Yes, of course, I'm talking about Melrose and Morgan.
Regularly "papped" denizens of Primrose Hill, London NW1 are likely to be spotted, as regularly, shopping in this self-contentiously worthy Deli. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on M&M; they have most definitely got it sown up - the triple threat, Deli, Lunch, (they have a tiny high bar seats about 4 or 2 with a Quinny) and local catering service.
So, what's it all about? Fresh bread, own label preserves and chutneys, cookies, brownies, delicious salads, home-made favourites like, cottage pie, fisherman's pie, chicken volaille, crispy escalope served up in unpretentious aluminium cartons with white cardboard lids, complete with hand written labels. Bitter lemon tarts, ice cream, a small but attractive selection of fresh veg. Well chosen, single estate, first and cold press extra virgin olive oils, from Italian producers, unheard of but you just know that the oil is like liquid gold! They have a narrow, but quality selection of wines also and quietly tout their very own branded tote carriers, cook book and cooking utensils.
I know, it sounds great doesn't it, Dean & de Luca hits Primrose Hill, indeed, but now comes that tricky, but increasingly important issue of value for money. 2 small rib-eye steaks, 2 brownies, 2 salads, a veg terrine, a pot of honeycomb ice cream, a mini tartlet and a goats curd quiche - £50. Now, is it me or is that quite pricey?! Fair enough, location, location, location, but I'm taking it home and eating it in a 2 bed semi in West Ham!!
I'm super keen on fresh, locally sourced produce, prepared daily and presented well but am reluctant to pay a premium for food whose quality credentials are based on simplicity, authenticity and accessibility. I mean, I get it, they are catering to their target audience - the seriously nicely well-off - but maybe M&M and their over-priced offerings are part of a larger issue.
There is an ever increasing price gap between "value" products and "premium" or "best", but is there an attendant quality gap. I don't remember it well, but I do recall the moment that food quality was graded and branded - it was the creation of the "finest" and the "value" ranges, which suddenly permitted and promoted an obvious separation of food quality within our local supermarkets. Clearly there have always been the Fortnums, Harrods, and chi chi boutique delis, but this was the first time we witnessed the power of the multiple retailers to clearly define the difference between low and higher grade products and most importantly charge a premium for them. Permit me: vine tomatoes - include the word "vine" and suddenly you have a product that is set apart from the regular tomato, it is superior, unusual, somehow more authentic. Shamefully this simple re-labelling attracts a upward price differential. Last time I checked, toms grow on the vine anyway and you don't eat that bit...well, I don't!
I guess my concern is, and this is where I go back to Melrose & Morgan, that maybe there is a "nomenclature con" going on. Are we simply paying a premium for food that tastes like it always did and simply the way it should, but re-named, re-branded, re-packaged and with the full complicity of the consumer (yes, we are to blame too) costs significantly more?
Melrose and Morgan - I do heart you and I heart what you do, but my wallet winces slightly when I reach the cash till and I wonder whether you aren't maybe an emperor in the buff!
That said, I fully recommend Melrose and Morgan for a few picnic nibbles to take up to the park with a very berry bottle of rose.
http://www.melroseandmorgan.com/
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