Telephone: 020-7498 4651
Address: Sand, 156 Clapham Park Road, London SW4.
All very now, posed - er, poised - somewhere between the urban cool of Brixton and the upmarket style of Clapham Old Town. Striking interior design vies for attention with miniature TV screens showing classic movies. Full English or continental breakfasts for less than £5 per head and a fine dining menu featuring sushi, risotto, scallops and John Dory at £10 to £15 per head. Add to that demon Bloody Marys, wicked Bellinis and sundry cocktails mixed by hip yet charming staff and you get a seriously smart establishment. The downside? Its 2am licence means queues are par for the course. Booking for dinner is essential.
Telephone: 020-7627 0222
Address: Gastro, 67 Venn Street, London SW4.
No nonsense. No fuss. No frills. Gastro is a trad French eaterie opposite Clapham Picture House. Proper, unmucked about moules marinière, and lots of them; oysters in abundance; serious saucisses, terrines, ptés, etc. Slip in for a pre-movie quick bite at the instant-classic zinc-topped bar. Or lurch in after a searing movie experience and chill out at one of the rackety wooden tables over andouillettes (grilled chitterlings sausage for the uninitiated) and frites, sweet French black pudding and frites and grilled lobster (and frites). It's all a bit French, but, it's got style and purpose, like their football players.
Cheat's kitchen
Strawberry cream meringues
4 M&S meringue nests
500g strawberries
100ml whipping or double cream
2 tsp caster sugar
1 . Put strawberries into food processor with sugar. Blitz for about 15 secs until roughly chopped.
2 . Whip cream until really stiff. Fold in half of the chopped strawberries.
3 . Blob half the cream/strawberry mixture between halves of meringues and place on plate.
4 . Dollop the rest of the mixture over and around the meringue, and arrange remaining chopped stawberries at artistic intervals around the plate.
Ms L Castle, London
If you have any hints for Cheat's kitchen, send them to The Guzzler, The Guardian, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3ER
On the menu: parfait
How do you pronounce that?
"Parfay" as in "it's a parfay day".
Oh, very funny. Well, what is it?
A rich, frozen pudding made, usually, of something and cream and eggs.
Ice cream, you mean?
Don't be so coarse. A parfait is to ice cream what pté de foie gras is to meat paste.
So it's a bit refined, you mean.
And a bit more delicate, too. Chefs love a bit of parfait - nougat is very popular at the moment, although you may also have noticed prune chocolate and Armagnac, and raspberry.
Still sounds like ice cream to me.
Come to think of it, you do get a chicken liver parfait, too.
That isn't ice cream.
Nobody's parfait.
Food on the net
An unusual one, this, set up as a forum dedicated to food as a pleasure. So there's nothing to buy, and not much to plug. It wants to be a site where chefs and other food lovers swap tips, recipes and thoughts.
Pros: Hosting pages for a number of big names - including Gordon Ramsay, Gary Rhodes and John Torode - foodoo can offer a range of impressive recipes, plus the musings of the professionals on food trends.
Cons: A risk of becoming a sounding board for chefs? Antony Worrall Thompson's exhortations to show some national pride in the Dome seem out of place here.
Coming soon: Extensive food glossary and a searchable recipe database.
