It’s All About the Atmosphere

The Gallery

Sketch restaurant in London is far more than just a restaurant with a cool atmosphere. Sketch has five different restaurants, all with a different and unique atmospheres that make it such a neat stop. First, there is the Gallery, which is a true dining experience. This room is only for dinner, and has an inventive menu with delicious meat, fish, and pastas for a high quality dinner. The reason this particular room is unique is because it is redesigned by a new artist once a month. I had the pleasure of viewing Martin Creed’s work, who won the March 2012 Turner Prize for his artistic creativity and ability. It is an artistic creation, art exhibition, and restaurant all in one. The Lecture Room is where the real fine dining is, where Sketch has a two Michellin star restaurant that has tasting menu options as well as a la carte. I did not get to try, but the two Michelin starts speak for themselves. Next comes the Glade, which is decorated with wood linings and a fairy-tale forest ambiance. This is the perfect place for afternoon tea and snacks to dip into the culture of London, or evening cocktails as well.

Chicken Cocette

Then there is the Parlour, which has a great lounge atmosphere and has options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and tapas. Here, you will lay any comfy couches or soft cupcake stools and enjoy a casual and comfortable meal. I highly suggest the Chicken Cocette in peppercorn sauce that is perfected by light chips, as well as the Macaroni Cheese that is anywhere from simple. The cakes are their most famous, with many choices from the delicious Gateau Chocolat with salted butter caramel, chocolate mousse, and sponge cake, to the Lemon Love with macaroon, lemon, and basil curd, lemon coulis, soft meringue and shortbread. There is truly a cake for any taste pallet. The Parlour is also available for afternoon tea, as where I suggest for amateurs like me, the simple Breakfast Tea, a perfect taste of London.

The Bathrooms

This then brings us to the East Bar and the bathrooms – the most unique aspect of Sketch. Nuzzled into a two-floor room of sheer white is the pod-shaped, circular East Bar. Small, cozy, intimate, and very modern, the East Bar is an added treat. And the rest of the white? A completely open bathroom, with tiny pods for the toilets. Only a picture can really do them justice.

As delicious as the food is, this restaurant(s) is truly all about the atmosphere, which, I can fairly say, is far from Sketch-y.

I finally found it – the highest quality restaurant in Barcelona. Now with a Michelin star, Hofmann has taken the ticket for the best restaurant in every way. From the service to the taste and options, I finally was able to experience and understand what it meant to have a Michelin star and be a true top-notch restaurant.

Hoffman was not only a restaurant by a dining and tasting experience. While we never ordered a tasting menu, we were basically given one as the meal began with a platter of unique and intricate snacks. From ceviche to a refreshing strawberry milk cocktail, I was more experimental than ever with this daring food. The winner was still the flat sticks of “pizza” bread that tasted exactly like a compressed pizza into a crunchy snack. The sweet nuts tasted like candy, the ceviche surprisingly tasty and not gross as I had feared, and the light cake-like green taster was interesting as well.

The presentation of the food blew me away as well. The salad wrapped into a light cracker that broke up to act as croutons, and the rest followed suit into a truly high quality dining experience that almost looked like art. For a appetizer the veal cannelloni with truffle was unbelievable, but extremely rich and therefore perfect for sharing. The taste was a genuine delicacy, as I had never tried anything like this before. The steak and lobster were also winners, but the salmon really took the cake. I asked for it grilled extra well done, and the sauce and saltiness made it truly the most incredible salmon I had ever had.

As incredible as the meal was, the deserts were earth shattering. Hoffman is knows for its surprise chocolate ball, which it a must (but I won’t give away the surprise). The other desserts to try are the chocolate fondant, one of the best lava cakes I’ve had all of abroad, and the profiteroles, which are always a great treat. But the chocolate surprise is an experience in itself, topping off this restaurant as on of my favorite ever. And to no surprise, the restaurant has a cooking school attached to it to spread its magic.