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Collage & Dining an Immersive Food and Art Event at Carousel:
Carousel is one of the new breed of mixed use art/food/music venues. Recent guest chefs have included recent Rosewood Hotel head of F&B Bjorn Van Der Horst and his Rosewood executive head chef Michelin starred Omar Romero. This dynamic duo have incidentally just opened a bone broth pop-up bar (that’s stock to you and me) called the Broth Bar Lab, in West London at 209 Westbourne Grove, but more on broth later…
I’m at Carousel for a ‘Collage & Dining’ event with Omar Romero in the kitchen producing a 6 course meal inspired by the collage artwork featured in the Brooklyn vs. London show curated by young art tyros Something in the Attic. The collages are more of the old school Kurt Schwitters variety, traditional assemblages of cutouts, but less abstract than Schwitters’ work.
It was fun to check them out whilst sinking a ‘dirty’ Martini. What really interests me however is the way Romero was going to develop dishes that relate to specific artworks in the show.
First up was a mushroom broth, blended with Earl Grey Tea and garnished with lemongrass, chives and seaweed. This felt like something you might sip at in a rather abstracted fashion before meditating in a zen garden in Kyoto. The dish was influenced by Gareth Haliday’s playfully titled collage ‘Pick a Lily Circus’ with its floating lily pads being echoed by the seaweed.
Foraged leaves salad, poached egg, crispy shallots, chicken jus dressing and pine oil was a deliciously unctuous ensemble and a gastro analogue of Flynn Cameron Jones’ ‘The Trials of Life 17.’ With the nosh we were drinking a wonderful Tufarello Nero di Troia 2013 from Puglia which was full of blueberry and cherry flavours.
Our next dish consisted of a squid ink reduction, red wine mignonette, grilled squid and aioli which was to be scooped up by a rice paper wafer emblazoned with a cross. It was referencing Morgan Lappin’s ‘Holy Trinity’, a transgressive religious piece with the squid playing the part of the condom. It tasted great.
Our next bottle was the Crystallum Pinot Noir was a classic pinot and the perfect match for the foie gras, braised chicken, sloe gin jus, redcurrant jelly and brioche toast which was rich and flavourful, characteristics which married perfectly with Daniel Greer’s ‘Glob Save Queen V’ with faces of our royals melting in a Francis Baconesque manner.
White chocolate and champagne mousse caramelised rose petals and strawberries surprisingly enough had a creamy strawberry champagne vibe taken from the colour ways of Anthony Gerace’s ‘There Must Be More to Life Than…’ As were those taken from Kieran Madden’s ‘Sky Rocket Woman’ the impetus for the final dish of blueberries and crushed meringue curaçao custard and almond sponge.
I really enjoyed this event. The meal was a bit uneven in quality but great value at £40 (without booze) and it was fun to experience a chef’s imagination let loose in a creative project. Check out the artwork at and take the time out to visit Carousel to experience a less commodified approach to gastronomy.
Carousel.
71 Blandford Street
W1U 8AB
020 7487 5564
E:info@carousel-london.com
The post Collage and Dining event at Carousel appeared first on London Unattached - Food, Travel,Restaurant Reviews.