Sketch (The Lecture Room & Library) - London
Not your traditional dining room design - in reality the colors are even more eye-popping
Rating: 17/20
Where: London, UK
When: Dinner for 2 on 30 June 2022
Cost: Tasting menu £165, Wine Pairing £145-£295
Accolades: 3 Michelin Stars
Why: French cuisine with unusual spice and ingredient combinations, excellent desserts, dining room decor that has to be seen to be believed
The name of the restaurant "Sketch (The Lecture Room & Library)" doesn't quite roll off the tongue. One would be tempted to refer to it just as "Sketch", but the Sketch building in London's posh Mayfair district actually houses several different venues, including a lively and loud downstairs bar, and (judging by the thumping sounds of it) a club. The Lecture Room & Library is hidden upstairs behind a rope barrier and large doors. This three-star Michelin restaurant is thankfully much quieter than its downstairs cousins, but is decorated in a garish LSD-trippy color scheme. Pierre Gagnaire is the head chef, and there are some influences from his cooking, such as a few rather daring flavor combinations and spices.
Our dinner choices were either a tasting menu (with a vegetarian version available), or a prix fixe a la carte menu. We went for the tasting menu with the more expensive of two offered wine pairings. That pairing included two to three exceptionally good wines, but unfortunately also offered some head-scratchers like a British sparkling wine that was only so-so. When it came to matching the food, the pairing did so decently but not amazingly - one might just as well order a bottle of good wine instead. That would also avoid the slightly puzzling timing of how the pairing is served. Between courses, we were shown the wine bottle for the next pairing, but received the poured glass only when the corresponding course showed up, possibly ten minutes later.
The amuse bouches arrived soon after us, and were described with a speed that made it nigh impossible to take accurate notes. The same was true for the following courses, so my descriptions involve a bit more guesswork than usual. (Maybe it’s time to start recording them instead…) My dining companion for the night was my friend Dan, who went with me to my first ever three-star dinner over 15 years ago - a auspicious way to mark the 125th three-star restaurant that I've visited.
First, we tried some Parmesan almond sables: essentially cookies with a nice crunch, but very little cheese flavor. Ok, but not the most exciting beginning 16. Served in a martini glass were lemony gummies under vodka foam: refreshing and light. Given the abundance of foam one didn't really know what one was biting into before doing so 17. A crunchy sphere filled with (we thought) goat cheese had a very light cheesy flavor 16. Foie gras inside a beef roll was more flavorful, and very good 18. Next we tried a squid ink cracker containing crab and tomato that was served with buckwheat crissini. I liked the crab crackers quite a bit, the tomato adding lots of fruit to the dish, but my dining companion was not that impressed. We agreed that the crissini were too soft, more crunch would have been better 17. Per the instructions of the staff we saved the worst (unfortunately) for last. Described as a "strawberry gazpacho", it was strawberry foam over, again, gummies. The foam overwhelmed the dish, the gummies not contributing much flavor, and the dish had hardly any acidity, an embarrassment to any self-respecting gazpacho 14.
Bread was generally very good. A buckwheat loaf with grapefruit went marvelously with the provided lemon butter (the other butter options being salted and caramelized, respectively). A baguette was also very nice, while a milk bread was somewhat pedestrian 17.
The first official course came in three parts, which we were told to interleave bites from. Shrimp were served with pieces of scallops, asparagus tips, onions, raisins and an herbal sauce. This was a delicious dish, all ingredients with their own distinctive taste, and only the sweet raisins feeling a bit out of place compared to the rest of the dish 18. Carrot Chantilly sauce and a preserved egg yolk were very good as well - the egg yolk bursting with so much umami, it could have been a dish by itself. However, all in all this was not quite as complex as the shrimp dish 17. Finally, we had a sorbet of asparagus and smoked goat cheese. Also good, with a welcome smokiness, but maybe even simpler than the other two dishes 17.
