A Taste of the Wild at Bar Allegrine

There are worse ways to spend a November evening than over a long dinner with friends. Danyel Couet and Sabina Okano, better known on Instagram as @sthlm.gusto, recently gave me a taste of what is coming to Bar Allegrine. It is a good reason to make a dinner reservation.

Starting tomorrow, Couet is serving wild game for five evenings, ending with a celebration on Friday 13 November. All the meat has been hunted and hung by the chef himself, bringing his passion for hunting into the kitchen alongside his French culinary background.

I like knowing where my food comes from, especially with game. There is plenty I want to ask about how it reaches the plate, starting with how he decides when the meat is ready to cook.

Hanging allows the meat to mature, becoming more tender as its flavour develops. But knowing how long to leave it takes experience. The animal’s age, the species and the way the meat will eventually be cooked all play a part. It is the sort of knowledge that makes me appreciate a meal a little more, even if I am very happy to leave the practical side to the chef.

That is much of the appeal here. Couet knows the meat he is cooking because he has followed it through the whole process. There is something lovely about sitting down to a meal with that much personal involvement behind it.