Guest chefs showcase best of west London at Charlotte's for Food Month

Four stars from ‘overlooked’ area invited to cook at Ealing restaurant
Melting pot: owner Alex Wrethman at Charlotte’s W5, which will host a series of suppers to celebrate the area’s food
Alex Lentati

A west London restaurateur is hosting a series of suppers to celebrate an area which he says has been overlooked by “trendier” parts of the capital.

Alex Wrethman, the owner of three Charlotte’s Group restaurants in and around Ealing, has invited four top chefs from the area into his kitchen as part of London Food Month, which begins on Thursday.

All four events will be held at Charlotte’s W5, near Ealing Broadway.

The first guest chef is Henry Harris, who will draw on his time at the helm of classic French restaurant Racine, in Knightsbridge, to create rustic bistro plates on June 6.

He will be followed by acclaimed Shepherd’s Bush chef and restaurateur Rowley Leigh, who worked for years at Joe Allen restaurant, Le Gavroche and Le Poulbot and will dream up a menu to be served on June 13. Leigh — who ran Le Café Anglais in Bayswater and now runs Parabola at the Design Museum in Kensington — will be creating a rustic Italian menu, including a main course of whole shoulder of middle white pork braised in milk and sage. Next, on June 20, is Atul Kochhar, who was only the second Indian chef to receive a Michelin star, for his Mayfair restaurant Benares in 2007.

Kochhar, who lives in Isleworth, will be serving up a tasting menu of Indian fine-dining dishes such as grilled prawn moilee with vermicelli and chargrilled lamb rump with rogan jus and sprouting broccoli.

Delhi-born chef and cookery teacher Angela Malik completes the line-up on June 27. The Great British Menu judge will create a menu that reflects Ealing’s melting pot of cultures, using producers from the area.

Mr Wrethman bought Charlotte's Place from the original owner, family friend Charlotte Kearns, several years ago and subsequently opened Charlotte’s W5 and Charlotte’s Bistro.

He said he wanted to get involved in London Food Month to showcase the area. “West London is packed with wonderful food and drink, but we are often overlooked by other trendier parts of London,” he said.

“We are proud to have three restaurants which sit in the centre of this historic culinary heartland, so what better way to celebrate these chefs than to invite them all in and let them flex their cooking muscles to new and existing customers? Once Crossrail arrives in Ealing, that will give it a huge boost. I think Ealing could be the new Shoreditch for sure.”

Charlotte’s Group is only one of the venues helping to put Ealing on the map during London Food Month. W5 Food Market is partnering with South Ealing’s Abbotshill Wine Bar to host the first W5 Cheese Fest on June 11, while Acton’s Vindinista is also holding a series of pop-ups and supper clubs with guest chefs throughout the month.

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