News had started spreading about some rather good food at the new café/restaurant, 4 Thurlestone, so we had to go along and try for ourselves.
Chef/Owner Sokol Petriti has excellent cre-dentials. He attended the Pru Leith cookery school and was runner up at the end of the year, from amongst 100. He went on to work under Gordon Ramsay at Claridges before taking the step to open his own gastro pub, The Ferry in Thames Ditton. His last stop was the eponymous ‘Petriti’s’ in East Molesey.
A lot has happened in the very few months 4 Thurlestone has been open. From refurbishing the old Top Tune shop, Sokol has established a popular café, but has managed to create a space and menu which is different to other venues in the high street. He has gained a much coveted alcohol licence. He started of-fering Sunday roasts, which by all accounts are extremely good. And he has opened his fine dining experience. This restaurant ele-ment is currently only open on Friday and Saturday evenings from 6-11pm. The menu offers 3 choices of starter, 3 mains and 3 des-serts. There is a vegetarian choice but not vegan.
Personally, I feel that a limited choice is a positive. It indicates that the dishes are all prepared well and attentively. I was not wrong! Each dish uses the best and indulgent ingredients. The menu will change monthly, but we have no doubt that whatever is on the menu will be equally top notch.
We were lucky to try all three starters: Aspar-agus was perfectly steamed, served with a duck egg oozy enough to coat the light bri-oche and coat the salty cured ham. The saf-fron aioli added a different flavour dimension and the caviar topped it off with salty explo-sions.
Sweetbreads (pictured above) are a favourite amongst the contestants of Masterchef and you have the chance to try them at 4 Thurlestone. They were slow braised and tender, then deep fried and served on a bed of pearl barley with truffle and Jerusalem arti-choke puree. The variety of textures and com-plementary flavours was excellent. The ques-tion is bound to be in your mind – What are sweetbreads? They are the thymus gland of an animal, typically from a lamb. They are not what you think they are!
The final starter sounded modest by compari-son, but to me, this was the star of the show. The goat cheese mousse was served with chicory, beetroot, blood orange segments, shaved fennel and hazelnuts. Honestly, I could have eaten two portions of it and still wanted more! It was a light dish, full of varie-ty of texture and flavour, a surprise in every mouthful, a beautiful combination, perfectly balanced and a picture on the plate (see above).
I must also mention the serving plates, which are all different depending on the dish, and very attractive. There are real candles on the tables and the music is relaxing and chilled. The service is attentive, caring and discreet.
My dining companion chose Welsh rack of lamb for main. She asked for it medium rare and it was served exactly as she wanted. It was served with Mediterranean veg, potato croquette and a reduction and was an absolute hit. My risotto used saffron to infuse it with luxury. The wild mushrooms were an interest-ing mix of textures. There was also a whole sea bass on the menu, with sauce vierge and spring veg, which sounded very attractive.
I mentioned that 4 Thurlestone is licensed. There is a limited selection of wines, but I am confident that they will have been attentively chosen. We had a glass of the LB7 Lisboa 2019, the only red wine by the glass. It was extremely good, very rounded and fruity. Most of the bottles are around £28.
4 Thurlestone offers two courses for £28 or 3 courses for £40. the extra £12 might put you off the desert, but I would suggest you need to give it a try.
After many years of watching Masterchef, this was my moment of experiencing the food (in my mind!). I selected the chocolate sphere with salted caramel ice cream and strawber-ries in mint and balsamic. Well, what an ex-perience. My beautiful sphere was served with instructions not to touch it! The waitress then came back with a small jug of hot choco-late sauce which she poured over the sphere, melting it and revealing the ice cream innards. It was theatrical. It was also exceptionally good. The sphere was a very dark chocolate shell and the creamy ice cream, warm sauce and sharp macerated fruits were a marriage made in heaven.
My dining companion selected the panna cot-ta with Italian meringue, passion fruit coulis and macerated raspberries. It was divine. If you don’t have a sweet tooth, there is a selec-tion of cheeses with crackers and chutneys.
We congratulated chef Petriti on his fantastic meal and new restaurant. He beamed “I have only just got started”. He cooks with passion and belief and we wish him good luck.
4 Thurlestone, Thurlestone Parade, High Street, Shepperton, TW17
Tel 01932 558886