rambling restaurant: pissaladiere, harissa chicken, and another perfect symphony of dessert

welcome to the third edition of the rambling restaurant, brought to you by chef foodrambler, michelle the poet, and me. for the first time, i remembered to take photos of all three courses, so this post is all about the food. get ready for some serious food porn.

course one: pissaladière (best pronounced with a throaty french accent like you’re trying to clear something out of your sinuses). it’s a french tart made with slow-cooked onions, anchovies, and olives on a puff pastry, served with roasted cherry tomatoes and fresh basil.

course two: harissa-spiced chicken with roasted potatoes and eggplant on a lentil, mint, and feta salad, topped with a thin strip of marinated red pepper.

course three: meringues filled with almond cream, topped with raspberries, strawberries, and a thin shard of almond bark.

this dessert blew me away – just a day after waxing rhapsodically about the pavlova from frizzante, the talented miss foodrambler concocts her very own equally spectacular version. crunchy almond bark, sweet and juicy fruit, smooth and buttery cream, soft-yet-also-with-structural-integrity meringue – it was a beautifully complex symphony of contrasting tastes and textures in a single bite.  luckily there were many bites to go around…

i managed to take so many pictures tonight because, miraculously, we had the most stress-free, easygoing, is-this-as-simple-as-it-seems?, unchaotic rambling restaurant so far. we seem to be getting the hang of this whole secret supper thing (knock on wood). no frenzied moments of plating, no stacks of dishes piled precariously, just delicious food from chef foodrambler and some really lovely people. i chatted with some people from finland who also speak swedish and english and we chilled late night with some awesome south londoners. i even learned how to say ‘that’s delicious’ just in time for my trip to southern sweden this week! bring on the meatballs sweden, i’m ready to eat.