Margot Closing. UK Top 100. The Tardiness Problem. Critics & More.
Ellis hits the Caribbean. Preston goes Rogue. Hayler off Oma. Ivers hates Hastings, but loves Lury.
Hello, everyone. I hope you enjoyed the beautiful weather in London this weekend. I soaked up the sunshine, and manage to enjoy a surprisingly fantastic dinner on Friday night. More on that in due course.
Housekeeping: I have updated the London Guide to reflect all of the recent additions and other changes. I’ve also done an overdue update on the Google Map, so you can save that and refer back.
Campaign update: I was thrilled to see this article in the Times, which suggests that interest in proper lunch is growing. I’m pleased that our movement is gaining momentum and prepared to take full credit. Leonid Shutov, owner of Bob Bob Ricard, is the latest to jump on the bandwagon, and seems to be urging greater martini consumption at lunch. While I sympathise with this idea, I think we need to be clear: Martinis are not strictly required at a Professional Lunch. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Let’s get to this week’s update, and we start with a sad farewell.
Goodbye to Margot, a Covent Garden Gem
For about six years, I worked just down the street from Margot, and I was a regular. With clients, friends, colleagues, out-of-town guests, I could always find an excuse to go for their superb pasta and outstanding Italian wine list.
Alas, in a couple of weeks, the Covent Garden dining scene will be worse off as Margot closes forever.
Their Instragam post announcing the closure explicitly blames increases in business rates and NI. I’m also told by a well-informed source that their lease was up and the landlord wanted to double their rent. The combination was crushing.
I will really miss Margot, but I am glad that I got to visit with a very old friend on Thursday night. The food and wine were impeccable, as ever. So was the service. And the fantastic sommelier really looked after us. I am grateful to the whole Margot team for their hospitality over the years.
I hope their team and and their wine collection will find good homes, but I dread to think what might follow them into their fantastic venue on Great Queen Street. Perhaps another Five Guys?
Ritz Prevails at National Restaurant Awards
The Ritz restaurant was named the best in the UK by the National Restaurant Awards earlier this week. David Ellis uses the moment to refresh his 5-star review of the Ritz and double down on his claim that it’s London’s best restaurant.
Moor Hall was second. AngloThai was awarded “Opening of the year” and ranked seventh in the country. Row on 5 took home “Wine List of the year,” and came 30th.
The Top 100 included 70 restaurants from London, and the capital claimed an astonishing 15 of the top 20.
I’ve got some work to do against the scorecard: I’ve been to 13 of the top 20 and managed only 25 of the top 50. I’ll try to do better.
These sorts of rankings are always a nice talking point, and I’m glad they produce some buzz for great restaurants. The World’s Best Restaurants list — from the same publisher that backs the National Restaurant Awards — will be out on Thursday.
Don’t No-Show and Don’t Be Late
has clearly been writing in his head for along tine. Since launching his Substack last month, the Bristol-based restauranteur is publishing 3 times per week, and every piece is excellent. One of his pieces from this week focuses on the knock-on effect for restaurants when a table turn ups late. You should go and read the whole thing, but here’s the heart of it for me: “Turn times aren’t about being stingy. They’re about fairness.”
One particular night, a table that turned up 30 minutes late, “added just enough delay to ripple through the rest of the evening. Not catastrophic, but enough to push the rhythm off, to keep us playing catch-up instead of cruising.”
And he concludes: “Respect the rhythm. That’s all we’re asking. Come on time. Order at a normal pace. Understand that your table has an expiry date — not because we’re trying to flip you like a burger, but because we’re running a delicate, barely-contained ballet. One where timing is everything.”
Dan doesn’t do no-shows in this post. I’m sure he will, and I can’t wait to hear his views. But we know that they are similarly a massive problem for restaurants. So, for us diners, I think the rules are simple: Show up. Be on time. Have fun. Our experiences will be better as a result. And so will everyone else’s.
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.
David Ellis (Standard) checks in from Caribbean spot Marvee’s in Ladbroke Grove. “The curry goat is a soother, a softener, a dish that settles the wrongs. The meat — shoulder at a guess — has been cooked into helplessness: it offers no resistance. Ginger, garlic and cinnamon crackle through it. We shared reluctantly.”
