eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem.Lorem Themeforest wordpress theme ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem.Lorem Themeforest wordpress theme ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
An invitation to lunch at Caviar Kaspia was, once upon a time, an offer you simply didn't refuse.
Providing, of course, that the bill was on someone else.
Because caviar, smeared on blinis or piled high on baked potatoes, sure didn't come cheap.
There may have been other things on the menu, but no one paid them much heed.
This was all about lashings of the black stuff.
Caviar Kaspia's signature baked potato and caviar: ‘there are few better dishes on earth…only the price, at just under £150, is ridiculous'
Caviar Kaspia popped her final tin about two decades back.
And that site, hidden down a smart Mayfair mews, was taken over by Gavin Rankin (who used to be the
boss), and transformed into the brilliant Bellamy's.
It prospers to this day. Kaspia, on the other hand, went quiet.
Until last year, when she reopened as a members' club in another Mayfair backstreet.
But a £2,000 a year membership fee proved hard to
swallow, meaning the doors were opened to the great
unwashed.
Which is how we find ourselves sitting in a rather
handsome - albeit near empty - dining room, lusciously lavish, under the
stern gaze of a stern painting of a very stern man. The soft, crepuscular gloom is broken up by the glare of table
lamps, indecorously bright, while a loud soundtrack of
indolent, indeterminate beats throbs in the background.
The whole place is scented with gilded ennui.
Our fellow diners are two young South Korean women of
pale, luminescent beauty, clad in diaphanous couture.
They don't speak, rather communicate entirely via camera phone.
Pose, click, check, filter, post. Immaculate waiters hover in the shadows.
We sip ice-cold vodka, and eat a £77 caviar and smoked-salmon Kaspia croque monsieur that tastes far better than it ought to.
Next door, a large table fills with a glut of the noisily, glossily confident.
We're looked after by a wonderful French lady of such effervescent charm and charisma that had
she burst into an impromptu performance of ‘Willkommen', we would have barely
blinked. Baked potatoes, skin as crisp as
parchment, insides whipped savagely hard with butter and
sour cream, are a study in tuber art. A cool jet-black splodge of oscietra caviar, gently saline, raises them
to the sublime. Only the price, at just under £150 each, is ridiculous.
But there are few better dishes on earth. I'd eat this every day if I could.
But I can't. Obviously. That's the problem
with caviar. One taste is never enough.
About £200 per head. Caviar Kaspia, 1a Chesterfield Street, London W1; caviarkaspialondon.com
★★★★✩
My favourite luxury dishes
Tom's pick of the best places to splash the culinary cash in LondonTom's pick of the
best places to splash the culinary cash in London
The Ritz
Beef wellington sliced and sauced at the table (£150) and crêpes suzette flambéed
with aplomb (£62): Arts de la Table is edible theatre at its most delectable.
theritzlondon.com
Otto's
Come to this classic French restaurant for the canard or homard à
la presse (£150-£220 per person); stay for beef tartare (£42), foie gras (£22) and
poulet de bresse rôti (£190, two courses).
ottos-restaurant.com
Sushi Kanesaka
Piscine perfection comes at an eye-watering £420
per person, sans booze. But this 13-seat sushi bar shows omakase dining at its very finest.
dorchestercollection.com
Min Jiang
The dim sum is some of the best in town. But don't miss the wood-fired Beijing duck (£98) - crisp skin first, then two servings of the meat.
Superb.
minjiang.co.uk