L'Atelier des Chef's Mobile Kitchen!
L’atelier des Chefs now brings their kitchen to a venue of your choice! Whether that’s a hotel, an outdoor space or your workplace their highly trained chefs will teach you to cook a variety of dishes. We attended their Launch Event and sampled the concept ourself!
The last time I visited L'Atelier des chefs, I participated in an Asian Cuisine Cooking Masterclass at one of their locations (Wigmore Street). I picked up some skills but more importantly, I really enjoyed the food I helped to cook.
Since then the concept has grown and now not only can you go to L'Atelier but L'Atelier can come to you with a mobile kitchen you certainly can cook anywhere! If you need a unique catering concept for parties, events, team bonding etc L'Atelier's mobile kitchen has got it covered. They make cooking fun and you can see exactly what ingredients are going into your meal and how it's prepared first hand.
After strolling down the unique London destination that is the Southbank, I spotted a lady in a 'L'Atelier des chefs' apron under the Oxo Tower, she guided us up to the second floor where we checked in and sipped on prosecco. The space is elegantly white with a DJ pumping house music and was filling up by the minute. After placing our coats in the cloakroom, we explored the various cooking and cocktail stands.
A little birdie kindly suggested we get in the queue for the sliders (mini burgers) so right after the introduction that is exactly where we headed to. The chef demonstrates by preparing the minced beef meat in a metal cutter, seasoning with a pinch of salt and pepper then popping in the pan, next to the burger pans some buns were browning in another pan.
Then it's our turn, fairly simple and after 3 minutes cooking the burger on each side the chef dishes the burger buns out on small plates. We then pointed out our personal burgers and added slices of cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickles and jalapeños. The best part is tasting the fruits of your labour and it tastes good (if I do say so myself), if the rest of the evening is more of this then I'll be very happy indeed! The burger itself is quite thick so it's somewhat filling even though it's miniature.
Next up was the wild mushroom tortellinis, we take the circular sheets of pasta, fill it with wild mushroom then add the filling and fold the sheet in half over the filling, sealing with binding mixture and they are neatly dropped into boiling water. We quickly discover that some were not sealed properly so the filling is falling out slightly but luckily I think my tortellini was still intact.
I often boil supermarket tortellini from the packet so it's nice to actually make it myself although I'm convinced I've eaten some dairy but it's only small and very flavoursome so let's forgive and forget.
On to the cocktails, we get a step by step guide to making the perfect cocktail. There's some measuring, stirring and a good amount of shaking and my favourite bit, the tasting. We learned how to make an Apple Strudel Martini which consisted of something sour (lime) something sweet (amaretto and a sugary water syrup) something strong (vodka with vanilla) and something weak (plenty of apple juice). It was a perfect mixture of all of those elements! I must remember this recipe to recreate this at home.
Next stop is the seabass ceviche, I really enjoy grilled seabass but when we got to the front of the queue we realised there was no pot or pan in sight. Yep, ceviche means the sea bass is cured with lemon or lime and served with herbs and fresh vegetables, something I wouldn't normally have eaten but as it was so well dressed it went down well. Similarly the scallops with crunchy Thai salad were prepared with dressed vegetables and the result was a light, fresh dish full of citrus flavour, crunchy veg and fish that almost melts in the mouth.
My guest had a the goats cheese and chorizo pastille (pastry parcel), it was nice and hot and the flavours were two opposing tastes I would never have put together but surprisingly make a really interesting and delicious team! It was time for another cocktail, this one was called the Tongue Teezer and is made with gin and chilli and involves completely different tools.
We remove the bulk of the chilli after crushing it into our glass, the other components are pomegranate and grenadine. It's so exciting to have the chilli infusion in a cocktail but after a while the spice is proving too hot for the likes of me.
We missed out on the chicken and prawn fajitas, yutaka sushi bar, crayfish summer rolls and wontons with prawns, chicken and wild mushroom but were delighted to hear dessert was on the way.
As it was French cuisine, I was sure there wouldn't be a dairy-free option but alas! Classic French crepes! Served savoury with lemon and sugar to taste, myself and another guest had a failed attempt at flipping our crepe, so the chef kindly prepared a new one (perfect thickness) for me. Ahhh perfection! I heard a guest display a keen desire for Nutella but I enjoyed having it plain and on a normal occasion would have added more lemon and sugar.
My guests rushed over to try chocolate truffles rolled in crushed pistachios, they were both light and rich with a mixture of soft and crunchy textures.
And lastly, I saw people handling blow torches and decided to get involved. It was lemon meringue tarts, we filled the pastry cups with the lemon cream mixture and then it was time to blast them with the blow torch (with the safety handle on of course).
Lightly tangy and sweet cream in a soft biscuit base and there was plenty to go around. Desserts we didn't have a chance to sample included: Floating Islands with caramel sauce and the Mille Feuille, there was just too much to choose from!
At the L'atelier des Chef launch event I tried food and cocktails I wouldn't have normally opted for, I was cooking and sharing with people I had just met and got to handle chef utensils and a blow torch! The event had such a feel-good atmosphere, maybe it was the mixture of good food, flowing drinks, stellar staff and like-minded happy foodies but it felt like a party I didn't really want to leave but all good things must come to an end.
L'Atelier des Chef runs classes at Wigmore Street and St Paul's but if you can't make it to those locations or you have large numbers to cater to, contact them about their mobile kitchen and they'll rally up their pro chefs to a place near you!
A special thank you so much to Laura of Delicious London for your hospitality, the professional and hilarious L'Atelier chefs and bar staff as well as the waiting staff that worked tirelessly, each of you were friendly and welcoming which only made the evening more enjoyable.
Twitter: @atelierchefsuk
Facebook: facebook.com/AtelierChefsUK
Website: atelierdeschefs.co.uk
