A Polite Argument with J. Nunn. Michelin Sniffs Wine. Hayler on our Ritz Lunch. Critics & More.
Preston falls for Camille. Eilis visits Poland via Mexico. Ivers unsure about Eels.
Good morning, everyone. My wife has been in Japan for work and keeps sending me incredible pictures of food and markets, so I spent the weekend in a state of jealousy. How was your weekend? Eat anywhere interesting? I’d love to hear about it. Hit reply or tell me in the Comments.
A massive welcome to the substantial influx of new subscribers. On Mondays you’ll get an update which includes a wrap-up of all of the national critics’ reviews. On Thursday, you’ll get a review from me of a place I recommend for professional lunch. I’d be grateful if you would share the site or The Guide with friends and colleagues.
Lots to cover this week, and we start with my continuing defence of fine dining.
A Gentle Reply to Mr. Nunn
There’s a slow motion debate about the virtues of fine dining. My position is very clear: I think it’s great, and I wish major critics would give it more space.
Vittles Editor Jonathan Nunn is a better writer than me. He’s also more knowledgeable about a wider range of cuisines than I am. And he’s eaten around London and in more places than I ever will. If there is a difference between my views and his, you should take his over mine every time.
However.
During a Vittles podcast a couple of weeks ago, Jonathan got talking with host Adam Coghlan about something that I said to Andy Lynes in our Live chat. (The relevant bit in the Vittles podcast starts at 47:25 and in the Lynes chat is at 18:30 or so.)
In brief, I expressed disappointment about the decline of attention from the national critics on top fine dining places. I used Row on 5 as example, saying it was one of the best meals I’ve had anywhere, and suggested that the national papers simply couldn’t afford to review it. None have, even though it’s led by Chef Spencer Metzger who draws universal acclaim.
Jonathan politely disagreed. He thinks critics have ignored Row on 5 in part because of Jason Atherton’s idiotic comments about misogyny in professional kitchens. Moreover, Jonathan ate at Row on 5 recently and didn’t much like it.
He told Coghlan that, “It was a meal that really baffled me… It very much feels like a restaurant that has no sense of place. Part of that is down to the fact that this was opened first in Dubai as Row on 45, and then it’s been transferred over here to be Row on 5. The dining room is weirdly airless like a hotel bar. The food is French Japanese which involves a lot of shipping over a lot of luxurious ingredients… It’s the international language of oyster, langoustine, turbot, N25 caviar, wagyu… And it’s boring. It’s technically flawless… But it has no style and it has no soul… It’s not my food… It feels slightly obscene to me.”
Respectfully, I think Jonathan is off base with a couple of key points here:
First, Row on 5 was meant to open on Savile Row before Dubai. Metzger told me how it was conceived and developed for the Row. Discussions with the Savile Row Tailor’s Guild disrupted the timeline. As a result, in my view, Row on 5 is every bit as much “of its place,” as any village restaurant, but its community is Savile Row. Which, in the context of a standard village high street, is arguably more compact.
One of the things that most amazed me about Row on 5 was learning how every fixture, design point, and many of the dishes had a link to the Row. My favourite example are the smoking jackets: Want a smoke? The staff will offer you a tailored jacket made by one of the Row’s masters to wear outside for your break.
Savile Row is one of the most luxurious, opulent places in the world. But it is also a protective community of artisans. Row on 5 fits right in because Spencer Metzger and his team are artisans themselves, working at the highest level of their craft, just like their counterparts in their community.
Second, Jonathan frowns on the obscenity of flown-in, world class ingredients. I respect his principles, but in the opulent, over-the-top setting of Savile Row, surely the restaurant must serve the best ingredients it can source in order to respect its own “sense of place.”
Now, I have to admit, I enjoy that we’re even having this conversation. And it’s one of my favourite things about restaurants: Our views are necessarily subjective. The best thing you can do is try for yourself.
Jonathan hints that a some sort of Vittles Best-of-London is on the way. I can’t wait to see it.
Oh, and I was wrong about at least one thing: A national paper has now turned their attention to Row on 5. Times Food Editor Tony Turnbull recently featured it in a defence of fine dining and tasting menus.
The FT Giveth, the FT Taketh Away
The FT is still seeking nominations in its effort to identify the best places in London for Professional Lunch. Do submit your nominations here. Hurry. The deadline is Friday.
