When I saw that Grand Moretti (after being bombarded with Facebook ads, so they do work) were hosting a pop up just doors away, I thought I had best investigate. As a lover of food I was most excited about the classes they had on offer and while I would have loved to do both the pasta and butchery masterclass I was out of London from Wednesday to Sunday early evening.
Nevertheless, I was determined to do the butchery class which was being run by the team at Forza Win, and what very lovely people they turned out to be. What I didn’t realise was that I had booked the last class of a six day run and so they were all on that end of event delirium and ready to knock back a few beers, Moretti of course!
I have no idea exactly what was included in our ticket but our glasses were never empty, and in my book that’s a good thing.
After being introduced to the team and being told apologetically that it wasn’t in fact a butchery class, more a ‘we make great steak, this how you can too’ class, the initiation began.
Bash gave us the low down on the perfect BBQ set up for cooking steak and explained that the charcoal and oak they cook on are so important to the flavour, they are regarded as ingredients. Oh and don’t ever think about using white fire lighters. Big no, no!
As Bash went to hand round the charcoal he first took it and drew on his face, apparently this was because it was the last class. Personally I was delighted. I’m not sure I would trust someone whose instinct isn’t to draw on your own face when handed charcoal. We were all instructed to follow suit, some did so more enthusiastically than others – yes ok, me!
Next Casper showed us how to trim the rump and then we all got to cut our own steaks before taking them to the grill. Another good lesson is that the grill lines you see are only good for Instagram, don’t do it, keep your steak moving.
While our steaks were under Casper’s careful watch as they were cooking and resting, we all made a salsa verde, of which there are many versions. The version we made consisted of basil, flat leaf parsley, mint, olive olive, lemon juice and salt. After we had all finely chopped our herbs, Bash gave them a quick blitz. All this time, Richie and Haz were on top form making sure we all had a beer before sitting down to enjoy our steaks, which were delicious.Sadly, we didn’t get to really explore any more of the grand tour and it wasn’t a butchery class, but we did have a bloody lovely time and met some very, very lovely people. I also discovered Bash owns the Culpepper which I wrote about just last week and the Archers which is on the corner of Osbourne street and was completely refurbished back in December and to my shame I haven’t been to, little did I know that was about to change.
After leaving we decided to pop down to Apples and Pears for a quick cocktail before heading home, only to arrive and realise it was Sunday and not open. The nearest pub, well only the bloody Archers! And so we found ourselves ensconced at the bar and making friends with Sean who took brilliant care of us, and our new friends Anya and her bf! We quickly allowed ourselves to forget that it was in fact a school night, although I do believe it was my boss and bestest friend AP who can be quoted as saying ‘Never let Monday steal your Sunday’ and you know what that’s brilliant, until Monday comes!
There were shots, several shots. We helped Sean plump cushions, (right up there with ‘I carried a watermelon’). Numbers were exchanged with promises of nights to come.
I walk past the Archers everyday and have no excuse not to make it my local, it’s a really lovely pub, Sean needs someone to cover the bar when he has a toilet break and he is a brilliant, personable, funny bar manager, it is the sort of place I’d happily sit on my own at the bar and have a glass of wine on the way home, I’ll definitely be back, I promised Sean.