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CHEF MENUWATCH 676 Fulham Road, London SW6 5SA
Tel: 020 7384 9559
www.mansonrestaurant.co.uk
MANSON
Head chef Alan Stewart has made Manson a family aair, with plenty of
genuinely local produce on the menu following the departure of Ramsay
protge Gemma Tuley. Neil Gerrard reports
SAMPLE DISHES
FROM THE MENU
STARTERS
Ham hock soup, fresh
peas, herbs 6
Wild sea trout, fennel,
sea vegetables 9
Gin and tonic cured stone
bass, cucumber, mint,
bronze fennel 8
MAIN COURSES
Devon chicken, potato
pancakes, girolles 14.50
English Rose veal,
green beans, house-cured
sardines, tomatoes 19
Rib of beef, bone marrow,
chips, green salad (for two) 50
DESSERTS
Damson parfait with
rose granita and brown
breadcrumbs 6
Warm chocolate, raspberry
and hazelnut tart, honeycomb
ice-cream 6.50
A
t the relatively young age of
, Alan Stewart has already
worked for some of the
most prestigious restaurants in
London, including a two-year stint
at Chez Bruce and a period at
Launceston Place which saw him
work his way up from junior sous
to head chef within months.
But after just over a year at
the helm at Launceston Place,
Stewart, who also has a degree in
hospitality management from
Manchester University, decided it
was time for a new challenge
where he could make his mark
with his own culinary style.
So towards the end of , he
took up an oer to replace former
Ramsay protege Gemma Tuley
as head chef at Manson, a relaxed
brasserie-style operation on the
Fulham Road. And to make it
more of a family operation, his
sister Laurie has joined from
La Trompette in Chiswick to run
the front of house.
I am a young guy and I want it
to be somewhere my mates can
come and have a pint and a good
bite to eat, and not feel like they
have to sit there in silence with a
jacket on, Stewart says.
The simplicity and unfussiness
of the venue is reected in the
menu, exemplied by dishes like
wood pigeon with spelt, currants
and chervil (.). Stewart roasts
the pigeon on the crown, having
taken the oal out, which he
sweats down and chops up before
putting it through the spelt in a
kind of spelt risotto. The dish is
nished o with a deep, rich
sauce made from the bones.
NATURAL HARMONY
I think if things go together in
nature then they tend to go
together on the plate, and pigeons
eat grains, Stewart explains. To
freshen the dish up, he adds rasp-
berries, blackberries, redcurrants
and blackcurrants to lend a little
acidity.
The restaurant also has the
bonus of being able to oer genu-
inely local produce in the middle
of London, as it comes with two
local allotments stued with
seasonal vegetables grown by
Mansons own gardener.
Although Stewart hasnt had
long to plan what he would like to
see grown, he is already using
produce from the allotments in
his dishes.
The Gressingham duck, grey-
hound cabbage, gooseberries and
hasselback potato (.), for
example, uses a summer variety
of cabbage straight from the
neighbouring allotment, which
Stewart has been unable to nd
anywhere else. It has the most
wonderful sweet, rich avour,
he enthuses.
NOSE TO TAIL
He has also introduced a nose-to-
tail philosophy to the restaurant,
which sees whole animals brought
on site to be butchered, and a rap-
idly changing menu to make use
of all the various cuts.
It is in this way that the duck
egg, Scottish girolles, garlic and
parsley () is married up with
duck ham and toast, the ham hav-
ing been produced from the same
Gressingham duck available as a
main course.
It is not all about traditional
technique though. Stewart has
water baths and a vacuum packer
at his disposal, and has just
ordered a dehydrater, having used
more modern methods alongside
Tristan Welch at Launceston
Place. He explains: I am not
necessarily putting foams on the
plate and going for high-end ne-
dining food, but I do want to use
the techniques to hopefully create
fantastic food.