Giles Coren (Times) heads —with friends — to the Hawthorn, a new gastropub in Shepherd’s Bush. “The boys are especially impressed by the dipping rarebit, some salt cod fritters from the ‘specials’ section, and the big, firm, peppery sausage served plain as hell on a white plate.”
Andy Hayler (independent critic) was busy this week, publishing three new reviews:
🍽️ He returns to the Dysart Petersham in Richmond. “Ingredients are impeccable, the kitchen technique is top notch and things are made the old-fashioned way, with stocks and sauces laboriously reduced rather than being poured out of a bought-in bottle.”
🍽️ He also revisits Pied a Terre in Charlotte Street, which has a new head chef. “This meal was a distinct step up in standard from the last one that I had had under a previous head chef.”
And he checks out Oma in Borough Market. “I found the food here to range between acceptable and disappointing, and that can never be a good thing. However, they have clearly found their audience, as the place is booming. I am not quite sure why.”
Gavin Hanly (Hot Dinners) test drives Marjorie, a new Parisian style wine bar in Soho. “It had a buzzy vibe all night long, the wine was great and the modern French food was fantastic.”
Catherine Hanly (Hot Dinners) checks out the latest Greek place in South Kensington, Myrtos. “While dishes may not feature some of the more inventive turns seen elsewhere, those really aren't needed here. Ultimately, what you have is a classic Greek menu, with a few high-end touches.”
🍽️
(Braise) raves about Rogue Sarnies in Bethnal Green. “Perhaps the best thing about Rogue is that it doesn’t lose sight of what a sarnie’s all about, never letting surprise get in the way of simple satisfaction.”✍🏻
(Bald Flavours) loves Tollington’s in Finsbury Park. “A patchwork of Iberian influence, there’s a Basque thread running throughout, namely the txakoli and chistorra. Sitting at a gleaming two-top, we’re taken by the wrist back to San Sebastián’s Bar Ricardo, which seldom gets mentioned at all, it seems, yet is perhaps one of the best spots in the Gros neighbourhood.”
Hillary Armstrong (The Glossary) is the latest to try The Town in Covent Garden. “The extravagance of the interiors carries through to the menu.”
Alex Larman (The Arbuturian) picks The Dark Horse in Camden. “Everything we eat is apparently simple, but with a twist of sublime excellence.”
The Observer is back with another “celebrity” review this week. Comedian Rose Matafeo, who is “trying to eat less meat,” reports from Quality Chop House. “The main event arrives: a glistening 800g Hereford bone-in ribeye to share, cooked medium-rare. It’s gleaming. We gasp as it’s set down on the table; it’s fun to be a little dramatic.”
The Observer has also published to its website last week’s review from Séamus O’Reilly of Slowburn in Walthamstow. “This was the finest meal I’ve ever eaten in the company of a Tonello G1 70 L1 Ecofree sample-dyeing machine.”
Beyond London
Grace Dent (Guardian) is in Bristol for Ragù. “This could be some of the most skilful cooking anywhere in Britain right now. I recommend the place wholly, effusively and slightly enviously.”
Charlotte Ivers (Sunday Times) ventures to Hastings to check out Lury. “It is so wonderful, amid a town left to decay, to see someone resisting that decline, to see this tiny team striving for excellence.”
William Sitwell (Telegraph) tries the Spärrows in Manchester. “There’s certainly an atmosphere of hearty, communal cheer typical of that delivered on the Continent".”
Jay Rayner (FT) reviews Manifest in Liverpool. “The cooking is completely focused and eating here is fun.”
Tom Parker Bowles (Mail on Sunday) is in Salcombe to report on the Crab Shed. “Crab and more crab for mains: a linguine first, the pasta still possessing bite, the rich, white-meat-heavy sauce clinging tenaciously to each strand. Whole crab comes hot and drenched in garlic butter, the brown carapace meat wobbling and bosky, each joint and claw and limb cracked, picked, sucked and crunched.”
Thanks for reading this week’s update. Are there any food reviewers that you think I should add to the update? I’m looking for written, not video. But eager for suggestions. Could you let me know in the Comments?
It's always interesting to see how these National Awards stack against other lists, such as W50B and the usual Guides. I would be interested to see where the judging criteria (or juries) overlap and where they differ to see whether those things play a role. I tried to visit all the starred and bib'd restaurants in Dubai, but it's probably quite dangerous for my health to do so!
Thanks for your lovely comments Marshall. I’m working my way through four years of internal monologue. I may run out of steam soon.