Critics' Reviews & Goodies w/c 15 April
Grace Dent lunches in Exmouth Market. Hot Dinners revisits Trivet. And too much sex at Ave Mario in Covent Garden.
Welcome new subscribers. I’m really excited that you’ve joined us. You’ll get two e-mails each week: On Monday, a wrap-up of professional critics’ reviews plus Hits & Misses and a few other tidbits from me. On Wednesday, a full review of a place that makes a good spot for lunch (or something else). Plus, my London Guide is updated regularly. The idea is simple: If we’re going to take the time to come to the office, let’s spend quality time together — over lunch or breakfast or whatever. If this sounds interesting, please share Professional Lunch with others.
Critics’ Reviews
A slightly quieter week for the critics who seem to have taken the opportunity afforded by Easter to get out of London, raid the back catalogue, or take a break.
Grace Dent (Guardian) tries Morchella and concludes: “So, sure, Exmouth Market may not be as well known or popular as Covent Garden or Notting Hill. But when it comes to eating lunch, I know where I’d rather be.”
Jimi Famurewa (Standard) visits The Bear in Camberwell and has a weirdly shut off and artificially limited experience that doesn’t quite work. “The Bear’s operatic flavours can feel like they are being blasted discordantly through tinny phone speakers.”
Jay Rayner (Observer) checks out A Bracetto, a new offering in Earl’s Court from the family behind the Spaghetti House group. He loves the pasta and the pizza and the antipasto and the price point, but is driven slightly crazy by the wine list, a theme to which we will return later this week.
Tom Parker Bowles (Mail on Sunday) is the latest critic to visit Josephine, Claude Bosi’s Lyon-style bouchon. He loves it and gives it his “full five stars.”
Cathrine Hanly (Hot Dinners) returns to Trivet following its promotion to two Michelin stars and highlights many of the reasons I named it my favourite restaurant in London. Meanwhile, Gavin Hanly tries Unlock for ‘unique Neopolitan pizzas’ in Hackney Wick.
Marina O’Loughlin (independent critic) samples wine-focused Planque in Hackney and loves the set lunch. “Pleasure receptor after pleasure receptor smacked fully in the chops.” (More on set lunches below.)
William Sitwell (Telegraph) went to a pub in Somerset. Nick Lander (JancisRobinson.com) was in San Francisco and Napa Valley. Tim Hayward (FT) hit The Shed in Swansea. The Sunday Times review is from Adam Kay who does a 10-course tasting menu at Opheem in Birmingham. Giles Coren (Times) seems to have been off.
Hits & Misses
Mini-reviews of places that were either (a) good, but not quite good enough to do a full review and add to the Guide or (b) Had a flaw or two.
Hit & Miss: Ave Mario
Ave Mario is the Covent Garden branch of the fast-growing Big Mamma group, which specialises in over the top Italian experiences. And, WOW, does it deliver on that promise. Starters and home made pastas were delicious. Desserts were decadent and deadly. The whole place felt sunny and full of life — just like Italy. I would go again and would happily try its four other sister places in London. But I can’t put it in the guide. There’s just too much sex — in the menu, on the walls, in the drinks, and everywhere. You can’t take a client there. Try ordering the ‘chocogasm’ with someone you don’t know very well. Call me a puritan, but no. It’s the restaurant version of an HR violation. So, for friends? Definitely. For a professional lunch? Sadly not. But it was still tremendous fun. And I’m going back. If you go, definitely the order the Tiramisu and be ready to film when it arrives.
Exquisite Lunch. Fast.
The Guardian picks up an interesting trend which we spotted when we tried Brooklands a couple of weeks ago: The high-end, speed lunch.
But high-end restaurants are now turning to speedy set menus to entice customers through the door for weekday lunches, promising diners they can be in and out within an hour.
Pavyllon at the Four Seasons on London’s Park Lane, which has one Michelin star, offers a £55.50, “five courses in 55 minutes” menu during the week, featuring braised beef cheeks with bone marrow crust and a steamed comté soufflé.
Brooklands has a similar in-and-out-in-an-hour option.
But I think this is a trend within a trend. More restaurants seem to be adopting the French tradition of the set lunch menu, written that day based on whatever ingredients came in the door. You choose whether to have two or three courses, and the price tends to be quite reasonable. (See Marina O’Loughlin above and my review of LeRoy a few weeks ago.)
But either way, I like both of these trends. You get out of the office, get together with actual people, and have a great lunch, all without costing a fortune.
What do you think? Been anywhere with a good set-lunch option?
Sleep at El Buli? Pass.
El Buli is offering a one-night only opportunity to sleep in the space that was, for many years, the world’s best and most innovative restaurant. It’s an annoying tie up with AirBnB.
I never got to go to El Buli, and I regret it deeply. But sleep there? Nah. Amy McCarthy at Eater pulls the whole thing apart. Short version: You’re not going to get dinner. There’s no shower. And the bed is crazy.
Thanks for reading. Where have you had an interesting lunch lately? Please hit reply and let me know. And if you have colleagues or friends who might be interested in Professional Lunch, please feel free to share.