Last Updated on December 13, 2023
Fine Dining on Fleet Street
Did you know that Le Cordon Bleu has a fine dining restaurant in London in addition to the famous culinary arts institute? We first learnt about CORD, an all-in-one concept that incorporates a cafe, a cooking school and a culinary event space when they ran a pop-up event. So now that there’s a new Executive Chef in place, Karl O’Dell, we were thrilled to be invited along to find out more. With a stellar CV as head chef at Michelin-starred Texture and before that senior Sous Chef at Michelin-starred Petrus, he was most recently Executive Chef at The Monarch Theatre, Park Row – an experiential gastronomic show.
Karl spearheads a passionate brigade of chefs at CORD by Le Cordon Bleu. A skilled and innovative chef, Karl collaborates closely with Senior Sous-Chef Justine Bordet and Junior Sous Chef Marnix Taghon, Le Cordon Bleu London alumni, together with his team of chefs to meticulously refine each dish to ensure the highest standards are met. The new seasonal menu at Cord was launched in October – a chance for Chef Karl to showcase his unique culinary style crafting seasonal menus that showcase the freshest produce and flavours available throughout the year.
Our meal started with a welcome glass of Champagne Devaux Grande Reserve for me and a seasonally appropriate ‘Tapis Rouge’ cocktail for my companion, a fruity concoction of vodka, hibiscus and cardamon. The pinot-dominant champagne was the perfect foil for a fragrant and earthy amuse-bouche cappuccino of Jerusalem artichoke and black truffle.
Although I try my best to avoid eating bread when I’m dining out, the beautifully laminated brioche rolls were just too tempting (and utterly delicious!). There’s nothing like overindulging BEFORE your dinner is in full swing!
My starter of lobster and sea urchin ravioli with quince and spinach in a shellfish broth was perfectly executed and very fine indeed. A single plump ravioli with a generous helping of well-balanced filling and beautifully al dente fresh pasta sat in a rich creamy shellfish broth that I could easily have had on its own.
My companion was intrigued and delighted by her balsamic marinated beetroot with horseradish, cashew nuts and shimeji mushrooms on a ‘soil’ made from almond meal mixed with charcoal and garnished with blackberries. A vegan dish that would satisfy any die-hard carnivore, it was a thing of great beauty with fairy-like shimeji punctuating the dark glazed beetroot and a bright green herb garnish.
For her main course, she picked the pan-roasted wild seabass with fennel, green grapes, samphire and brown butter. Perfectly seared wild sea-bass sat on top of a delicious concoction of vegetables and grapes, while the brown butter sauce was the perfect complement.
A glass of Chapel Down Bacchus 2022 was a great accompaniment for the fish, while I was given a glass of Pantocrator Rioja 2011, a tempranillo grape wine from Spain with fabulous fruity notes that was the perfect pairing for my showstopper venison
The perfectly seared, pepper and juniper berry crusted venison fillet was served on a bed of warm pebbles with smoking juniper twigs and roots infusing the meat with wonderful botanicals. Accompanied by farci, beetroot, blackberries and a red wine and juniper jus, this was a truly delicious dish.
To drink, a glass of raisiny Blandy’s 10-year-old Madeira was a fine complement.
My poached Mouneyrac pear, with soft, juicy flesh and a wonderfully sweet and fragrant flavour came encased in a fine Swiss meringue shell with chestnut puree, quince and shards of toasted almonds.
A thing of great beauty, I have no idea how the fine shell was made, but it was exemplary plating and the fine shards of meringue were a delicate but delicious contrast to the soft flesh of the pear.
To pair, a glass of Passito – Caintine Colosi Terre Siciliane. Made with late-harvest dried Moscato grapes, this was a delicious mouthful with aromas of ripe apricot and acacia honey and with a nutty almond finish.
We finished the meal with beautifully presented handmade chocolates and some excellent coffee
The concept of Cord, with its café, fine dining restaurant, cooking school and event space is intriguing and Karl O’Dell’s heritage from the experiential Monarch Theatre, Park Row with an underlying backbone of excellent training shines through. The dishes we were served tasted every bit as good as they looked and we look forward to enjoying more of his food.
Cord by Le Cordon Bleu
85 Fleet Street
EC4Y 1AE
www.cordrestaurant.co.uk
