Smoked trout and a Tricycle

My problem this week is that I have a terrific wine pairing but I can't tell you about it because it's the result of a tasting I was running for Decanter magazine. So you'll have to hang on till December for that. Sorry.

In the meantime here's my second best match which is not a wine at all but a Tricycle, a refreshing apple, cucumber and mint-based soft drink I had at the Riding House Café with my daughter this week. Like many places these days they specialise in small plates so it had to take an artichoke dip, salt cod fritters and red pepper aioli, cured trout, jalapeno pepper and crème fraîche (right) and sea bass ceviche with lime and chilli in its stride.

It actually coped very well, particularly with the trout, in much the same way, I think, as a herby Sauvignon Blanc would have done. (I always find it helps to think of a vinous equivalent of soft drinks.) I've ordered that kind of drink in Lebanese restaurants before and it goes well with mezze too.

It would also be a nice summery drink to take on a picnic for non-drinking friends. Assuming we still have some summer left, not obvious from today's overcast sky :(

Mackerel pasty and Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs 2006

This actually wasn't the dish with which I drank this brilliant new sparkling wine at Rocksalt in Folkestone last week - I'd unfortunately finished my glass by then - but it would certainly have been a knockout wine pairing.

You can see my full account of the meal on my Food & Wine Finds blog here. The mackerel pasty - a combination of mackerel and pork sausage meat - might sound weird but was surprisingly light, savoury and absolutely delicious.

By then we'd moved on to a carafe of Birgit Eichinger Hasel Grüner Veltliner but to tell the truth the Gusbourne, a new sparkling wine which comes from a vineyard just five miles away from the restaurant in Kent, would have been a better match. (Fizz is generally a good call with pastry and fish.)

It was an interesting wine - softer and richer than a comparable Champagne. It won a silver medal in this year's IWSC competition - a considerable coup from a new wine producer. You can buy it direct off their website for £24.99 a bottle.

Other good matches would have been a best bitter or a medium dry cider. Or even a perry.

Hawksmoor hot dog and Seven Barrels Red Rye IPA

I know I said I was going to make a Riesling my match of the week but given that I've already written about it and that it's the Great British Beer Festival this week I'm going for this great combo at my son's restaurant, Hawksmoor. (Blatantly nepotistic, I know. Apologies)

The boys have been planning to introduce a hot dog for a while but couldn't find a British-sourced sausage that was up to scratch so this has been a year in development. I have to say it's a great one - light and smokey, just lightly grilled and served with melted onions, sweet mustard, homemade ketchup and, rather bizarrely - kimchi which also appears in one of their burgers.

I'm not so sure about the kimchi but the basic 'dog' is absolutely fantastic with their new Seven Barrels Red Rye IPA which has been brewed for them by the Kernel Brewery in London. It's a serious 6.5% bottle conditioned ale made from malted barley (85%) and rye (15%) with Amarillo and Mt. Hood hops, according to this review on the beer website ratebeer. I was going to order a lager but this was absolutely delicious - really rich and fruity. (The Spitalfields branch has its own ale, The Devil's Architect, made by Camden Brewery, which I've yet to try.)

Olive oil vanilla and pistachio cake with Muscat de Rivesaltes

It was a tough call to single out the best pairing from my meal at Galoupet in Knightsbridge last week but as I haven't featured a dessert for a while this just shaded it.

The USP of the restaurant which I'll review more fully in a day or so is that it offers a wine pairing with each course - still comparatively unusual in London, surprisingly. That wouldn't be remarkable if the food wasn't above average - but it is.

This dessert was a lovely moist, but light-as-air polenta cake with a vivid pistachio flavour, similar to one that David Everitt-Mathias serves at Le Champignon Sauvage and which featured in his first book Essence. (You can also find the recipe on the Riverford blog here.)

It was well matchedl with a light citrussy 2007 Muscat de Rivesaltes from Domaine Cazes which picked up on the citrus in the cake. A lovely way to end a summer meal.