The Dock Kitchen: Eclectic & Spice - part I

For me, dining is as much sight as it is taste and smell.  Yesterday I had the chance to pleasure all those senses with a lovely dinner at The Dock Kitchen in West London.


The Dock Kitchen & Tom Dixon Shop



Not only were Stevie Parle’s dishes inspired and perfectly spiced, the interior design of the restaurant and especially Tom Dixon’s lighting seemed only to amplify the dishes’ wonderful flavours.

The Dock Kitchen resides in a converted Victorian Wharf building overlooking the Grand Union Canal in Ladbroke Grove. It shares this location with the Tom Dixon Shop containing a permanent display of the full Tom Dixon collection.

Stevie Parle: Spice

Arriving at The Dock Kitchen, I could already smell deliciousness being cooked up as the fumes from the open kitchen welcomed us. Warm naan bread covered in spices and delicious olive oil teased our stomachs for what was to come and kept us satisfied during the difficult task of choosing from all the exciting dishes on the menu. 

Stevie Parle’s philosophy to cooking is experimental, adapting his menu and trying new things depending on what is in season, what far flung place he or another of the chefs have visited, or what new ingredient they have come across abroad or at home.  In the evenings the restaurant runs a fixed, shared meal alongside a regular a la carte offering. The focus for this meal might be a specific place, a particular ingredient or just an idea that inspired them.

The fixed, shared meal of the evening was centred around white truffle in a range of classic Piedmontese recipes and new ideas. The a la carte offering was worldly with visible influences from Italy, India, Mexico and of course Britain. In the end, although many of the dishes were seducing, my eye fell on the Palourde clams with crispbread, chili, sweet herbs and tahine as a starter and the papillotte of wild bass, hake, red mullet and clams in a broth of white wine, dill and cream accompanied by fresh sautéed spinach as a main. Both dishes were excellent, but the starter was superb as it was an exquisite mix of flavours and texture!

TV-Channel More4 is currently running the show ‘Spice Trip’ covering the travels of Stevie Parle and professional spice blender Emma Grazette. The culinary pair travel to some very exotic countries to meet the experts that grow spices and use them every day. They look for Chili’s in Mexico, Cumin in Turkey, Cinnamon in India…Watch their adventures on Sunday at 8pm on More4.

Tune in tomorrow for part II about designer Tom Dixon!