Features

Pies at the palace

Sophie Cripps gives her verdict on one of a series of pop-up restaurants in Enfield Town

Pie Adventures is run by local chef Marika Gauci

It might be a children’s bookstore and activity centre by day, but after hosting several recent restaurant pop-ups, Culture Palace in Palace Gardens Shopping Centre is fast becoming a firm fixture on the Enfield culinary calendar.

After previous success with a Basque pintxos and tapas evenings by EN_Food, local chef Marika Gauci brought us back to more familiar territory with her inaugural ‘Pie Adventures’ pop up. Offering a pre-paid two or three-course menu with pies taking centre stage, it offered a chance to sample Marika’s wares, which have been much in demand since she set up London’s first pie-making classes in 2009.

Marika attributes the enduring popularity of pies to their versatility and fun-filled nature, describing these parcels of flavour as “little presents coming out of the oven”. And ensuring it was not just her food we were gifted with, we were lured into the venue by Marika’s own curated soundtrack of 1980s synth disco.

As the evening commenced, a duo of starters proved to be worthy warm-up acts to the pies themselves. A plate of hummus topped with lightly-seared spring vegetables and wild garlic pesto was both creamy and fresh, while the watermelon and halloumi salad was the perfect marriage between salty and sweet.

With pisco cocktails flowing from the bar we were off to a good start. And the main event did not disappoint. A rich and wonderfully tender slow-cooked steak and ale pie was deservedly popular but, proving that pies are not just for winter, a mild and warmly spiced Thai green curry with fried tofu was a welcome lighter spring addition.

Also on offer was another classic in the form of chicken, leek and pancetta, and a second vegetarian option of spiced butternut squash and spinach. Providing balance to the buttery, rich pastry was a generous array of well-seasoned, tender vegetables.

As an encore, perfect pastry was again the flavour of the day in the form of an alluring and satisfying ‘ice cream pie’ which proved to be more than the sum of its parts. Pies have never tasted so good!

For more information about Pie Adventures:
Instagram
@pie.adventures
Visit pie-adventures.com

For more information about Culture Palace:
Visit
dugdalecentre.co.uk/culture-palace


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