Novikov is that Russian name with an Asian and Italian restaurant under one roof. Located in Mayfair the spacious venue splits into two restaurants. Novikov invited me down to an Italian master class for over 4 hours preparing our food for the meal. The Italian restaurant has a modern feel, beautiful wall panelling, chandeliers, gives a great ambience. The open kitchen is fantastic to watch the chef cook food, and the fresh colourful ingredients make a great addition to the vibe.
Novikov has an Italian cooking class for £75 that allows you to cook and eat your food that you make in their very own kitchen.
A basket of freshly baked bread is delivered straight to the table; the focaccia flat bread is addictive. Whilst waiting for the others to arrive I had a chat with the friendly staff. Novikov imports fresh Italian ingredients into their kitchen and proves that using the simplest high quality makes the most incredibly delicious food.
Getting the apron on and washing our hands we got down to business and prepare our first dish. Slow cooked lamb cooked in clay. It takes two hours to cook; it’s the first time I seen clay used to cook food.
Next the brave filleted a sea bass, ready to be buried into a sea salt cast. The sea salt, thyme, lemon is enough for the flavouring. The sea salt cast is cooked under the hot oven in 20-30 mins.
Then we were shown how to make orecchiette, it looks like a small ear and is a lot harder to shape than you think.
Lastly, we made our own margarita pizzas using only a tomato base, and mozzarella cheese. Cooked with 2 mins under the oven it was one of the pizzas I ever had in my life.
We sat down and drank wine whilst our food was cooked then served at our table.
http://www.novikovrestaurant.co.uk/