As Food & Drink Editor Harriet Fitch Little says, “Interesting things happen over lunch. Ideas have room to breathe and connections to deepen.”
But there’s a complicating factor: Drugs.
Ozempic and Mounjaro suppress appetites, and they apparently work really well. Which, according to another FT story, is turning some professional lunches into miserable affairs.
Needless to say, restaurants are adapting with smaller plates and flexible portions. This is arguably balancing what would otherwise be a steady decline in the “small plates” trend.
That said, “There might be other short-term boosts: one insurance executive even tells the FT he is planning an ‘Ozempic party’ before starting on the medicine later this year: a last hearty dinner to eat as much steak as he can before laying down his fork.”
Michelin Sticks Its Nose Into Wine
As if the people at Michelin weren’t trying to influence enough aspects of hospitality, they sort of accidentally announced last week that they are going to start reviewing wines.
Samantha Cole-Johnson has the story at jancisonrobinson.com:
Gwendal Poullennec, head of the Michelin Guide, announced at a Michelin Key awards ceremony in Paris that the company would be launching a wine guide … which is confusing seeing as Michelin already owns Wine Advocate – a publication originally started by Robert Parker. Michelin’s CEO Florent Menegaux was quoted by La Revue du vin de France stating that the Michelin brand is much stronger than the Wine Advocate brand but that the new guide is not intended to replace the Advocate.
The semi-accidental nature of the announcement suggests that Michelin has not quite thought this through, and wine writer Alder Yarrow has a bunch of sensible, practical questions.
But Andy Lynes has the most incisive question of all:
If Michelin is happy to guide you to a hotel, and then take a commission when you book a room through their platform (the same is true of restaurants via their partnership with The Fork), then why wouldn’t they sell you the wine they recommend? Or start supplying it to restaurants? What Michelin-star aspiring restaurant could refuse that offer?
I’m sceptical about Michelin’s move here. This feels like an effort to cover a moment where a CEO went a bit rogue with a journalist. I wouldn’t be surprised if the idea found its way into a drawer (or a “working group”) for a year. But I also wouldn’t want to be the editor of Wine Advocate.
Hayler on Our Lunch at the Ritz
I hope you enjoyed my Chat Over Lunch with Andy Hayler. As you might have gathered from the piece, I certainly did. I promised to share Andy’s own write-up of our lunch when it appeared, and so here it is along with his take on the new scallop dish which we were asked to try:
A new dish to me today was Orkney scallop, spiced carrot and vadouvan sauce. Fresh Orkney scallops are halved, dusted with curry powder, and seared on the plancha, finished with lemon and finger lime pearls. Vadouvan is a French spice mix, rooted in the old French province of India, Pondicherry, on the Bay of Bengal in Tamil Nadu. The vadouvan sauce is made from lobster and prawn shells, aromatic spices, herbs, and a dash of brandy. Spheres of spiced carrot and a smooth purée infused with vanilla and warm spices were served alongside. A lime and vanilla gel and a fresh coriander oil were the final touches. This was a really well put together dish, the acidity of the lime balancing the natural sweetness of the scallop, the gentle spices lifting the dish (18/20).
Andy’s report is, as ever, superb, and he remains the Grand Master of fine dining (20/20).
Critics Wrap-Up
✍🏻 indicates a review that you should read for the writing.
🍽️ indicates a place that sounds excellent and is probably worth a try.
✍🏻 Dominic Preston (Braise) says that Camille in Borough Market, which I re-reviewed and loved in July, “turned out one of the most joyous meals I’ve had all year when I came in primed for nothing of the sort.”
Andy Hayler (independent critic) revisits the Ritz, writing up the lunch that I shared with him in his own reportorial style. “The Ritz remains my favourite fine dining experience in London.”
🍽️ David Ellis (Standard) reviews L’Autre, the Polish-Mexican place in Shepherd’s Market. “This is a restaurant of dark greens and red, of the legend “Restaurant Wine Vodka” on its frontage, of album covers on the walls. It has old pub lamps. It is dark and coddling; in here it feels safe, away from everything.” MM Note: This is truly one of my favourite out of the way places in London, and if you haven’t tried it, you should.
✍🏻 Charlotte Ivers (Sunday Times) is a it one-the-hand / on-the-other-hand about Eel Sushi in Notting Hill. “It could be more if [owner Chris] D’Sylva showed more care for his customers. Two hours after lunch, my guests went to Five Guys and got a burger to fill them up.”
