacaglia and chaconne are
two forms of baroque musical variation.
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