Portland; Fitzrovia, London

my dad's first Michelin star experience!

It’s such an interesting feeling being able to give your parents a new experience.

It’s quite the classic first-generation experience- your parents move to a new country and work hard so they can give their kids more than they had. Then, we get to give our parents experiences they never had.

My parents are both doctors who were born and raised in Pakistan. They attended medical school there, and once they got married, they immigrated to the States to complete their residency. It wasn’t an easy journey, one that was made harder by the lack of family in their new country and the growing family (kids) that they found themselves raising. I remember when I found out my mother gave birth to me after a 36-hour ER shift. Real shit right there.

Any time I ask my father for a childhood memory, he always says, I literally don’t remember the first ten years of your life. They both worked so hard to give us opportunities they weren’t afforded that they often didn’t even get to spend the money they earned on themselves! I never saw my mum wearing designer labels growing up, and they instead valued family vacations, extra-curriculars, and the best schools they could afford.

So, when I decided to pursue culinary school instead of law school, I briefly thought to myself that I wouldn’t be able to make the kind of money or have the kind of influence to give them experiences they never had.

BUT, lo and behold, there’s a reason for everything. My parents always valued good food, but we never ate out at luxury restaurants or Michelin-starred eateries. Even for their own special occasions, they never found it necessary.

But my father was visiting me in London this past week after supporting me in Prague, and I knew that I wanted to give him something he never took the time to do for himself. Since I was an employee at the Woodhead Restaurant Group, a group that has a phenomenal roster of restaurants under its name and, more importantly, a group that really values its employees, I knew I wanted to take my dad for his first Michelin-star restaurant experience. Since Chris Basset is the Executive Chef of both Clipstone and Portland, the latter having a Michelin star, I made the staff booking for my dad’s last night in London.

Now, I can’t rate this unbiasedly since it’s a staff booking, but I wanted to share the experience we had and the happiness I felt watching my father enjoy the food and be treated so well by all the people who work there. One of my favorite parts of Clipstone is the emphasis we put on stellar service and how each guest leaves feeling like they’ve had a truly special night. You feel that even more when you go as an employee, an experience I know is not very common in the hospitality industry. A lot of times, staff bookings can be treated as second-hand and less, but where I work, we take such good care of the employees because the people are what drive our restaurant to the quality they are!

We opted for the tasting menu, and this is everything we ate.

They started us off very kindly with a complimentary glass of fizz- always a great way to start the meal. It was crisp and light, with a delightful hint of carbonation that just bubbled across your tongue.

We loved it so much that my dad had me take a picture of it- so for anyone who wants to try it- the details are below!

This was the tasting menu in all its glory- and while it may not seem obscenely long from a quick glance- we were so full by the end of it that I actually had trouble getting out of my seat. Let’s just say that jean buttons came undone by the end.

Before the welcome snacks even came out, they started us off with a tomato consomme with smoked beef fat. A consomme is one of those classic techniques that just elevates a dish so much, and this was a perfect example of it. Clear, sparkly, and oh so fresh- the tomato flavor punched you in the face, leaving you reeling, until the smoked beef fat crept in and slowly lowered you to the ground. It was a perfect balance of acidity and smoky fat and set the tone high for the rest of the meal. My father was totally taken aback, firstly by my explanation of what a consomme is, and secondly by the flavor.

After the consomme, the welcome snacks arrived. I think this is when my father was actually like, okkkkkk- we’re not in Kansas anymore.

Again, I want to reiterate. My parents love food and always took us to great restaurants. But they never splurged on themselves the way they could because they put everything towards us! So, no, my father has never experienced the feeling you have when a section of the menu is dedicated to welcome snacks. He loved it, lol.

We had

chalk stream trout, aged beef fat

venison sausage roll

macaron of mushroom and parmesan

chicken liver parfait on crispy chicken skin

full disclosure: I forgot what the last one is but it was a very delicious quail egg and chives in a mini tart case and it was very delicious

The chicken liver parfait and the crispy skin was a moment in time I’ll never forget- it was truly so good me and my dad just sat in silence. Chicken skin is underutilized and underappreciated.

