by Nick Dalton
Forget Mont Blanc, think Raymond Blanc. The famed chef has launched apres-ski nights at a dozen posh pubs in England – and you don’t even have to tire yourself out during the day to enjoy them.
A taste of apres ski
At the first white night recently a companion and I ate cheese fondue and raclette, gorged on piles of ham and salami, even toyed with the rather nice green salad.
We supped red wine, drank shots from specially-made shot-skis (a friendly craftsman turned out 180) and loved the peach-flavoured beer from London craft brewer Jubel.
Blanc’s White Brasserie company poked its toe in the water last season with apres-ski at six of its French-accented pubs; this time that’s doubled, from London to Cambridge and Dorset.
We were at The King’s Head, a snowball’s throw from the Thames in Teddington High Street in West London, about as far as you can get from the Trois Vallees, even if there might be a good crossover clientele.
White Brasserie pubs have smart, year-round marquees in their gardens and ours was dressed in hundreds of twinkling lights and dozens of delicate snowflake decorations. The timber tables and chairs had comfy cushions – and blankets if the banks of heaters didn’t do the job, given that it was as cold outside as the Alps even if it wasn’t snowing.
Marquees are furnished and decorated to create the atmosphere of an alpine bar
There was jolly music playing and twin big-screen TVs silently showing daredevil ski and snowboard films. People turned up in parkas and bobble hats – dressing in ski gear got you a free shot – although there was a lack of ski boots.
The price would have raised an eyebrow at many a mountaintop restaurant – £20 for either raclette (cheese melted on little trays above small burners rather than the full caboodle) or cheese fondue, both served with baguette, salad and either charcuterie or roast vegetables.
Lots of extra dishes, from olives to Morteau sausage and potato salad, were being shared around.
Another fiver got you a glass of wine or a Jubel beer, plus a free shot of flavoured vodka. In true Alpine fashion chums were cheering as they raised shot glasses and partied through the evening. And Jubel beer – fruit-flavoured lagers inspired by beers discovered at La Folie Douce – is a partner of the parties, a taste of the Alps.
Then it was the train home rather than stumbling through the snow.
White Brasserie Apres Ski Nights run every Thursday until March 23 at:
The King’s Head, Teddington, West London
The White Bear, Ruislip, West London
The Jobber’s Rest, Upminster, East London
The Hare, Old Redding, near Watford
The Queen’s Head, Weybridge, Surrey
The Cricketers, Cobham, Surrey
The Sun Inn, Chobham, Surrey
The Black Horse, Reigate, Surrey
The Barley Mow, Englefield Green, Surrey
The Jolly Farmer, Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire
The Boot, Histon, Cambridge
The Oaks, Highcliffe, Dorset
More info at: whitebrasserie.com
Customers dressed in ski and snowboard gear enjoy a line of shots from specially made skis