THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
James Court, 14 Greek Street, London W1D 4AL
I'm always looking for personality on a plate. Boy did I find it! At a place that could mean love, darling or an old ritual swinging a chicken over your head! I'll go with darling!
Chef Eran Tibi grew up in a foodie family in the Eastern Mediterranean, trained at Le Cordon Bleu in London and was mentored by Sami Tamimi at Ottolenghi. Kapara is his second solo venture which he describes as debaucherous and hedonistic. Hmmm... a bit tame compared to California in the '70s and '80s New York, but it's certainly a place to go for the pursuit of pleasure!
The interior is bright with a pink palette, foliage and dripping chandeliers. Sadly the sun is not included or we could have enjoyed the fabulous al fresco dining space.
A Hava Tequila (£15.50) set the pun-intended tone. The Eastern Med take on a margarita with mezcal, lime, sage, chili and roasted pineapple gazoz (from the French gazeuse or fizzy drink) certainly made me feel like dancing. L'Chaim!
A sharing menu at £64 pp solved the problem of deciding what to have. It offers a great sampling from the a la carte menu but be warned, it's a lot of food!
First to hit the table was a beautiful loaf of fluffy french bread glazed in smoked maple and sea salt and served with a mint and pine nut pesto; hummus with aubergine relish, coriander and cardamom salsa, sumac, crunchy chick peas and 2 rounds of pitta, and a blackened aubergine mess with oregano, tahini, pomegranate molasses and lychee. And that was just for starters! It was all a fantastic explosion of flavors but the eggplant was especially good and brought my hava tequila moves to new heights.
Black bream crudo was another mess
but this time not as successful. Buttermilk, scotch bonnet, nectarines, red basil and za'atar crumb didn't taste as good as the sound bite and the fish got lost in the confusion. Schwarma rubbed Jerusalem artichokes came with a wonderful blend of labneh, coriander, harissa and rose but just missed the mark on execution with the rubbery texture of the tuber. Perfectly al dente tenderstem broccoli with green beans, pea shoots, miso, pomegranate and sesame was a five-a-day dream.
I was already wishing for an extra stomach when the main event arrived; an enormous showstopper of a sea bream. Burnt sage, parsley, baby plum tomatoes and shredded fennel added scads of flavor to the juicy, fleshy fish. If this is Chef Tibi on a plate, he certainly has wow factor!
I was very impressed with a glass of 2020 Carmel Selected Cabernet Sauvignon (£12), dark fruit, spice, a hint of sweetness and round tannins.
For dessert a chocolate filled brick pastry looked so much like 'Gramp's Cigar' I literally tried to smoke it!
Service was an absolute joy throughout. A jackpot of personality, both on and off the plate.
