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Jimi Famurewa finds comfort in the food at Solis at Battersea Power Station in London The sharply whittled details here – the smoky succulence permeating griddled poultry; a mouth-coating, buttery Basque cheesecake that, in terms of tex- ture and desirability, is down- right inhalable — amount to something magical, affecting and all too rare. First to land on the wipe-


clean, blue-and-white gingham of our table, after wheel-greas- ing, mandarin Cognac sangrias, were snacky para picar; sweet- edged, caramelised onion and beef croquettes; tuna-stuffed domes of devilled egg (huevos rellenos) beneath a mirrored, yolk-gold spill of piquant, Argentine “salsa golf”; and skewered, plump gilda with the vinegared punch of boquerones and a Van Helsing-level quan- tity of pickled garlic. Next came the grilled meat combination plates that can’t help but feel like Solis trun- dling its tanks onto the lawns of any affordable steak or piri


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piri purveyor you’d care to name. The beef is blushing, well-rested flat iron and arrives with a gorgeously weighted ver- sion of gungey entrecôte sauce. The chicken is a spatchcocked half-bird, recumbent in a pale orange pool of hypnotic, mel- low aji aji oil. Both of them come with a rustling cascade of golden, perfect chips and feel like someone handing you both remote controls, kneading your shoulders and telling you it’s going to be okay. True, you could note that the


asador salad is made with fairly insipid tomatoes. But the fact that these chefs are sprinkling their stardust on something so accessible, the fact that dishes cost around the same as their pappy Nando’s equivalents and are at least five times as enjoya- ble, is just immensely cheering.


Claude Bosi’s Brooklands in London, is an expression of the chef’s journey, says William Sitwell This is chef Claude Bosi’s new abode. He’s a magnificent Gaul, a man who looks like a French- man should – Gérard Depar- dieu meets Obelix – and whose delicate, enchanting and origi- nal takes on classic French food and classic British ingredients have deftly coloured the UK’s culinary scene ever since he fetched up in Ludlow in 1998. The food sums up his talents


and British journey. We went à la carte, knowing the kitchen wouldn’t resist lobbing other dishes at us, left right and cen- tre. Which is a nightmare for a critic having to focus as com- plicated little twists and turns


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on gastronomy arrive as fast as those Bentley Blowers once whizzed round Brooklands. Sharp triangles of tartlet filled with burnt leek mayo; coro- nation chicken mousse with chicken-liver ice cream; tomato tacos with fermented plum; a custard of smoked kipper… all prepared and presented with absolute precision, and fasci- natingly fabulous. Then the actual dishes: chopped-up snails with a duo of sauces, one garlic and parsley, the other a cumin-spiced dev- illed sauce. It worked, like a duel between two heroes that ends, unusually, in a happy draw. A dish of Exmoor caviar followed, which was duck jelly with a whipped cream of smoked sturgeon before skate with a red-pepper miso and a sort-of risotto called a nosotto of celeriac. Most of the dishes leant towards a surprising arc of tartness, more bitter than sweet. Which I like and admire.


10 November 2023 | The Caterer | 11


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