PLU

You can’t lick Marilyn Monroe.

Except that you can at PLU, a posh restaurant in St John’s Wood, where her Warhol portrait appears as a gazpacho drizzled onto a tile that you are served without cutlery. Diners are encouraged to pick up the tile and, yes, lick it. It’s very visual as well as weirdly tactile.

Richard and Pierre at PLU.
 

The two of us reacted differently. Pierre used his finger to sample the dish, featuring three different varieties of gazpacho in green, yellow and orange, with brown outlines of 25-year-old Ximénez balsamic mastic. He said it tasted correct but wasn’t a patch on Marilyn herself.

Pierre was smiling at Richard, who was so excited, he started snapping away, free of any concern the soup might get cold — though some like it hot — and then licked the slate clean. He said Marilyn’s biography should be Kindle in the Wind.

La Soupe, Pick and Lick, Warhol’s Monroe 21. Richard Vines.

As you might have surmised, PLU is a rather unusual restaurant. It opens just three nights a week and has only three tables. When we ate there, one other table was occupied, for a total of four diners.

It’s tasting menu only, at £140 for 14 courses, and there are many surprises. We thought Marilyn couldn’t be beaten until we were served petits fours on a plate etched with our faces in chocolate.

We think we may have been recognized.

If this all sounds painfully gimmicky, we should say that the cooking and ingredients are top quality, each plate is a work of art and service is very friendly. The chef is Elliot Moss, who began his career at Le Gavroche, and the warm welcome in the dining room comes from his wife, Helen.

Chef Elliot Moss at work.

To be honest, we are still trying to work out the economics of a restaurant with three tables and only three services a week, though it must help that Elliot is solo in the kitchen. The wine list isn’t greedy, so they are not trying to make all their money there.

The amount of work that goes into each dish is extraordinary. You search for words like intricate and exquisite to describe the craftsmanship, while the creativity and imagination are also impressive.

No need to worry about too much food. The first six courses are, canapé-size, including cod & chips, a small crispy ball of potato soufflé with salt cod brandade inside, topped with a caper.

A potager pie is made with celeriac purée, red William pear compressed in Sauternes, celery hearts, macerated fennel, candied walnuts and blue-cheese dressing. It’s so small you could eat it in one bite if you had a big mouth and not-very-refined manners.

This is all bonsai gastronomy. The portion size increased for assiette of Atlantic bluefin tuna, served with a purée of wasabi and avocado and a coriander coulis, but not enough to bloat you.

One of the most intriguing courses was roasted olive-fed British wagyu beef. We could just imagine the pampered cattle enjoying their olives on a cocktail stick.

Can’t say that we actually caught the flavour of the olives, nor the heat of the scotch bonnet chilli in the Bordelaise sauce, but the dish was enjoyable even though the meat was a little chewy.

Elliot is the son of the late British racing driver Stirling Moss, and the fine desserts included a homage to Stirling: His signature in coconut sauce, and his racing helmet in crispy white chocolate filled with coconut bavarois, passion-fruit bavarois and a sponge soaked in Cointreau.

The White Helmet. Richard Vines.

Another pretty dessert featured a miniature Abbey Road sign in an edible dome.

Abbey Road. Richard Vines.

PLU won’t be for everyone, but the food and service are both first class and it is. special. For a birthday or wedding anniversary or whatever, it will make for a memorable dinner.

Yes, there are gimmicks but this is a truly gastronomic experience.

Pierre and Richard on a plate. Richard Vines.

Ambience: Hushed

Food: Intricate

Service: Friendly

PLU, 12 Blenheim Terrace, St John’s Wood, London, NW8 0EB

020 7624 7663

https://www.plurestaurant.co.uk/

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