Fifteen

Fifteen Restaurant Review:

Jamie Oliver is a likeable lad whose impact on the nation's tastes has been extraordinary. Fifteen refers to the fifteen unemployed youngsters whom he originally trained to be chefs, with great difficulty and before the restaurant opened, with full TV exposure. Now it has spawned other Fifteens from Cornwall to Australia and continues to teach. The professional staff and students have proved themselves more than up to the challenge of producing top quality dishes. Take cured mackerel with Granny Smith apple, buttermilk and dill, then follow it with short rib with Roscoff onion, mash and Montgomery cheddar, or Galician octopus with XO sauce, coriander rice and wild garlic. Desserts? How about the Fifteen carrot cake trifle, or organic chocolate mousse with navelina orange and crème fraîche. And that’s just the à la carte; go for the £55 Chef's Choice tasting menu for some extra culinary treats. Some of the alumni are now running their own restaurants; a public acknowledgement of what a determined chef can do.