Gathering rosebuds at Sally Clarke’s

When I was young I remember my grandmother endlessly telling me ‘Do all you can while you can’ or - even more irritatingly - ‘Gather ye rosebuds while ye may’. At the time I found it hugely annoying but as I get older I can see the point.

Unexpected things happen to you - and to people close to you - that prevent you from doing things you might have desperately wanted to do and the chance is lost.

I had that very much in mind as I wrestled with my conscience yesterday as to whether to go to Sally Clarke’s in Kensington who was hosting one of my culinary heroes Alice Waters or go to the supermarket wine tasting I was supposed to attend for the day job. Lunch was the only time I could do it. Would I regret not going if, for any random reason, it proved to be Waters last visit to the UK? More than missing the tasting? It was a no-brainer.

So why the excitement? Alice was the first person to introduce the simple ingredient-led cooking we now take for granted back in 1971 when she opened her iconic Californian restaurant Chez Panisse. I remember going to her restaurant in Berkeley and being overwhelmed by the simple clean flavours and unfussy presentation. Sally used to work for her and was obviously equally inspired. She was the forerunner of that kind of food in London - and is still cooking it 30 years on. Alice was over to celebrate the restaurant’s 30th anniversary

Part of the aim of the meal was to raise money and consciousness for Waters’ groundbreaking Edible Schoolyard project which encourages schools to incorporate an ‘edible education’ curriculum which covers everything from growing food to cooking and eating it. You can find out more about it here.

So what did we eat? It was a simple, no-choice 3 course meal but one of great generosity. Roasted peppers with fabulously creamy buffalo mozzarella and anchovies, crisp-skinned seabass with aioli and coco beans in a tomato and fennel broth and an insanely good molten dark chocolate pudding with caramelised hazelnut ice-cream made by Alice’s former pastry chef and food stylist Claire Ptak who runs Violet Cakes in Hackney. Some of the ingredients were supplied by local school gardens in London.

We drank a bottle of 2003 Arbois Pupillin Poulsard, an ethereal Burgundian-stye natural red wine that my friend Doug of Les Caves de Pyrène managed to persuade them to let us open. (Normally they don’t do BYO so don’t try it!)

Apart from being a memorable meal, yesterday was a reminder of a good life lesson. If you think “if I was hit by a bus tomorrow would I regret not doing this?” and the answer is yes, just do it. Gather ye rosebuds ….

PS If you missed Alice’s visit there’s nothing to stop you going to Clarke’s anyway. Sally recently moved to serving her food à la carte and the sample menu is particularly tempting.