An invitation to lunch at Caviar Kaspia was, once upon a time, <br>
<br>
an offer you simply didn't refuse. Providing, of course, that the bill was on someone else.<br>
<br>
Because caviar, smeared on blinis or piled high on baked potatoes, sure didn't come cheap.<br>
<br>
There may have been other things on the menu, but <br>
<br>
no one paid them much heed. This was all about lashings of the black stuff.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Caviar Kaspia's signature baked potato and caviar: ‘there <br>
<br>
are few better dishes on earth…only the price, at just under <br>
<br>
£150, is ridiculous'<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Caviar Kaspia popped her final tin about two decades back.<br>
<br>
And that site, hidden down a smart Mayfair mews, was taken over by Gavin Rankin (who used to be the boss), and <br>
<br>
transformed into the brilliant Bellamy's. It prospers to this day.<br>
<br>
Kaspia, on the other hand, went quiet. Until last year, when she reopened as a members' club in another Mayfair backstreet.<br>
<br>
But a £2,000 a year membership fee proved <br>
<br>
hard to swallow, meaning the doors were opened to the great unwashed.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Which is how we find ourselves sitting in a rather handsome - albeit near empty - dining room, lusciously lavish, under the <br>
<br>
stern gaze of a stern painting of a very stern man. The <br>
<br>
soft, crepuscular gloom is broken up by the glare of table lamps, indecorously bright,<br>
<br>
while a loud soundtrack of indolent, indeterminate beats throbs in the <br>
<br>
background. The whole place is scented with gilded ennui.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Our fellow diners are two young South Korean women of pale, luminescent beauty,<br>
<br>
clad in diaphanous couture. They don't speak, rather <br>
<br>
communicate entirely via camera phone. Pose, click, check, filter, post.<br>
<br>
Immaculate waiters hover in the shadows.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
We sip ice-cold vodka, and eat a £77 caviar and smoked-salmon Kaspia <br>
<br>
croque monsieur that tastes far better than it <br>
<br>
ought to. Next door, a large table fills with a glut of <br>
<br>
the noisily, glossily confident.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
We're looked after by a wonderful French lady of such effervescent charm <br>
<br>
and charisma that had she burst into an impromptu performance of ‘Willkommen', we would have barely blinked.<br>
<br>
Baked potatoes, skin as crisp as parchment, insides whipped savagely hard with butter <br>
<br>
and sour cream, are a study in tuber art. A cool jet-black splodge <br>
<br>
of oscietra caviar, gently saline, raises them to the sublime.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Only the price, at just under £150 each, is ridiculous.<br>
<br>
But there are few better dishes on earth. I'd eat this every day if I <br>
<br>
could. But I can't. Obviously. That's the problem with <br>
<br>
caviar. One taste is never enough.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
About £200 per head. Caviar Kaspia, 1a Chesterfield Street, <br>
<br>
London W1; caviarkaspialondon.com<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
★★★★✩<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
My favourite luxury dishes<br>
<br>
Tom's pick of the best places to splash the culinary cash in LondonTom's pick of <br>
<br>
the best places to splash the culinary cash in London<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The Ritz<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Beef wellington sliced and sauced at the table (£150) and crêpes suzette flambéed with aplomb (£62): <br>
<br>
Arts de la Table is edible theatre at its most delectable.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
theritzlondon.com<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Otto's<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Come to this classic French restaurant for the canard or homard à la presse (£150-£220 per person); stay for beef tartare (£42), foie gras (£22) and poulet de bresse rôti (£190, two courses).<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
ottos-restaurant.com<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Sushi Kanesaka<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Piscine perfection comes at an eye-watering £420 per person, sans booze.<br>
<br>
But this 13-seat sushi bar shows omakase dining at its <br>
<br>
very finest.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
dorchestercollection.com<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Min Jiang<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The dim sum is some of the best in town. But don't miss the wood-fired Beijing duck (£98) - crisp skin first,<br>
<br>
then two servings of the meat. Superb.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
minjiang.co.uk<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Look into my blog - ดอกไม้แทนความเศร้า - https://Cl-System.jp/question/whats-really-happening-with-%e0%b8%84%e0%b9%88%e0%b8%b2%e0%b8%88%e0%b8%b1%e0%b8%94%e0%b8%94%e0%b8%ad%e0%b8%81%e0%b9%84%e0%b8%a1%e0%b9%89%e0%b8%87%e0%b8%b2%e0%b8%99%e0%b8%a8%e0%b8%9e/
An invitation to lunch at