Le Caprice is one of my favourite restaurants in London, I went there for my 21st birthday a couple of years ago, and fell in love. A couple of months ago I was very fortunate to be invited to have lunch with the manager, Jesus Adorno, who has worked at Le Caprice since it re-opened in 1981. He started working there as a waiter, and gradually worked his way up to Manager. His stories of Le Caprice are fascinating, and his passion for hospitality inspiring.
While listening to the smooth sounds of Dom Pipkin tinkering on the ivories, I thought how absolutely lovely it is at Le Caprice, and why it is one of my favourite restaurants. We discussed Le Caprice's history, the restaurant industry, and how they've recently started their Jazz Brunch. Le Caprice has long been popular with movie stars, musicians, and even Princess Diana, and has been an institution since it originally opened in 1947.
Sister restaurant to The Ivy, jazz is a huge part of Le Caprice, and so not only do they have their Jazz Brunch every Saturday from 12:30pm-4pm, but they also have Jazz sessions every other Sunday. Claire and I hadn't seen each other for a few weeks, so decided to treat ourselves to the Jazz Brunch last Saturday before going to the RA to see their Australia exhibition. Le Caprice do a package where you can get lunch and a ticket to the exhibition, but Claire is a member of the RA so we didn't do that as she gets herself and a guest in for free.
We started with Champagne, and I couldn't decide what to eat, so I had a small Eggs Benedict and a small Butternut Squash and Zucchini Risotto, while Claire had the large Steak Tartar. The Eggs Benedict at Le Caprice are definitely the best Eggs Benny in town, I drool just thinking about them! Jesus says it's all in the eggs they get.
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| I'm not sure why my camera has made the bacon look purple?! Weird. |
The risotto was so good, but so filling, I'm so glad I got the small! It was full of flavour, I find so many risotto's have an awful habit of being stodgy, but this one was creamy and just delicious.
Claire said her steak tartar was really tasty, personally I don't know how anyone can eat raw meat...but each to their own!
As we were so full we decided to share a dessert. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that no matter how full I am, I always have room for dessert. Back in September Jesus told me about a dish that is renowned amongst the regulars, but isn't on the menu. So I'm letting you all into this little secret ;) just ask the waiter for 'Iced Berries', and this is what you will get...
Frozen berries covered in white chocolate sauce... the texture of the frozen berries mixed with the creamy consistency of the white chocolate sauce is just magical. It's so simple but so satisfying.
We had a really lovely lunch at Le Caprice, I'm sure we'll be back there soon. After our lunch we went to the RA for the Australia exhibition, you're not allowed to take photos but I managed to sneak a few pics of my favourite pieces ;) Sadly I was told off for trying to take one of the famous Ned Kelly painting so I didn't get one of that. All of the ones I really liked I liked mainly because they reminded me so much of the Australian landscape (but in a very different way to the more popular Grey Malin photographs that I love so much!), and they made me miss Australia so so much!
1. I love this because it really is how a bushfire looks. The night sky after a bushfire is strange, you always get the best sunsets after a bushfire so it's incredibly beautiful, but at the same time, knowing how much destruction has taken place to get that beauty, it quite haunting.
2. I adore how this shows the arid landscape. Empty, wild, but completely beautiful.
3. This reminds me of south-western Australia with the trees and lush vegetation. Love it.
4. Aboriginal dot paintings, ugh, love them. We have a couple in my Dad's study that he brought back to the UK when we moved back, and they always remind me of my second home. I just love how the Aborigines see things differently, and how they depict every day emotions and actions with different animals and symbolism.
5. This painting is a colonial one of Mounts Bay Road in Perth. I've driven on this road many times, and it's so so different now! It's built up and the huge hill and river side is so covered in trees and buildings now that it's barely recognizable.
6. This one just took my breath away, it reminded me of the Northern Territory and Kings Canyon.
We had a lovely relaxing day, which prepared me for the London Jazz Festival event later that evening! You'll hear all about that tomorrow :)