David Everitt-Matthias and his wife, Helen, are two true professionals. They have spent the past two decades at Le Champignon Sauvage growing their restaurant into one of the country's most inspiring dining destinations. During that time Everitt-Matthias has been in the kitchen for every single service.
This haunting statistic reveals a man who is clearly a perfectionist. So I set off on my first, long-overdue trip to the restaurant a couple of weeks ago with great expectations. Coincidentally, this was the week after the launch of Essence, Everitt-Matthias's long-awaited book.
He is a chef more in touch with seasonal, regional and local British produce than any other I know, and the book contains recipes strewn with ingredients most of us have never heard of. The glossary of wild foods at the back of the book is, therefore, critical and helps to enlighten the reader to the nature, whereabouts and uses of everything from acorns and alexanders (a lovage-like estuary herb) to mushrooms such as saffron milk caps and trompettes noires.
The book is straightforward in its layout of starters, main courses and desserts, each recipe being broken down further with separate ingredient listings for its components and method. "That way, if you don't like something, you can easily skip it and maybe take something else from another part in the book," he explains. I think this is sound guidance, particularly so as Everitt-Matthias's style of cooking is very masculine and intense, with complex and, in some cases, unusual flavours.
Personally, I think his food is conceptually impeccable, beautifully crafted and, based on my recent meal, delivers on flavour in a way I haven't experienced in years. Dishes such as cannelloni of veal breast and burdock with celeriac cream, horseradish froth and wood sorrel, and roast zander with snail and ground elder risotto typify his style of cooking.
This is a book, unlike many, that will get well-thumbed over the years.
Philip Howard, chef-proprietor, the Square, London