I had been to Racine on two previous occasions to this and had been mightily impressed. It is a 'proper' restaurant, solid, neat and excellent. Fortunately these visits did not coincide with chef/patron Henry Harris's transfer to the soho house group, he was back at Racine by the time I walked of Brompton Road into what I would describe now as a little piece of food heaven.
It was with delight then that I attended the inaugural Steak Frites event superbly put together by Henry(@racine_kitchen), Daniel(@youngandfoodish) and Dino(@Gastro1). Not forgetting family O'shea (@osheasbutchers) who supplied the magnificent beef.
The evening started with an introduction by Daniel and a fascinating explanation from Henry as to why he chooses to source his beef from O'sheas and why it is SO GOOD! Henry is one of those speakers who mesmerises you, his passion and knowledge for food seeping out of him like the melting fat in one of his Cote de Boeuf's as he teases it around a hot butter laden skillet. Marvellous stuff.
With the introductions over the eating began; first up onglet, shallots, spring garlic and bone marrow on toast. All I can say about this dish is sensational. I love onglet but this was the best piece of onglet I have ever eaten, period. That deep liverish flavour flying at your taste buds, it can be tough, this was tender and beautiful. The wine reduction, shallots, garlic and bone marrow made it a death row dish. Around the room, there were moans and groans of delight in between the gulping of a very fine and delightfully matched Morgon beaujolais. What a start, what a hard act to follow.....
I think that the group that night was slightly fortunate in that this was a second time around for 'team steak frites', a dry run with the powers that be had already taken place. As Henry explained for our second dish, fillet with a potato and blue cheese puree, he altered the cooking process and instead of individually dealing with a piece of filet for each diner, he took the middle section of a chateaubriand, coated in a thick layer of peppercorns, then cooked as a piece and sliced. (One great tip Henry gave us was sieving the black peppercorns when crushed. It is the dust from the crushing that burns, when removed it allows proper caramalisation and creates a perfect crust) The resulting dish was again spectacular. It was perhaps the weak link on paper that evening, however I think Henry holds a shining light for peppered fillet, possibly why it was so brilliant; the perfectly rare melting fillet, a wonderful cheesey potato puree and rich reduction, my god it was good. A Santa Cristina Antiniori again a prefect, fruity wine match. The second dish in my opinion had lived up to the first.
So onto the third, the famous O'sheas Cote de boeuf. One has to say it was in a terribly disadvantaged position coming up after two such wonderful plates of food. It was served with a green leaf and shallot salad, chips and bearnaise. It was actually my third favorite of the evening. The beef was good, not the best Cote de boeuf I have had. As Henry explained cuts off different beasts will vary, it's no science. The chips were fine and the bearnaise very good indeed. I ate everything that had been put in front of me. Again the wine matching worked, a happy and gutsy Cote du Rhone partnered the Cote du boeuf.
To finish, vanilla ice cream with a pot of melting Valrhona chocolate sauce and some very fine biscuits. Once again Henry stepped in with an explanation as to why Valrhona, 72% cocoa apparantly. Not only were we eating magical food but we were being educated. Lucky us.
So for me, in terms of the beef, my order of favorites were; one(onglet), two(fillet), three(Cote de boeuf)......or was it a two, one, three....uurrrggg.
It was a most fantastic evening. The cooking, the beef, the organisation and the company were an absolute joy.
I will go back to Racine very soon, probably for a weekday lunch, knowing that I can dive accross the road afterwards to O'sheas and purchase some onglet for dinner. A win double of the highest order.
five out of five stars
Racine
239 Brompton Road
London
SW3 2EP
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