Sauce Eats Out… Carousel
Carousel’s open kitchen is home to an ever-changing line-up of accomplished chefs from around the world who share the Templeton cousins’ philosophy on what eating out should be all about: amazing cooking, friendly service, a relaxed environment and a shared experience from one table to the next. We recently visited when guest chef Santiago Lastra Rodriguez hosted 12 evenings in Carousel’s communal nature dining room, collaborating with head chef Ollie Templeton and staff.
Santiago, or Santi as he is called, is killing it. After earning his stripes at Mugaritz, the talented Mexican chef left Basque country to join the team at Bror in Copenhagen. Add to that stopovers at the Nordic Food Lab, the Wood*ing Foraging Academy and NOMA Mexico – where he was René Redzepi’s right hand man – and you have a remarkably well-travelled chef with a seriously original approach to cooking. For his third Carousel residency, including the hugely popular Tate Modern collaboration last summer, Santiago specialised in using local ingredients to realise ambitious dishes, like Chilpachole de jaíba (crab, tarragon and mezcal broth), that are rooted in his own Mexican heritage.
The menu consisted of five courses with a sixth course offered for an additional cost. Chef Santiago gave a brief talk about his use of local UK ingredients, and after hearing more about the special taco, we of course had to try the fresh langoustine. The Carousel staff were most welcoming and knowledgeable as well. It was a fabulous meal.
Chilpachole de jaíba
Crab, tarragon and mezcal broth
Crab meat and pistaschio cream chalupa
Tostada
Scallops, kohlrabi, bone marrow and burnt grape pipián
Carrots cooked in coffee
Milk skin, English goat’s cheese, hogweed and wild herbs
Taco
Langoustine, sauerkraut and sea buckthorn
Tepoztlán
Salsify, almond, dulce de leche, forced rhubarb and chamoy
Who’s next?
Prateek Sadhu, head chef of wilderness-to-table restaurant Masque in Mumbai, is bringing a taste of his innovative Indian cuisine to Carousel 17-21st April. Sadhu – who trained at a range of North America and Europe’s best, including Alinea, Le Bernardin, The French Laundry and Noma – and co-owner Aditi Dugar opened Masque in September 2016 with a commitment to using purely local ingredients to create sustainable dishes. At Carousel, Sadhu aims to uphold this philosophy by using the highest quality ingredients and produce sourced entirely within the UK – apart from the native Indian spices he will bring with him. For tickets, visit www.carousel-london.com or call 020 7487 5564. For more information about Masque, visit www.masquerestaurant.com.
About Carousel
Carousel is owned and operated by the Templeton cousins: Ollie, Will, Ed and Anna. Split across two buildings and five floors, the revolving creative hub is home to a carefully curated program of chef residencies, art exhibitions, film screenings, stand-up comedy, live music and more.