Jamie Oliver's Restaurant - Fifteen (Restaurants in London in general)

Member Name: TracyCN

Product:	Restaurants in London in general
Date:	24/08/05 (7247 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent food, friendly staff, chances that you may meet Jamie!

Disadvantages: Tad expensive for a Northerner, not much veggie choice, you may not meet Jamie!

Jamie Oliver's restaurant Fifteen was eagerly waited for, after we'd all seen the effort, stress and money that went into developing it in the TV series 'Jamie’s Kitchen'.

Jamie opened the restaurant as a means of training young people in London who wanted to be chefs, but had not had the opportunities in life to help them realise their dreams. Every year 30 new trainees are selected to train at college and with the man himself, and in between that work at Fifteen. All this is funded by profits made in the restaurant, which is run by Jamie's charity 'Fifteen Foundation’ (formerly Cheeky Chops).

There are two parts to Fifteen - Fifteen the restaurant itself which is on basement level and the Trattoria upstairs at street level. This review concentrates on the Trattoria.

Being a big fan of Jamie I decided to take my friend to Fifteen last autumn for her birthday. We went on a Saturday lunchtime in early November, booking was not essential for lunch, we had been told but we did anyway - just to be certain that we wouldn't have a wasted journey all the way from Yorkshire!

**THE STAFF**
Out first contact with the staff of Fifteen was with the friendly and helpful girl working on the reception. She immediately showed us to our seats and took our coats to the cloakroom. There seems to be a good staff to customer ratio and there was a server on hand immediately to offer a bottle of water whilst we perused the menu. We were not hassled in any way and were given time to decide on our choices from the menu. All of the staff were very knowledgeable about Jamie and his recent activities and all were happy to talk about them. One girl even humoured us at the end of out visit and took our photo outside the restaurant as a memento of the day.

**THE MENU**
The menu in the Trattoria changes on a daily basis. The lunch menu for the day we visited was full of choice. There were 2 starters (or Antipasti) priced at £3.00 each, then approximately 8 Primi, which seemed to be main courses on a slightly smaller scale, all priced between £8 and £14 depending on the size of the serving. Then came the Secondi, which was the selection of about 6 main courses all priced at £15. And finally the Contorni, which was the selection of side dishes, all priced at £3.

**THE FOOD**
As we were looking at the menu, we nibbled on freshly baked bread dipped in oil – which was so nice we couldn’t wait to try something else. We both chose a main course from the Secondi section of the menu. I had Pan Fried Sea Bass with Baby Beetroot and Horseradish Crème Fraiche. My friend had Lamb Shank, and we shared a portion of Roast Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic from the Contorni. The sea bass was beautiful, the skin was crisp and the flesh was tender and juicy. Combined with the Crème Fraiche and the baby beetroot it was a delicious meal. The lamb shank was enormous; it came in gravy with vegetables, and was a hit with my friend. The roast potatoes that we shared didn’t last very long as they were divine! We argued over who should have the last one! After this excellent food we were literally stuffed, we were so full we couldn’t even entertain the idea of a dessert.

**THE DÉCOR/ATMOSPHERE**
The décor of the Trattoria is very neutral and natural and leads to a relaxing dining experience. The atmosphere is very laid back and we felt comfortable in our surroundings even though we had not dressed up.

**THE PRICE**
As I described in the menu section, the prices for each part of the meal are pretty standard. I think that £15 for a main course in a popular good quality restaurant in central London is very reasonable. All in all our final bill came to just under £50.00, that was for a bottle of water, two main courses, a side order of potatoes and a tall Archers and Lemonade. It also included a 15% tip. At £25 per head I think I can say that we had good value for our money.

**THE CHARITY**
All profits from Fifteen, including tips, go to Fifteen Foundation. This charity pays to train 30 lucky young hopefuls every year. For more information go to:

www.fifteenrestaurant.com/charity/index.html

So not only do you get a good meal you know that you are helping to train the next generation of top chefs!

**SOUVENIERS**
A lot of people go to Fifteen in the hopes of meeting Jamie Oliver, but are sadly disappointed as he is so busy with other commitments he is not always there – and when he is he is usually extremely busy. To make up for this the restaurant has his latest books for sale, sometimes there are even signed copies. For those of you who already have the books, or haven’t got a spare £25, you can always take your copy of the menu home with you. That’s what we did, and with the photo we had taken outside it serves as a good reminder of an excellent day out.

**CONTACT DETAILS**
Fifteen can be found at:
Westland Place
London
N1 7LP

Tel: 0871 3301515
Website: www.fifteenrestaurant.com

**WOULD I GO AGAIN?**
Most definitely! It was an experience I am looking forward to enjoying again; only next time I am going to save up and eat in the actual Fifteen restaurant and hopefully next time I might get to meet Jamie too!

Summary: Top experience! Well worth a visit.