We have visited plenty of brasseries recently, but the version at Les 110 de Taillevent is what I would describe as a brasserie deluxe. You wouldn’t expect anything less from the Michelin-starred French team who has been thrilling Parisians with their more formal version in France for numerous years
The venue is minimalistically elegant on the former site of a Coutts & Co branch. The polished marble walls, tall vaulted ceilings and plush green leather banquettes do give the establishment a refined, banking vibe. However, any concerns that this is a pompous French import is rapidly dispelled by the gregariously friendly staff and the accessibly-priced wine list and food menu.
Their menu might look like a banker’s excel spreadsheet but cleverly includes the dish in the centre with 4 wine options adjacent to each dish. There are wines for under £8, £14, £20 or over £20 by the glass including 125ml and 70ml options. There are both old and new world wines and ones which are less well-known from smaller batch producers, so there is simply no excuse to not pair your meal with wine. They have 110 wines by the glass hence the name of the brasserie.
The food and beverages are effortlessly faultless from amuse-bouche down to the last sip of Moscato d’Asti 2015. We started off with an intensely flavoursome truffle toasted mini-sandwiches along with hearty mushroom velouté and meaty, fresh salmon gravadlax. This was paired with a versatile Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve Champagne.
As it is truffle season, we had truffle scrambled eggs as a starter. The truffle imbuing the dish with much more earthy and complex notes than your average egg dish. It was matched with a glass of 2012 Domaine des Roches Neuves Saumur-Champigny that was mature and stood up to the strong flavours of the starter.
Main course was a powerful one-two punch of roasted lobster tail, cauliflower purée and cannelloni with girolles and bisque followed by truffle veal rump, artichokes purée, stuffed baby artichoke. The former had a foamy, summery appearance, but is packed with such a depth of flavour, I would say it’s the ideal winter dream dish. It was paired with Côte de Nuits-Villages 2012 Domaine Julien, which only helped to accentuate the lobster flavours. The dishes are changed seasonally, the previous incarnation of the lobster dish had tarragon and squid ink tuile.
The moreishly succulent veal was cooked to an invitingly pink colour and had generous amounts of black Périgord truffle shavings along with rich artichokes purée and a lightly fried stuffed baby artichoke.
We managed to try a bite of every one of their desserts and I can safely say you wouldn’t go wrong by closing your eyes and randomly pointing at one. They were all Michelin-starred quality. For chocolate lovers, their chocolate mousse with hot 70% cacao sauce is a must-order dish. Whilst those looking for something lighter, fruity with a hint of alcohol should opt for the calamansi lemon, which also had passion fruit, meringue, shortbread, tequila and lime sorbet.
You might think wine-pairing dinners are for extravagant, special occasions, but after a few visits to Les 110 de Taillevent London, you will think differently about your beverage options of choice to complement your meals.
baldwin@townfish.com