Sclater Street Kitchen, London

Life is too short for hesitations and regrets. I always admire people who venture and try something even if you don't know what the future holds.

Gareth Baty is someone that I met when I received an invite to attend his launch party for Sclater Street Kitchen. He runs a suppervclub and have now decided to start his own private catering company.

I found myself heading there with Jen and was greeted warmly at the door.

We started with Gressingham duck breast, roast hazelnut & pickled walnut pearl barley with salted caramel shards and apricot gel.

Lots of flavours and texture in this dish. From the duck breast which was moist and tender to the slight saltiness of the pickled walnut and pearl barley, topped with salted caramel shards while adding a visual element was less cutlery friendly as it was hard to break them into little pieces. I have to commend on all the work that goes into making each element as it isn't easy. Though I found it slightly heavy on the seasoning, Jen thought it was good.

Next on the menu was the scallop and crab filo parcel with ginger velouté. The scallop and crab had a lovely texture and my preference was for the ginger velouté to be a thicker as I love my ginger.

In terms of flavours, the braised Northfield Farm ox-cheek with guinness sauce, wild garlic puree, courgette and horseradish foam hit the spot for me.

It was unctuous with the guinness sauce adding depth. I loved the zing and acidity that came from the wild garlic purée and horseradish foam. Too many ingredients? Not for me, the whole thing works and harmonise well together.

Hackney strawberries, white chocolate panna cotta, almond shortbread, baby meringues, strawberry milkshake

In terms of visual appearances, the dessert wins hands down with tiny milk bottles holding strawberry milkshake in little white baskets and mini jars of panna cotta and strawberries on wooden blocks. I felt like I was transported back to the playground and funfair as a kid.

Extra sides of baby meringues were deliciously irresistible.

Gareth came out after to chat with us and he is a really lovely guy. The amount of technique and skills he displayed throughout the entire dinner is impressive, and he sure has an eye for plating.

Please check out Sclater Street Kitchen for more information.

Chopstix2Steaknives dined as a guest.