Course number two came as a single dish: trout over green peas, covered with crunchy spelt and a hollandaise sauce. Everything about this dish worked, the components were great: a wonderful sauce, nicely sweet peas with a good bite, and an excellent trout cooked just right. The pieces also harmonized perfectly - a really good dish, the highlight of the evening for me 19.
Next were sweetbreads, but served in an unusual style (no picture). The sweetbreads were fricasseed (or at least chopped) and served inside a rolled-up dark-green lettuce leaf. They, along with sliced morel mushrooms flavored with licorice, were covered by a milk foam and fresh ground pepper. Quite a lot going on here - I liked the chunky texture of the dish, and if I hadn't been told it would have been hard to guess that these were indeed sweetbreads. (Since I'm usually not a bit fan, that's a good thing.) The morels were lovely, but the pepper flavor was a bit overpowering 18.
The following course starred pollock with potatoes cooked in Scottish sea water. The dish was finished with croutons, sliced tomatoes and a caviar sauce. We were briefly intrigued by the question of where one would buy Scottish sea water in London, but then quickly dug into the dish. Compared to what had come before, this was a much simpler, more rustic dish, but otherwise very nice 17.
Welsh lamb was the centerpiece of the final savory course. Served as different cuts, it was accompanied by swiss chard and a lemon pesto. I thought this was in the "ok, not great" category of lamb - in particular, I didn't care much for the fatty cut in the center of the plate. Not the best ingredient, unfortunately 16. In a separate bowl we were served semolina pasta with chickpeas in an "oriental bouillon". I appreciate the use of Asian spices in French cooking, but this was too much of a good thing. Way too much spice, way too much salt, and an overall soupy consistency made for an underwhelming dish 14.
The following dessert course made it easy to forget about the less-than-thrilling main course. Billed as the "Grand Dessert", this was an impressive range of six different desserts, with quite a broad range of flavors. Hard to believe that they all came from the same kitchen.
A tarte with wonderfully sweet strawberries, rhubarb, and (no joke) button mushrooms was served next to an excellent strawberry cream. This all came together nicely, the mushrooms in particular adding a textural element, but little taste. I find it rare to see a dessert with mushrooms where they actually play a successful supporting role. An audacious combination to pull off 18+.
Sweet raspberry foam covered a dish of (we believe) a white chocolate sphere filled with raspberry and basil oil. The raspberry flavor was exquisite, and everything came together nicely. It looked very similar to the strawberry amuse bouche, but was oh so much better 19.
Next came a vanilla dessert with peach, marshmallows and a strong rose flavor. I suspect I would have liked this dish better without the rose, but the vanilla was truly excellent. The whole dish was decidedly on the sweet side 18.
A cocktail glass held saffron panna cotta with olives and strawberries; the saffron flavor dominated 17.
Better was a dish of coffee foam with marinated cherries - a delightful combination pulled off perfectly. Chocolaty seeming without any chocolate 18.
Finally, the dish billed as "Chocolate 2.0" had chocolate in multiple forms: ice cream, mousse, solid, milk, dark, etc. These were all fine, but not awe-inducing. I'd take a good dark chocolate bar over this 16.
A few small bites concluded the dinner. A sable cookie with rose petals was even more heavy on the rose flavor that the preceding dessert - I prefer to look at them rather than eat them 14. A small petal with grapefruit was nice 16, a cookie with yuzu flavor maybe a tad too soft, but otherwise very good 17, and a chocolate praline with (I think) raspberry flavor was decent as well 16.
Overall: This was a delightful dinner with good service. The high-points were in three-star territory, the desserts in particular excellent and displaying a wide range. I appreciated the courage of trying unusual flavor and ingredient combinations (mushrooms in a dessert, Indian spices, raisins and shrimp), and for for the most part they paid off. The sometimes popping flavors matched the decor to an extent. Unfortunately, there were also some misses, sometimes due to experiments that fizzled (the semolina), sometimes due to lack-luster ingredients (the lamb). So on average, a place I'd gladly come back to, but somewhat short of three stars 17.