The bread course came in between the welcome snacks and the first course which I actually really appreciated. It let us taste the delicate flavors of the welcome snacks without filling ourselves on the bread. There were two, a seeded sourdough and a treacle? (i think) soda bread. The sourdough was great, the soda bread was spectacular. I was thinking indecent thoughts about the soda bread and how I needed the recipe. Maybe I can coax it out of one of them. The two breads were paired with a fluffiest whipped salted butter and a hay infused hollandaise which was so smooth and decadent, we literally could not stop eating it. I told my father we don’t need seconds, but, we of course ended up ordering seconds. If there’s one thing my father loves, it’s bread.

British green asparagus, cora linn, potato, and wild garlic

This might be a controverisal take but gnocchi is actually one of my favorite forms of pasta (if my head chef Clara is reading this, she would be so disappointed in me calling gnocchi pasta).

If made properly, the soft fluffy pillows of potato and flour melt in your mouth while simultaneously having a chew that is both delightful to chew and swallow.

The wild garlic sauce was punchy and vibrant and the ribbons of raw asparagus added a fresh crunch that brought everything together,

Tartare of hogget and smoked eel, anchovy crisps, goat’s curd

For those who don’t know, hogget is a teenage lamb, usually within 1-2 years old. It has a stronger and richer taste than lamb but still very delicate and juicy. Paired with the smoked eel, the taste of the tartare was rich, fresh, and smoky. BUT, the star was the anchovy crisps. I’m not exactly sure how they did it, but the crisps were made out of anchovies, and thus were salty and punchy- providing the perfect vessel for the tartare.

Roast cornish monkfish, charred brassicas, potato puree, and an Exmoor caviar sauce

I really appreciated this dish because monkfish isn’t usually seen on a lot of restaurant menus. If treated incorrectly, it turns tough and hard to eat. It also takes a bit more time to prep and cook- but when done correctly it tastes amazing.

This was cooked with an Exmoor caviar sauce, another very cool experience as neither me nor my dad has ever had caviar. It was paired with charred brassicas, a vegetable belonging to the cruciferous family. Nestled on top of a pomme puree, an component that I deeply appreciated as I have had to make this pomme puree under Chef Basset, and trust me, pushing that much potato through a drum sieve is not fun. At all.

Sika venison, warm beetroot terrine, crispy capers, kalettes, horseradish

For our final dish, we had Sika venison which is known for it’s marbled fat, a trait rare in most wild venison. This was a doozy of a dish. Venison is a pretty heavy and rich meat, so paired with the beetroot terrine and puree, it was definitely a earthy dish. But, it was lifted by the pops of salt from the crispy capers and the spice afforded by the horseradish. The best bites were the ones that had a little of all the components. While I naturally gravitate towards dishes like the gnocchi or taratre, this was a lovely way to end the meal.

Burnt cheesecake, creme fraiche, poppy seed

We didn’t go for the cheese course, mostly due to us barely being able to breathe properly. But, as my father always says, there’s always room for dessert. And this was a perfect one. It was perfectly creamy, with none of the chalkiness that one sometimes associates with traditional cheesecakes. But, the best bit was how balanced it was. I think we would have been sent over the edge with something too sweet, but this had just that perfect hint of sweetness. Paired with the almost savory creme fraiche and the crunch from the poppy seeds, all my father could say was, “this is the best cheesecake I’ve ever had”.

Of course, a meal is never complete without some petit-fours, a touch I always loved at Clipstone. Whenever the bill gets brought over, a plate of petit-fours arrive with it, a little nod to we know seeing the bill is about to hurt so here’s something to make it better. Kidding. Maybe.

These were ginger madeleines and salted caramel chocolates. The perfect way to end a perfect meal.

My shaylaaaaaaaaa :’) <3 <3 <3

Thank you to the entire team at Portland for giving me and my dad such a special experience, and thank you to the overarching restaurant group for cultivating such a rich and caring environment of hospitality.

Final rating: 9.9/10 (but of course, I’m biased :)