Since opening its doors last summer, Jones the Grocer has built up the sort of die-hard fanbase you’d usually associate with a Premier League football team. ‘During Ramadan it was one of the only places in town open for lunch’, says Gareth, a small, round-ish gentleman sat across the table from us. ‘I ended up coming back four or five times a week.’
Judging by the busy throng of tables around us as we await our fellow students, Gareth isn’t the only one in the city to call Jones his second home. But then, that’s hardly surprising. With a culinary ethos dedicated to simple, filling fare, the café-slash-deli has found favour with diners bored of the bells, whistles, foams and emulsions being peddled by the city’s high-concept gastro-temples. Its food is a refreshing return to rustic simplicity – and we said so when we handed it a trophy engraved ‘Best Café’ at last year’s TOAD Restaurant Awards.
Launched earlier this month, Jones’ new fortnightly cooking classes give you the chance to learn some simple techniques and pull off their hearty dishes at home. And with pan-fried salmon and poached egg with salsa verde in the offing for the first session, we weren’t about to miss out.
Arriving early proves a smart move. As well as establishing ourselves as teacher’s pet from the off, we also get to tuck into the generous spread of cheeses and antipasti while we wait for the rest of the group and make small talk with Gareth.
Then, with the class assembled, we strap on an apron and step up to a glass counter by the café’s entrance, behind which sous-chef Alexi Mostert talks us through the dish we’re about to prepare. No level of experience is presumed – classes are devised to demonstrate how absolutely anyone can, with the right know-how, produce a plate of restaurant quality grub. Which, in our case, is just as well.
First up, Alexi shows us how to assemble the salsa verde – a simple dressing of chopped parsley, basil, capers, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. As we move to a long bench sporting six miniature cooking stations, our tutor is keen to emphasise that there’s no exact science to cooking – we’re encouraged to taste our salsa as we go along and adjust to suit our palate. We go for plenty of lemon.
Then, as we move into the meal proper, the tricks of the trade start coming thick and fast. We’re shown a fool-proof method for poaching an egg; creating a vortex in a pan of simmering water (with a splash of vinegar) so that the whites cocoon around the yolk. And though our first effort goes a little awry, our reassuring coach corrects our technique, oversees our second bash and the results are far better.
Next, we’re introduced to our salmon, shown how to season the flesh and instructed to press it into the pan to prevent the skin curling up at the ends. After four minutes skin-side down, we flip our fillet over, add a generous knob of butter and turn off the gas. As Alexi advises, the heat held by the pan will do the rest.
Tucking into our hard work just a few minutes later, the consensus in the group is that the session has been a big success, with which we’re very happy to agree. The experience is pretty pricey at Dhs375, even with the aforementioned antipasti and some gorgeous post-nosh scones and jam thrown in. But as an alternative evening out with the cack-handed cook in your life, it’s time and money thoroughly well spent.
The next cooking class at Jones the Grocer will be on May 28 at 6pm, and costs Dhs375 per person. To book your place, call 02 443 8762 or email events@jonesthegrocer.com.