William Sitwell (Telegraph) joins the parade of critics to try buzzy Spanish joint Legado in Shoreditch. “I figure it’s also one of the finest, grandest expositions of Spanish food in the world. In a concrete jungle, in east London.”
Jay Rayner (FT) joins the parade of critics checking out Brasserie Constance in Fulham. “It’s the kind of exceedingly professional, reassuring restaurant that deserves to succeed.”
Tom Parker Bowles (Mail on Sunday) tries Dave’s Chicken, which I reviewed 10 months ago right after it opened. “The crust is crisp, the flesh succulent, the heat pronounced but not brutal. Although I wouldn’t look too deeply into the bird’s provenance, it’s a decent hot chicken sandwich.”
My very tasty lunch at Dave’s Hot Chicken. Catherine Hanly (Hot Dinners) test drives Rosi, a new place in The Beaumont Hotel in Mayfair. “The arrival of [Chef Lisa] Goodwin-Allen has given it quite the lift and there was a palpable buzz on a midweek evening. It’s a particularly good spot too if you want to have a business lunch or dinner and don’t want the tables to be too close to each other.”
Hilary Armstrong (The Glossary) scores a table at Carbone in Mayfair. “It’s a bit like going to Disneyland or a new West End show in London: you have to go all-in.”
Jules Pearson (LOTI) stalks The Hart, the spot in Marylebone from The Public House Group. “It’s good cooking, great ingredients, attentive service, decent drinks, and a lovely aesthetic, and we like that they’re not trying to reinvent the wheel.”
🍽️ Rebecca Lipkin (The Arbuturian) visits Lilibet’s in Mayfair. “There are restaurants you just know will be around in sixty or more years and this is one of them. Unlike the clubby London seafood institutions like Wilton’s and J. Sheekey which both have a members’ club vibe, Lilibet’s has sex appeal in spades.”
Nick Harman (Foodepedia) also reviews Lilibet’s. “Lillibet’s really is something special in London; its interiors, its staff, its food all remind me of why I go out to eat in the first place, not to greedily catch a trend but to relax and enjoy time with friends and family in a place that believes in the basics.”
Marina O’Loughlin (FT via Instagram) checks in from Lilibet’s, too. “Would I come back - HELL YEAH. And I don’t say that often about places of such sheer Mayfair-ness.”
Alex Larman (The Arbuturian) checks out Bar Kroketa in Broadgate. “We were in and out in 90 minutes, felt replete and happy, and the whole kaboodle was considerably cheaper and easier than flying to Barcelona.”
Beyond London
Giles Coren (Times) is in Sheffield to campaign for a Michelin star for Joro. “This was a great and serious meal from a chef in his pomp and a brilliant back-up team. It’s a vibrant, game-changing space in a rare and unusual location. To be honest, the Michelin star it so obviously merits would dignify Joro much less than it would the silly red book itself.”
Grace Dent (Guardian) heads to Birmingham to review 670 Grams. “Every element of 670 Grams’ menu is doubtless sketched out, cogitated over and measured to within an inch of its life.”
Nick Lander (jancisrobinson.com) travelled to Tuscany and shares three recommendations. “Three nights in Florence and Chianti Classico country, three lunches followed by three dinners, made me fully aware of one aspect of the restaurant business that I and many others may have overlooked. That is that all those who work in hospitality represent the country they work and live in. What they do will make their customers feel not just about their meal but also the city and the country they are visiting.”
Writer Chitra Ramaswamy pens the Observer’s restaurant review this week, visiting idealistic Cook House in Newcastle. “Every city should have a Cook House. But that’s impossible, because the point of Hedworth’s terrific community-minded restaurant is that it’s deeply embedded in the fabric of the city that made it.”
Thanks so much for reading this week’s update. Please do subscribe if you haven’t already, and let me know what you think in the Comments.
I booked and ate at Maison Francois last week on the strength of your recent recommendation. Nice meal, although with a couple of caveats. Reminiscent of the old Cafe Anglais in Bayswater (where I used to work) but with poorer-quality produce. Very good service and clearly well-managed. Will certainly return - at the very least for a drink at Franks. Thank you for the tip.
A sub writes: It's Savile Row (one L) 🙂