Elegant Dining by Talented Culinary Students
The Vincent Rooms offers exceptional student-prepared cuisine with a blend of tradition and innovation in a welcoming setting near Victoria Station.
By George Shaw
Over the years, I have worked with a number of catering colleges, judging awards and arranging for chefs and restaurateurs to give talks and take classes for trainee chefs and would be maitre and maîtresse d’s. I can attest to the fact that there is a remarkable variance in the quality between them.
One of the better ones, Thanet College (now renamed East Kent) has produced more than one chef that has gone on to secure Michelin stars for their own restaurants.
The University of West London begat former Tory Cabinet Minister James Cleverly.
At some others, I’m looking at you Hastings, I would not be surprised if some of their prodginey that I encountered failed to progress beyond flipping burgers.
The Vincent Rooms delivers exceptional dining experiences, blending culinary tradition and innovative student craftsmanship in an elegant, welcoming atmosphere.
Most catering schools operate their own training restaurants, where the public can enjoy some remarkably good food at very modest prices, prepared and served by the next generation of hospitality staff. One of the best I have encountered near Victoria Station was recently reopened by renowned chef Michel Roux Jr. The Brasserie is one of a trio of discrete eating areas that make up the Vincent Roomsat Capital City College. The others being Escoffier: a fine-dining restaurant deploying third-year students, and the discrete Café & Bar, serving coffee, cakes and cocktails.
The venue is named eponymously after its home, the historic square tucked away in the heart of Westminster. The spacious, airy brasserie has an elegant and relaxed ambience with high ceilings and tasteful decor, furnished in comforting khaki and earthy dun browns.
With over 100 years of hospitality and culinary heritage, the college first opened in 1910 with the support of legendary chef Auguste Escoffier and hotelier César Ritz – the two most influential names in the history of fine dining and hospitality.
The Vincent Rooms is a trio of elegant eating areas where some of the UK’s best chefs and hospitality professionals have trained. The college’s alumni includes celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver, Ainsley Harriott, Anthony Worrall Thompson, Andy Wong, and Ben Murphy plus MasterChef: The Professionals winners Tom Hamblet, Nikita Pathakji, and Alex Webb, along with Young Chef Olympiad winner Kamran Taylor.
Unwittingly visiting during the restaurant’s Korean Cuisine Week, proved serendipitous, with the offer of two and three course menus priced at a mere £20 and £30 respectively.
First up was a delicately presented Doenjang cod with a ginger foam and rich lemongrass broth. Distinct from miso which uses koji, grains, and salt to ferment soybeans, doenjang relies only on salt for its fermentation. For me, the cod perhaps spent a few seconds too long under the grill, crisping the top slightly more than I would like, but these are students and it was still very good.
For the main I opted for the Grilled Gochujang (red chilli) glazed skirt steak, with charred kimchi puree and grilled soy vegetables. The beef was moist and flavoursome, with a complex savory, sweet, and spicy top notes, although a tad al dente. My fault perhaps for ordering a cheaper cut of meat, medium-rare. Longer marinating may have solved this. A minor complaint. I still sport most of my own teeth, aided and abetted by a couple of very expensive implants.
To finish, I went for the Yaksik, a pleasing dish of steamed glutinous rice with chestnuts, red juju
