Late Spring Newsletter 2019
April 16, 2019
As the Restaurant moves swiftly into its 35th year (can you believe it?! …..on December 17th…..) we seem to be warming up nicely with the lovely Spring weather. No longer are we too affected by school holidays, as even if some of our regular customers disappear for a week or two for Easter, there seem to be plenty of others who prefer to stay in town, or who are visiting from abroad or from outside London.
For our menus Michele and his kitchen team have started to buy the first of the French white asparagus and the Italian purple asparagus, and soon we will of course be sourcing asparagus from the British growers. Peas and fava beans have already appeared from Italy and they are making an almost daily appearance. The new season gariguette strawberries from France are delicious (if a little expensive) and are being used in sorbets, ice creams, trifles and ‘fools’. The spring crop of Italian purple artichokes and various bitter salad leaves from Cornwall are now on the menus every day – hopefully heralding a lovely continuation of Spring for us all.
Just below the Bar Room in the Restaurant we have a fabulous Private Dining Room which seats 12 to 28 guests comfortably. Recently we have arranged a variety of events here – from a 60th Birthday, a Wedding Anniversary, a corporate Think-Tank Breakfast, and a lovely surprise party for a local regular customer.
If you have an event in mind, do email us at restaurant@sallyclarke.com with the date and the approximate number of guests. We will arrange the rest – all is planned on a bespoke basis – so it is up to you to guide us and to make it your own!
Across the road in the Shop, Manuel and his staff are doing well with their sales of Simnel Cakes, Hot Cross Buns and Easter eggs. The Colomba Pasquale (dove-shaped Easter panettone) from Puglia is fabulous again this year – and makes the perfect accompaniment to a cup of coffee or tea, or even a glass of sweet wine or vin santo. Supplies of all Easter items are limited, so if you need to stock up, please do so soon!
We are thrilled that the new vintage of our own label Tuscan olive oil from the Corsini family is now in stock. We often have it on tasting – so, be reminded of how special it is – come in and try! And as we think about ‘own label’, we are so excited to announce that very soon, we will receive our own rose wine from the Veneto. Tasting notes describe it as a “suave, elegant pink with a characteristic snap of herbiness and bags of character”. So, in our opinion, the perfect accompaniment to beautiful spring or summer salads, grilled fish or chicken, fresh goat cheeses or simply as an aperitif, served with olives, sliced cured meats or salted nuts.
Meanwhile our fabulous Production Kitchen based in North Kensington, ‘feeds’ the Shop twice a day with their delicious items for you to choose from to take home: Souffle Suissesse, roasted chicken and mushroom pie or sausage rolls made with onion and sage, smoked fish mousse, soups and various grain and pasta salads including quinoa, red rice, pearl barley, fregola, orzo are available on a rotating menu basis – so even if you visit us every day of the week you will (hopefully!) always see something new.
Our Wholesale Bakery is being expanded as I write, including the installation of an even larger oven, a larger mixer and a new machine for rolling and folding the croissant dough – all to keep up with a rapidly expanding customer list, which we like to say is ‘a happy problem’ ! I often think back to how we started, making 6 or 7 loaves a day in the Restaurant kitchen for our Lunch and Dinner menus.
We are now hand–shaping thousands of loaves a day which are delivered within central London from the early hours of the morning to our many customers, so we really are a 24/7 business now!
May we all wish all of you a very happy Easter time, and we look forward to seeing you on one or other side of Kensington Church Street – or even perhaps both, soon!!
P.S. We are always looking for like-minded people to join our teams – so if you have a keen interest in food or wine, baking or cooking, or simply that you are interested in finding out about us, please send your CV to us with a covering letter. We would love to hear from you.
Shop
Monday – Saturday Friday 8am – 8pm (- 5pm on Saturday)
Sunday 9am – 4pm
Easter Weekend Opening times
Friday 19th April ~ 9am – 4pm
Saturday 20th ~ 8am – 5pm
Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday closed
Restaurant
Monday – Saturday
Breakfast 8 – 10am (-11am on Saturday)
Lunch from 12.30 – 2pm
Dinner from 6.30 -10pm
Sunday Lunch – from 12 noon – 3pm
Easter Weekend
Please note we shall be closed from Friday 19th to Monday 22nd inclusive
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