Lunch Hour At Risk in the USA. A Find in Bloomsbury. Critics Wrap-Up & More.
Jay Rayner hunts for decent sandwiches. Tom Hayward visits Cloth. Grace Dent goes to Roe. Jonathan Nunn is in Peckham.
Hello, everyone. Can you believe it’s June? How did that happen?
Welcome to new subscribers. Glad you’ve joined us.
Before you carry on, hit reply and tell me your favourite spot in London for a Professional Lunch (or breakfast or dinner) and why.
And for those who were enjoying the short week or away for half term, you might revisit last week’s update, where I make a simple suggestion: We should replace meetings we’re already having with better meetings.
There was a big reaction to the version I posted to LinkedIn. What do you think?
The Demise of American Lunch
A study of credit card transactions and an analysis of footfall in downtown areas of American cities show that the long coveted “lunch hour” may be on its last legs in the USA. So reports CNBC and the Guardian.
While weekday transaction volumes from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. were down 3.3% last year compared with 2019, card taps jumped 4.2% on weekends and 0.3% during weekday happy hours from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The Square data comes as foot traffic rebounds in major U.S. cities’ downtowns far faster on evenings and weekends than during workdays, University of Toronto researchers have found.
The Guardian story is better on the context, identifying (correctly, in my view) that, to the extent people are coming into the office, they’re bringing lunch more often or snatching something fast. Inflationary pressure driving up costs is another big factor putting people off.
Maybe someone needs to start a Professional Lunch newsletter for the whole USA. Anyone interested? I’ll only take a small cut for rights to the concept and logo.
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: Café Deco
Big thanks to fellow lunch lover Rob Alexander for this generous guest submission.
I always think Bloomsbury is a bit of a culinary desert, certainly the part East of Tottenham Court Road. But then I had a Professional Lunch at Cafe Deco last week.
It is small and even a little unprepossessing. Definitely more café than restaurant in look and feel, but it was a lovely surprise for a food-loving friend who is based in Madrid and loves their restaurant scene.
We found friendly and very informal service which was chatty but also clear and expert.
We shared artichoke and parmesan toasts which were a simple but powerful combination of artichoke smoothness and Parmesan punch served on thinly sliced crisp sourdough toast. We also shared “Egg mayonnaise” — soft and hard boiled eggs mixed with fresh punchy mayonnaise and a fat anchovy laid over the top.
For mains, we both ordered “Kotlety Mielone” which turned out to be Polish meatballs served with fresh sauerkraut salad and mash. All of the food was rustic and simple with great flavours.
The wine list is heavily weighted towards “natural” but it’s also very lengthy so there’s a lot to consider.
Cafe Deco is the offspring of 40 Maltby Street (hence the wine list) and Anna Tobias of Rochelle Canteen.
Definitely not one for a polished client/colleague lunch but for a food and wine fan or post a trip to the British museum (which I realise isn’t a professional lunch unless you’re a historian, curator or art thief), is well worth a visit.
Critics Wrap-Up
Lots of London focus from the nationals this week while, at the same time, I’m including more from non-newspaper writers, and this happened to be a busy week for them as well. So apologies that this section is a little longer than usual. To help navigate, I’m introducing a couple of symbols. ✍🏻 indicates a review that you should read for the writing. 🍽️ indicates a place that sounds excellent and is probably worth a try.
🍽️ Jay Rayner (Observer) joins the hunt for decent sandwiches and checks out Gerry’s Hot Sub Deli in Exmouth Market. “Lunch there is messy. Prepare to wipe yourself down afterwards or even nip home for a shower. But my, it’s good.” The guy behind it helped start Belgo and then Bodean’s, so he’s got a track record. “We wonder whether the cheesesteak is as good as that served at Passyunk Avenue. (Let’s go with yes.) That’s the point: these subs are good enough to be debated.”
🍽️ Tim Hayward (FT) visits Cloth, which Marina O’Loughlin and Gavin Hanly tried last week. “I wish every restaurant presented food that I had to engage with, think about, parse and judge. Food that pushes a little. Food where the chef has respectfully given himself some rein for creativity. The result is mixed but fascinating.” Circe Hughes (LOTI) also tries Cloth. “Though it’s so new, it’s easy to feel as though Cloth has been around forever… It feels like a real piece of London history.”
🍽️ Grace Dent (Guardian) checks out Roe, following on from Jimi Famurewa two weeks ago. “New kid Roe, however, is a bigger, slicker, marginally less edgy version of Fallow.” … “Roe’s menu dances rather daintily and deftly between ‘pub grub’, ‘fever dream’ and ‘Noma’.” … “Nobody ever had Canary Wharf down as a future restaurant hotspot, but now Roe has come along to join the growing crowd.”
✍🏻 Jonathan Nunn (Vittles) reviews “three tiny Malaysian restaurants in Peckham.” As ever with his reviews, the writing is impeccable and the perspective spot-on.
✍🏻 Jonathan also explores Iranian stew through a review of Saffron Kitchen in Finchley. I’ve always admired Jonathan’s writing, but this sort of thing is just so stunningly good, I really can’t recommend it strongly enough. “So here’s a bold prediction for you: in ten years, we’ll be talking about Ballards Lane like we do Green Lanes, as a road and community that has changed London’s food culture. And if that doesn’t happen, well, hopefully we’ll still have Saffron, which has changed it already.”
✍🏻
(Smashed) reviews Julie’s in Notting Hill. The London institution — first opened in 1969 — has been reinvented and attracting some buzz in all of the right places. but this review is notable because Andy, who was trying to review anonymously, gets rumbled by an old friend. Hilarity ensues.Charlotte Ivers (Sunday Times) looks to rediscover brunch at Sune in Hoxton / Hackney. “This is undoubtedly one of the trendiest places in London, but you don’t see its stuff on Instagram. Good. This is taste-first food. Something worth eventually getting out of bed for.”
Tom Parker Bowles (Mail on Sunday) goes to Proper Tacos in Nag’s Head Market in north London. He thinks the tacos are great and loves the market scene, but respectfully, I’m not sure I trust his judgement on tacos.
Tanya Gold (Spectator) reviews the Wolseley’s new city location, but I can’t read the whole thing because I’m out of free Spectator articles, and given her past two reviews, I’m not that bothered.
Andy Hayler (independent critic) goes weird again, this time reviewing a Fullers pub in Hammersmith which serves Thai Food. He seems to like it.
David Ellis (Standard) reviews his local pub, the Hero in Maida Vale, to see if it stacks up with the Devonshire. Spoiler: It doesn’t. But he says nice things anyway. Jimi Famurewa was off again this week.
Lily Subbotin (Independent) revisits Bacchanalia in Mayfair two years after it opened. “Bacchinalia doesn’t care that some people may think it’s silly, or overpriced, or ridiculous… The restaurant has survived the Instagram hype and is still fully booked, overflowing with wealthy punters willing to splash the cash on pretty good but somewhat hit-and-miss food.”
William Sitwell (Telegraph) was in Somerset. Giles Coren (Times) was away.
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