Top 5 for pumpkin

Pumpkins and squashes are receiving higher billing on the menu.

10 April 2012

You have to suspect that Ralph Upton lives for this time of year. Upton is king of pumpkins and at his cottage in Slindon, West Sussex, he grows a crop of pumpkins and squashes so large that the folk from Kew Gardens can borrow a lorry load without denting his stocks.

Kew's seasonal display will be open to the public from Thur 9 Sep, with 2,500 pumpkins and gourds on show in Water Lily House. There are Queensland Blues (a favourite with homesick Australians), Rouge Vif d'Etampes (an elite French number), Jack-Be-Little and even the large orange ones required for magicking up a coach.

As chefs begin to see the merit of seasonal dishes, pumpkins and squashes are receiving higher billing. Here are five restaurants where Cinderella would have no problem arranging transport home.

Locanda Locatelli8 Seymour Street, W1 (020-7935 0672). Mon-Sat £90****Giorgio Locatelli's very sleek, very chic Italian restaurant features dishes that pull off the difficult trick of being sophisticated and rustic at the same time. The pumpkin ravioli is a firm favourite and makes its regular seasonal appearance. Locatelli's secret is to add a splash of amaretto liqueur to the filling and then serve the ravioli very plain, with a little butter and sage. The faint whiff of almonds accentuates the nutty sweetness of the pumpkin. Patriotically, the kitchen insists on using 'Italian' pumpkins. Other high points on the menu are the basket of breads, all kinds of pasta, fish (including uncommon dishes made with freshwater fish), puddings and pastries.
Richard Corrigan at The Lindsay House21 Romilly Street, W1 (020-7439 0450). Mon-Sat (Sat dinner only) £90**** The Lindsay House reopened in mid-September, after receiving a lick of paint and a completely new kitchen. Now you'll find a spectacular new bronze of a greyhound surveying the ground floor dining room from the safety of the fireplace. The chef's menu still represents a great deal: there's soup of smoked haddock with cheddar, followed by rabbit, feta and chorizo, Boulangere potatoes and finally truffled brie with verjus and celery, all for £25. The main menu still has those welcome, hearty dishes like scallops with pork belly and spiced carrot. Pumpkin makes its seasonal showing on the dessert menu.
Morgan M489 Liverpool Road, N7 (020-7609 3560). Tue-Sun (Tue & Sat dinner only, Sun lunch only) £80**** The eponymous Morgan Meunier runs the kitchen here and is passionate about both seasonality and vegetables - the garden menu is a vegetarian's delight. Meunier has put together some interesting combinations of taste and texture and a pumpkin soup makes a number of appearances --on the à la carte, the autumn tasting menu and the garden menu. The light cream of pumpkin soup is infused with rosemary and comes with a beignet of mushrooms. Just the thing to gear up the tastebuds for the 'Pot roasted fillet of venison from the Iken Valley, hare ravioli, glazed apple and chestnut purée, sauce Grand Veneur'.
Cinnamon ClubOld Westminster Library, Great Smith Street, SW1 (020-222 2555). Mon-Fri (Sat dinner only) £85****It is an often-overlooked fact that the majority of diners on the Indian subcontinent are vegetarian, and as a result pumpkins and squashes abound, from the small and distinctive tinda to the bitter gourd or karela. At the Cinnamon Club, a sophisticated Indian restaurant in Westminster with an elegant and spacious dining room, you'll find an interesting side dish of pumpkin cooked with pickling spices and jaggery (unrefined sugar). Chef Vivek Singh has also turned to pumpkin when devising his desserts: there's both a spiced pumpkin br°lée, and a sweetmeat - pumpkin halva.
The GateThe Gate, 51 Queen Caroline Street, W6 (020-8748 6932). Mon-Sat (Sat dinner only) £60***The Gate is hidden away in a converted artist's studio just off the Hammersmith roundabout, and is one of our most imaginative vegetarian restaurants. Look out for their wild mushroom extravaganza which is scheduled for Mon 11-Wed 13 Oct, always presuming that the mushroom crop doesn't disappoint like last year. Meanwhile, pumpkins and squashes get their share of the limelight. One dish serves butternut squash with a wild mushroom rotolo, and thyme-infused potatoes and another teams panfinished squash with goat's cheese. Good cooking and gentle service.

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