Tattoo Challenge
Will Beckett and Huw Gott of Hawksmoor have challenged staff at Russell Norman’s Polpo and Spuntino to a “tattoo contest”, in which staff members will tweet photos of their tattoos on Twitter using the #tattoochallenge hashtag. Followers will be able to vote for their favourite designs on the social networking site. The overall loser of the competition will then have to randomly pick a voter to enjoy a meal for two at the winner’s restaurant.
Gull’s Egg Menu
Boisdale restaurant group is celebrating the limited season of the gull’s egg next month with the creation of several dishes showcasing the rich produce. Available at Boisdale’s Bishopsgate restaurant for just two weeks, the Gull’s Egg Menu will feature dishes such as Leek Tarte Fine with a soft boiled Gull’s Egg, smoked sea salt and new season Spring Truffle Shavings, and Scrambled Gulls Eggs with Loch Duart smoked salmon. The menu will run from 3 May. According to Boisdale, just one person has been granted a license by DEFRA to collect eggs this year from a few specific sites across the UK.
Sustainable fish menu
Pascal Proyart, executive chef at One-O-One restaurant at Sheraton Park Tower in Knightsbridge, has created a sustainable fish menu featuring four regularly changing dishes using mackerel, sardines, pouting and dab from stocks approved by the Marine Conservation Society. Dishes include Cornwall Mackerel Tempura, Citrus Pomelo salad with Wasabi Mayonnaise and Sweet Chilli Ginger Sauce; Grilled Cornish Sardines Brochette wrapped in Parma Ham with Aubergine, Tomato and Basil Sauce Vierge; Pouting White Fish Pan Roasted Unilateral, Barigoule Sauce with Artichokes Compote and Ratatouille, Olive Tapenade Provencal; and Pavé of Dab Fillets Roasted with “Squid A la Plancha” and Paimpol Coco Beans Aioli Cassoulet.
Charity dishes
The Old Thatched Inn in Adstock is to begin donating a percentage of one of the dishes on its menu to a different local charity each month, starting with Middle Claydon’s Puzzle Centre, a youth autism charity. The pub, named Aylesbury Vale’s Village Pub of the Year 2010, will donate £1 for every children’s main course ordered throughout April. A new dish will be chosen each month to coincide with the change of charity.