Duke Street's upmarket bistro Maison François is set to host its third Croûte Off on November 16, a competition which sees a number of the capital's top chefs compete to make the best pâté en croûte. The winner will raise the Coupe de Croûte Off.
Despite the seemingly low-stakes nature of the event — and while the event itself tends to be rather lively — it is taken surprisingly seriously and sees some of London's top chefs turn out to compete. The public are encouraged to attend to witness it; tickets are priced at £30.
While the structure of a traditional pâté en croûte — a kind of pastry-wrapped meat pie — is broadly adhered to, those cooking tend to play fast and loose with its idea, and alongside meat and game, will go for fish, shellfish and vegetables in order to catch the judges' eyes.
Among those hoping for success this year are: Richard Corrigan of Bentley's; Anna Sôgaard of Bistro Freddie; Emily Chia of Sargasso; Max Rocha of Café Cecilia; Florence Knight of Sessions Arts Club; Patrick Powell of Allegra and the Midland Grand; Harneet Baweja of Gunpowder; Pascal Wiedemann of Pompette; Gabe Pryce of Rita's; Brodie Meah of Top Cuvée; Chris Leach of Manteca; Fred Smith of Flat Iron; Jack Croft and Will Murray of Fallow; Oli Brown of Updown; Jesse Dunford Wood of Parlour, Tom Fraser of Scott's Richmond and Tom Noest of The Bell in Langford.
Noest is not the only one to be making a journey to compete, as Sébastien Fillon will be coming all the way from Le Bistrot de Pierrot, in Vichy, central France.
The judges too are among the biggest names in their field. The Evening Standard's chief restaurant critic, Jimi Famurewa, makes his croûte-judging debut this year, joining his predecessor Fay Maschler MBE, Matthew Fort, Ravneet Gill, Matt Tebbutt and Tom Parker-Bowles. The final judge will be France's Julien Perret, of the @pate_croute_france account.
Besides the Coupe de Croûte Off, the winner will leave with a case of wine from Theatre of Wine and pâté en croûte merchandise from Maison François x Novel Mart. Second and third place won't go empty handed, and will leave with some Louis Roque La Vieille Prune, which is the restaurant's signature pour.
After the competition itself, guests are invited to join both competitors and judges for a celebration of Beaujolais Nouveau day. Maison François' head of wine Daniel Illsley will ensure guests are watered, while head chef Matthew Ryle will clay on a menu that starts with salade Lyonnaise, is followed by cassoulet maison au confit de canard, stops for cheese and finishes with Beaujolais-poached pears with almond ice cream. Tickets for the meal cost £60.
François O’Neill, the owner of Maison François, said of the event: "Our annual Croûte Off competition is our favourite time of the year and this year it’s bigger and better than ever with an incredible line-up of chefs and judges.
"The Croûte Off has become a staple in our calendar, synonymous with what we do at Maison François, which is offering people great wine and even better food!”
