If you're in the vicinity of Harvey Nichols over the next four weeks, you might want to stop by the Fifth Floor restaurant where Iron Chef 2010 winner Franck Pontais has just launched a pop-up restaurant.
The Glass Kitchen, which is the latest venture from Harvey Nichols' Taste Lab project, celebrates Franck's speciality - terrines and verrines, serving up a series of layered food in glass dishes. It's all prepared right in front of you.
'The whole point of Taste Lab is to be innovative and interesting,' Franck told us. 'There's no order you're supposed to eat, there are savoury dishes, some of which are hot, and two desserts. And if you don't have time to stop there's also a takeaway fridge.'
Hot Dinners was invited to test the menu, so one of went for Smoked duck breast on a cauliflower flan with puy lentils and lardons, served with poached saffron quails eggs and crispy fungi mushrooms while the other tried terrine of cardamom chicken with seared chicken liver and poached plum served with a spring onion salad with lotus root crisps.
Desserts were fresh pomegranate studded rosewater jelly with white chocolate mousse served with a muscovado tuille biscuit and black forest fudge with cherry confit and also a blackcurrant mouse topped with lemon posset, semis et mango jame and lavender and lemon shortbread.
We loved the desserts and thought the main course dishes (which range in price from £9.95 to £11.95) were fun without being too filling. And the concept of serving everything up in stackable glasswear is a nice one, although it does make the food a tad tricky to eat.
It's a great idea for a lunch when you haven't much time to spare or you could simply use it as a dessert bar - the black forest fudge, in particular, was great. And Franck makes for an entertaining companion if you're dining alone.
The Glass Kitchen is on the Fifth Floor at Harvey Nichols until 3 April 2011 and is open from 11am to 8pm, Monday to Saturday and 12 to 6pm on Sundays.
