If you’re planning on entertaining at home this festive season, we’ve got you covered with four incredible recipes from the neighbourhood’s best bars and restaurants. 

Start things off with a Winter Bramble cocktail, from the team at the glamorous Sir Frank’s Bar at Beaverbrook Town House, then sit down for a perfect beef tartare from The LaLee’s executive chef Chris Hill. 

For the main course, serve Dover sole with lemon peel, samphire and endive, from Alex Hunter at The Sea, The Sea on Pavilion Road and wrap things up with a classic crowd-pleaser for pudding: a sticky toffee pudding, courtesy of The Cadogan Arms on the King’s Road. Experts say it’s one of the best in London. 

And make sure to head to Mother Vine on Pavilion Road for expert advice on wine pairings.

From Sir Frank’s Bar at Beaverbrook Town House

MAKES 1

INGREDIENTS

50ml gin

25ml fresh lemon juice

25ml sugar syrup

Handful of fresh berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries for garnish)

Mint sprig, for garnish

Icing sugar, for dusting

MIXED BERRIES COULIS INGREDIENTS

300 grams of mixed fresh berries (strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries)

2 tbsp Crème de Cassis (or more, to taste)

50 ml Port

COULIS METHOD

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Strain through a sieve to remove any chunks and seeds. A muddler can be used in place of a blender.

COCKTAIL METHOD

1. Combine the gin, lemon and sugar syrup in a shaker.

2. Pour over crushed ice in a rocks glass. 

3. Top up with the homemade mixed berries coulis.

4. Add garnish of mixed berries, mint sprig.

5. Top off with a dusting of icing sugar.

From Chris Hill, executive chef at The LaLee

SERVES 1

INGREDIENTS

140g beef fillet, finely minced

5g shallot, diced

2g parsley, chopped

5g cornichons, rinsed and chopped

5g Dijon mustard

5g tomato paste (optional)

5g capers, rinsed and chopped

2g garlic, minced or puréed

15ml olive oil

Tabasco sauce, to taste

Salt and paper, to taste

1 egg yolk

Toasted bread and butter, to serve

METHOD

1. Prepare all your ingredients and have them to hand, ready to mix your tartare.

2. Put the minced beef into a mixing bowl, add the shallot, parsley and cornichons, followed by the mustard, tomato paste (if using), capers, garlic and olive oil. Mix to combine, then season to taste with Tabasco, salt and pepper.

3. Add the egg yolk and stir to combine.

4. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed.

5. Serve with toasted bread and butter.

From Alex Hunter at The Sea, The Sea

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

2 yellow endives

60g samphire

½ lemon

120ml olive oil

Sea salt, to season

Flour, for dusting

2 medium-size Dover soles (600-800g each), headless

4 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into quarters

10g ginger, peeled and cut into quarters

10ml white wine vinegar

METHOD

1. Remove the cores from the endives by cutting them in half. Separate the leaves one by one into a bowl.

2. Wash and dry the samphire, then chop finely and transfer to a bowl.

3. Remove the skin of the lemon with a peeler. Slice the skin as finely as possible and then toss with the samphire.

4. Add the juice from the lemon half and half the olive oil, then stir, adding a pinch of salt.

5. Dust flour over both sides of the fish. Heat up a large sauté pan and, when hot, add the remaining olive oil, reduce the temperature to medium and cook the fish one by one, to a golden colour on both sides, with the garlic and ginger in the pan, too. Add the vinegar to the pan to refresh the ginger and garlic. 

6. Remove the fish from the pan and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

7. Transfer the fish to a serving plate, pour the samphire dressing over the top and serve with the leaves on the side.

From The Cadogan Arms

MAKES 7

PUDDING INGREDIENTS

225g Medjool dates, pitted

175ml boiling water

1tsp vanilla extract

175g self-raising flour, plus extra for coating the dish

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 eggs

85g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

140g demerara sugar

2 tbsp black treacle

100ml milk

Clotted cream, to serve

TOFFEE SAUCE INGREDIENTS

175g light muscovado sugar

50g butter, cut into pieces

225ml double cream

1 tbsp black treacle

PUDDINGS METHOD

1. Grease seven mini pudding tins (about 200ml each) and sit them on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 150ºC.

2. Chop the dates quite small, put them in a bowl, then pour over the boiling water. Leave for about 30 minutes until cool and well-soaked, then mash a bit with a fork. Stir in the vanilla extract.

3. While the dates are soaking, make the puddings. Mix the flour and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs.

4. In another large bowl, beat the softened butter and demerara sugar together for a few minutes until slightly creamy – the mixture will be grainy from the sugar. Add the egg a little at a time, beating well between additions. When combined, beat in the treacle.

5. Using a large metal spoon, gently fold in a third of the flour and bicarbonate of soda mix, then a third of the milk, being careful not to overbeat. Repeat until all the flour mix and milk have been used.

6. Stir the soaked dates into the pudding batter. The mix may look a little curdled at this point and will be like a soft, thick batter.

7. Put into a piping bag and pipe 90g of the pudding mix into each of the seven pudding tins.

8. Bake for 25 minutes, until risen and firm.

9. Once cooked, remove the puddings from the oven and leave them in the tins for a few minutes, then loosen them well from the sides of the tins with a small palette knife, before turning them out and placing in pudding bowls.

TOFFEE SAUCE METHOD

1. While the puddings are in the oven, put the light muscovado sugar and butter in a medium saucepan with half the double cream. 

2. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring all the time until the sugar has completely dissolved.

3. Stir in the treacle, turn up the heat slightly and let the mixture bubble away for 2-3 minutes until it is a rich toffee colour, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn. 

4. Take the pan off the heat and beat in the rest of the double cream.

These can be served immediately with the toffee sauce drizzled over and a dollop of clotted cream, but they’ll be even stickier if left for a day or two coated in the sauce. Just microwave for a minute to reheat before adding the cream.