Confessions of a Wino

We Will Rock You was a decent show, albeit mostly performed by under-studies on the wet Saturday afternoon we were in the audience.  Fortunately it was dry inside the theatre and, whilst the programme (£4) did not reveal the storyline, the show turned out to be set in the long distant future and was a McLeanesque retrospective on the day the music died…or didn’t…yawn!

Despite a reputation for ennui, Switzerland is one of my favourite places in the world.  But when I walked into St Moritz on Wardour Street, and asked for a table, the Swiss owner did not even recognise me.  I spoke to her in French for a few sentences.  The other waitress was obviously brand new.  She got a couple of bollockings for not serving correctly.  I ordered a kir and some water.  I asked if the rosti was authentic. I insisted that my Pinot Noir was served un peu frais. The blank look finally led me to ask if she was Germanic Swiss…  Romanian apparently, which was a relief.  I thought I was losing my French accent.

I asked (in English) why she tried to serve the Pinot Noir Vaudois Grand Croix 2006 Canton Vaud (£23.95) warm.  She admitted that it should be served cool but every time she tried to serve it at the right temperature, customers complained that it was too cold…

I am starting to realise that the reason that restos serve all red wines too warm is because the general public insist it is so.  The education I wanted to mete out upon the ignorant restaurateurs of the UK, is targeted at the wrong audience.  The general public are the ignorami.

After only 10 minutes in an ice bucket, the Pinot was perfect.  Strawberries, salty celery, chicken coup and old leather ski boots, went with the escargots like a toff’s school book with a Sheaffer, although the snails were a bit heavy on the rosemary.  The calves liver (foie de veau), perfectly pinkly chargrilled, went equally well with the rosti on the side.  The atmosphere was spookily like a Swiss chalet.  I shut my eyes and wondered if I might ski back to my hotel, but it was only raining when we departed, and in any case it was uphill with no chair lift.

At £95.40 for two (inc service) I thought the bill was quite steep for a back street Soho gaff.  But to be honest, the food was superb.  The wine was OK, too.  The show (We Will Rock You) was a stark reminder of how dodgy and naively left wing Ben Elton’s humour is, and yet how stunningly good Queen’s music and lyrics were.  Nevertheless, it is good fun, and I recommend the show (Dominion Theatre outside Tottenham Court Rd Tube).  I recommend St Moritz (just round the corner) even more so.

St. Moritz, 161 Wardour Street, London, W1F 8WJ.
T: +44 (0)20 7734 3324  F: +44(0)20 7734 8995
W:  www.stmoritz-restaurant.co.uk

This entry was posted on Friday, June 13th, 2008 at 6:50 am and is filed under food, switzerland. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.