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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
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London,
Fay Maschler's rating
Reader rating
Description: The Brickhouse is a fine dining restaurant with a modern European menu that will change with the seasons. DJ's, VJ's and live acts perform throughout the week to coincide with the dining experience.
Phone: 020 7247 0005
Email: claire@thebrickhouse.co.uk
Open: Open lunch Tuesday-Friday noon-3pm, Sunday noon-5pm
Dress code: Smart casual
Payment options: All major cards accepted
Pulling stunts: Amazing Hari is just one of the performers at Brickhouse
First course, main course, acrobat, pudding is the sort of evening which the owners of the newly opened Brickhouse have in mind. Eating combined with entertainment - beyond watching the antics of waiters struggling to remember who ordered what - does not have a glorious history. There seems to be a rule of thumb that the stronger and more dated the theme, eg wenches and wives at the court of King Henry VIII, the worse the food.
Even simple live music can be an unwelcome distraction. I remember listening to a harpist playing Princess Diana's favourite hymn, I Vow to Thee My Country, in The Halkin Hotel while we were eating David Thompson's electrifying Thai food. Suddenly chillies can go cold in your mouth.
It is said that recorded music in a restaurant is for the benefit of the staff. It helps them skip through the long hours. I don't believe this for a minute as on many occasions I have noticed staff completely oblivious to the fact that the same tape plays on a loop. Over and over again at regular intervals, Norah Jones lets us know that she still "don't know why (she) didn't come".
It seems to be a certain type of restaurant owner, petrified by the absence of noise - equating it with apparent enjoyment - or perhaps nervous of too many oldies pouring in, who favours pounding background music. At the Brickhouse, part of The Old Truman Brewery site on Brick Lane, the relentless four-to-the-floor beat of house music thumped and vibrated, and inspired one in my party to invent a new quiet restaurant chain which he said would be called The Kindly Bore. If anything was played at its various branches it would be Mozart. Now on a roll, this same chap came up with another chain called The Asbo Brasserie. I can predict huge success for both.
The Brickhouse has been converted to maintain awareness of the building's height with a view from two mezzanine floors - the top one furnished with beds - down to the ground floor performance space and open kitchen. We sat on the first floor where a row of deep booths enables those nearest the railing to see the action when eventually it takes place.
Head chef is Matthew Reuther who has worked at Foliage in The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel and at 1 Lombard Street. As you might expect with experience at these Michelin-starred establishments his food is complex. Foams and savoury ice creams play a part. Some ideas triumph, some fall a bit flat.
In the first category was white tomato soup with basil oil. Seemingly based on tomato water - what accumulates when you let crushed tomatoes slowly drip - it had a thrilling intensity of flavour. Celery and Stilton soup with poached egg was also appreciated. Tataki of tuna with wasabi foam, a soy reduction and batons of pickled cucumber just scraped into the triumph definition.
A main course of pavé of beef served rare on top of parsnips cooked slowly to maximise their sweetness and beneath a scoop of grain mustard ice cream did better than that. The recipient observed the subtle changes in the sauce as the ice cream melted and remarked again on the remorseless music; how it was so out of kilter with the cooking.
Appeals to our amiable, focused Kiwi waiter who, he informed us, doubles as a juggler, resulted in some jazz being played. It made the fondue with vegetable fritters seem a bit less like a vapid cheese sauce in which bits of stuff wrapped in breadcrumbs could be dipped and the roasted scallops on Parmesan-mashed potato a better combination than it is.
Preparations for a performance were meanwhile taking place on the small stage. I was hoping for the acrobat Empress Stah, an "erotic aerialist" pictured in the press release, but it was not to be. A very pretty dark-haired girl appeared and somewhat to the detriment of the spiced apple Eaton (sic) mess with sesame tuiles, sang unaccompanied the anti-American racism song associated with Billie Holiday, Strange Fruit. She did it bravely, beautifully but it is a tragic, chilling lyric and not exactly the answer to eating with entertainment.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
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