Fancy a masterclass with a two Michelin-star chef? Marie-Claire Digby tucks in to an elaborate lunch in London and then learns how to make it
Drop your bags in the welcoming lobby of London townhouse hotel, The Capital, and take your seat for lunch in a smart, tranquil restaurant that boasts not one but two Michelin stars. Taste the wines carefully chosen by the sommelier to accompany the chef's seasonal suggestions, and open the champagne. Stop there, and it all sounds idyllic, but the reverie could be broken, or enhanced, depending on your way of thinking, by a trip to the kitchen to meet the chef - a larger-than-life Frenchman, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the word "PSYCHO".
Eric Chavot, whose CV reads like a roll call of some of Britain's best restaurants - Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons, La Tante Claire and Chez Nico all feature - fits the classic chef stereotype in some ways. He's a hugely talented, driven perfectionist for whom 18-hour days are the norm, but for the next three hours you will have his undivided attention.
Chavot, who has been head chef at The Capital for five years, will recreate the three-course lunch you've just eaten, painstakingly explaining and demonstrating the techniques required. Along the way, you'll gain a degree of understanding of what goes into producing such flawless food, as well as being party to some entertaining anecdotes from the good-humoured Frenchman.
Chavot does several of these masterclasses a year at The Capital, and the kitchen session is the highlight of a memorable day that begins at noon with a tutored wine-tasting session, under the direction of the Capital Group's chief sommelier, Matthew Wilkin. The genial Australian's choice of wines are an unusual selection, chosen to complement the chef's gutsy, seasonal menu for the masterclass lunch.
Champagne Gosset kicks things off and breaks the ice nicely as the other masterclass pupils arrive. There has been a last-minute cancellation, so there are just three of us today, and my lunch companions have both been given the masterclass as a birthday present.
Matt then gives us the background to our next wine, an unusual dry Tokaji from Hungary, which he likens to the Rhône white, Condrieu. This is to accompany seared scallops with escargots Bourguignon, and we follow it with a Duck Pond Pinot Noir from the US teamed with roast quail with potato cake and Muscat jus. Dessert is gianduja chocolate and orange crumble with iced nougat, and for this a dessert wine from Pantelleria has been selected.
Lunch is just as delicious as you'd expect, but there's a whiff of apprehension as we tuck into these incredibly complex and sophisticated dishes in the full knowledge that we're about to meet their creator. The menu just doesn't reveal the full, elaborate extent of each dish. The tiny caramelised scallops are joined by poached snails coated in chicken mousseline and rolled in a crumb coating, and the little lakes of pungent Bourguignon reduction are off-set by a silky cauliflower purée and vibrant dots of chive oil.
The main course is a show-stopping assembly of quail breasts topped with a stuffing made from the quail liver and heart, with a foie gras sausage and a truffle-cheese studded potato cake on the side. Dessert is a conversation-stopping still-life affair. Then Upstairs Downstairs clicks in as we're led off to meet Chavot, roll up our sleeves and get stuck in. As it turns out, we don't have to get our hands dirty at all - other than by dipping assorted fingers and thumbs into pots and pans to taste as we go, just like the pros; no dainty teaspoons here.
The class is largely demonstration-driven, but we're right in the thick of it, clustered around the stove in the prep kitchen. Chavot drives things along at a cracking pace as he recreates each dish, suggesting ways to adapt them to a domestic kitchen, and peppering his instructions with nuggets of kitchen chit-chat that make us feel as if we're really part of the team, rather than over-dressed amateurs standing on the sidelines.
Contrary to what I'd expected, it's a quiet, restrained atmosphere as the kitchen gears up for evening service. There's very little noise, no shouting, and Chavot's every utterance is met with a rapid-fire "Oui chef". He runs a smooth ship, and loyalty is his reward. In a business with quick staff turnover, Chavot's sous chef Richard Hondier and pastry chef Andrew Gravett have been with him for nine years and five years.
Back at the stove, we begin to appreciate the skill, dedication and care that went in to producing our lunch. "This quail costs us £1.20, we've got to justify the end cost to the customer," Chavot explains as he guts, bones and stuffs the tiny bird. Then, all too soon, it's time to take off the aprons and get back to civvie street, but not before a final element of drama bursts upon the scene. Unbelievably, a frog has been found in the hotel, probably borne in during that morning's antediluvian rain storm, and there's a nervous moment as we rookies contemplate the possible consequences of Chavot's mantra "nothing's wasted". But happily the frog is spared, and safely deposited with the concierge.
Masterclasses with Eric Chavot at The Capital, 22 Basil Street, London SW3 1AT, are running on October 26th, and November 8th, and 29th. The cost is £175, including the wine tasting, lunch and the class, or £250 with overnight accommodation. Book with Carol De Juan on 00-33-207-5911212, carol@capitalhotel.co.uk. Masterclasses taking place between now and Christmas with top chefs including Atul Kochhar (Benares), Matthew Harris (Bibendum), Jeremy Lee (Blue Print Café) and Mark Edwards (Nobu) can be booked with Tasting Places, www.tastingplaces.com.