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 Karen Murdoch in the garden at Frederick’s |
Fine dining at Frederick’s and a trip down memory lane
Karen Murdoch, daughter of Camden Passage antique market founder John Payton, returns to her old family home, where the food is fabulous and the memories flow. By Peter Gruner
KAREN Murdoch, whose father founded the world famous Camden Passage antique market, is reliving her childhood in 1960s Islington.
We’re sitting in the garden of Frederick’s restaurant in Camden Passage, which used to be her family home before her father sold it to become the popular diner nearly 40 years ago.
“It was a wonderful, exciting time” she said.
“Cliff Richard and Marty Wilde were recording in a studio nearby. Everybody wanted to play the guitar.
“But we hardly ever saw my father. He was always off somewhere battling with planners and bureaucrats who were trying to obstruct his dreams for Camden Passage at every turn.”
Today Karen still manages a large area of the antique market while her parents John and Glen Payton, now in their 80s, live in Australia.
With new interest in the history of the market, Karen is planning later this year to re-issue her father’s book, From Camden Passage with Love.
The book, originally published in hardback in 1992, recounts the story of how John, with support from many locals, overcame obstacles to turn what was then a seedy run-down enclave into one of the world’s most important antique centres.
Frederick’s, which has been going for 38 years and serves 1,000 diners a week, is very much part of the Camden Passage story.
John Payton sold it to the Segal family in 1969 and it has established a world-class reputation for its fine traditional and contemporary food.
Sipping an excellent glass of Sauvignon blanc, Karen pointed to a spot in the garden where she believes her pet tortoise went missing just before they moved.
“My sister and two brothers all helped me look for it but we never did find him and we had to go,” she said. “I was very upset.”
When her father came back to Islington for a holiday three years ago, staff at Frederick’s gave him a hero’s welcome and celebrated his return with champagne.
“I love the fish here,” said Karen. “It’s always cooked to perfection and I’ve never had a bad meal.
“Frederick’s is also good if you want a quick meal before going out to Sadler’s Wells.”
For her main meal, Karen had the black sea bass with English asparagus, wild rocket and hollandaise, served with spinach and potato and cheese gratin.
I had a starter of chickaree salad with blue cheese dressing followed by a main course of ham hock.
This is a delicious par-roasted ham which fell off the bone, with red pepper and red pepper salsa and potato wedges.
Karen enjoyed a dessert of cream-filled profiteroles in a Bourbon sauce.
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