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Tate Britain’s restaurant is famous for three things: one is its (unfinished) mural by Rex Whistler, Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats, which he painted from 1925 on – it’s worth sticking your head through the door just to have a look at it – and another is its low mark-ups on wine, which make it a remarkably good-value place to order a special bottle. Another is its menu of British dishes – often very traditional ones, like steak and kidney pie. As Wine and Drinks Buyer Hamish Anderson explains, ‘we’re serving a very diverse range of people. About 50 or 60 per cent are people from local businesses, coming in for lunch, and the rest are people who’ve come to the gallery. So we do everything from three-course lunches to light snacks with just a glass of wine.’
The history of the restaurant is a curious one. It was originally designed as the directors’ dining room, and the wine cellar started laying down stocks of good wine because the directors expected such things. Then, when it was opened to the public and turned into a restaurant in 1972, the wine cellar – which belonged to the public, since the gallery is publicly funded – was given to the restaurant. The tradition of laying down wine – not as common as one would think in restaurants – continues, and because wines are priced according to what they cost to buy, as opposed to what they would cost to replace, an old bottle here can be very good value indeed.
One point to remember: the restaurant is open for lunch, but not for dinner except on the first Friday of each month, when the gallery is also open. Booking is normally recommended, though if there is no special show on at the gallery you may be able just to walk in
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Rioja at Tate Britain
Hamish recommends 2001 Rioja Propriedad from Palacios Remondo (£28 on the list) with the rich flavours of the restaurant’s Steak and Kidney Pudding with Horseradish Cream or, as a match for a first-class white Rioja, Roasted Suffolk Chicken Breast with Bread Sauce with 2004 Rioja Blanco, Remelluri (£39 on the list). ‘The key to this dish is using the best chicken you can lay your hands on - and of course the bread sauce. In the restaurant we use breasts. However, if I was at home I would roast a bird whole and then joint it, as cooking on the bone is always preferable. Serve the chicken with a piping hot bowl of bread sauce, watercress salad and a light gravy made by deglazing the roasting tray with a little white wine.
Tate Britain’s Bread Sauce
2.2 litres milk (substitute up to 25% of the milk with double cream if you want a really decadent sauce
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 shallots (roughly chopped)
3 cloves garlic
2 sprigs of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
2 bay leaves
100g unsalted butter
1 loaf of French bread
Bring the milk to the boil. Add the butter, shallots, garlic, nutmeg, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves and simmer for 5 minutes, being careful not to let the milk burn. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for at least two hours; overnight in a cool place is better. Then strain. Remove the crusts from French bread and roughly dice. Place the milk back on the heat and add the diced bread. Whisk the bread into the milk until it is of a smooth consistency. Season as required.
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