Online wine retailer WineTrust recently teamed up with sustainable fish restaurant Hook Camden Town for a “Fizz & Fish” pairing of Champagnes and sparkling wines with a variety of fish and chip dishes. Coolest thing about this match made in foodie heaven (or at least from my greedy perspective) was that they kindly invited me along to enjoy the savoury slurp fest!
I get invited to lots of launches, tastings, and other food and drink related events. Such has been the case for a few especially tasty years. The invites seem to keep getting bigger and better too. I love it – and when it’s really good it is absolutely amazing. I’m not telling you that to brag but to place what I’m about to say in proper context. So impressed was I by the food and wine – and perhaps most especially by how thoughtfully it was presented – that the glowing report I’m about to issue might could do with a disclaimer to qualify my rave review is not just a load of hyperbolic hot air. I left the Fizz & Fish evening as a neophyte fan of both WineTrust and Hooked … as well as an even firmer believer in the delicious effects of pairing something crisp and bubbly with excellent fish and chips.
WineTrust
WineTrust aims to “take the risk out of buying wines” by offering customers “exceptional value” wines from small indie producers that are hand selected by Masters of Wine and range in price from £6.95 to £50. Rather than having a vast list of bottles to tick each and every imaginable taste, WineTrust homes in on a scaled down and smartly curated selection of what its experts consider the best and most interesting wines on the market.
Wines chosen for the Fizz & Fish tasting were lovely and accompanied the assortment of fishy treat beautifully. A dry and bready Ayala Brut Majeur NV and a couple of tasty numbers from Charles Heidseick and Nyetimber held their own with each dish and were all certainly worthy of solo sipping too. My favourite wine of the night, though, was the 2014 Pink Moscato from Innocent Bystander served with a refreshing dessert of green apple and lemon sorbet. WineTrust sells this light and fruity Australia drink for £6.95 a half-bottle, which I reckon is a heck of a price for such a crowd pleasing fizz that’s certain not to fizzle out.
Find out more – including info about joining WineTrust affordable wine club – at winetrust100.co.uk.
Hook Camden Town
As for Hook’s contribution to the Fizz & Fish equation, I was in all sincerity blown away by all the dishes presented. Lemon and fennel panko sea bass with an oyster and sorrel sauce; Champagne tempura of mackerel with Avruga caviar; ink and tarragon tempura of plaice with pickled beetroot … every mouthful was a treat. And all of it had been sustainably caught to boot.
Here in the UK (Hook has a new outlet in Brixton too as well as its original market stall in Dublin and a restaurant in Brussels), Hook sources its fish from Flying Fish Seafoods in Cornwall which use small fisheries to line catch fish sustainably and responsibly. So the menu at Hook is catch of the day, everyday – and only ever just that. Such a fresh approach adds up to a rotating menu of more than 50 different fish and chips varieties to offer (depending on what the boats brought in) alongside dozens of different homemade sauces (garlic truffle mayo was probably my fave during the tasting) as well as the restaurant’s own seasoned salts, sides, and desserts. Hook’s seaweed-soaked chips were particularly scrumptious, especially after receiving a spritz or two of sherry vinegar spray.
Hook Camden Town is located at 63-65 Parkway, NW17PP. Find out more at hookrestaurants.com.
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