Table for One. Foodie Gentrification. Observer Spins. Critics & More.
David, Catherine, and Christina go Clubbing. Tom does Philly. Jay and Dom love Calong.
Hello, everyone! I hope you had a good weekend. It seems that London is enjoying a jolt of summer. I hope you can find time to get out and enjoy the sunshine. What better excuse to book a professional lunch? If you act now, you can still find a good place for Thursday. We start this week with a book:
The Underrated Magic of Solo Dining
My old friend
released her new novel, Table for One, last week, and it looks fantastic. (You can order it here.) To celebrate, she penned a wonderful piece for Condé Nast Traveller considering the virtues of solo dining.Leaning into moments of solitude is also good for us. According to recent studies, spending time alone has multiple benefits, including improved problem-solving and emotion regulation, as well as a deeper sense of creativity.
I couldn’t agree more. Indeed, I’m quite fond of solo dining. So, in celebration of Emma’s new book, here are my favourite solo dining spots in London:
The counter at the original Wright Brothers Seafood in Borough Market.
J Sheeky in Covent Garden.
The counter at The Arlington, St. James.
Upstairs for the full tasting menu at Hide in Mayfair
The back table by the kitchen at Sola in Soho.
Row on 5, which has a special, comfortable arrangement for solo diners.
What’s your favourite spot for a solo meal? Let me know in the comments.
Foodie Culture Changes Rural England, Slowly
The excellent
has a fascinating reflection on how city visitors are changing food culture in far-flung corners of rural England.No doubt 15 years ago, people in these parts would have been bemused if you’d wanted smashed avocado on toast with Piment d’Espelette for breakfast. I’m sorry, but I count the fact that you can now get it now, rather than a fry up, as progress. Although I’m sticking with the local beer in that village pub.
Andy’s experience certainly aligns with my own, mostly on the Kent coast. We’re headed back to Margate in a few weeks, and the food scene there continues to improve. William Gleave, former head chef at much-lauded Hill & Szrok, has moved from London to join Sargasso. There are new openings. And not just there. I’ve heard positive news from Broadstairs, Ramsgate, Whitstable, and Folkestone, too.
Observer Spins Off. No Restaurant Critic, Yet.
Tortoise Media completed its acquisition of The Observer last week, and on Sunday, published the first edition under its ownership. A new website went live on Thursday. Tortoise is a digital media company, so, frankly, I expected the website to be better, but it’s early, and I suspect the site will improve as more content comes online.
In a note, new editor James Harding says that key Observer features, including the Observer Food Monthly, will continue. The homepage includes a food section and there is a stand-alone food page. But it does not appear that this week’s edition included a restaurant review. At least, not one that I can find online. Too soon to say for sure if the “celebrity” review experiment is over.
UPDATE: Well, that was all wrong.
points out this review of Mana in Manchester which was published on Friday. I regret the error. Though, in my defense, it’s absolutely impossible to find, and isn’t on the food page.Also, the Guardian has apparently shifted Grace Dent’s publication day from Friday to Sunday.
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.
✍🏻 Ciaran Thapar (Vittles) goes deep on Ambassadors Clubhouse in Heddon Street. “That such deep familial and geographic roots exist beneath the immovable trunk of Ambassadors Clubhouse shows just how far we have come from a time when the generic, regionless curry house was the main mode of representation for British South Asian dining in London.”
🍽️ Tom Parker Bowles (Mail on Sunday) tries the newest branch of Passyunk Avenue, the best source for Philly Cheesesteaks in the UK. “The peppery shards of steak, that judicious hit of grease and excess of luridly gooey liquid cheesy bliss. Each bite is an exuberantly messy delight.”
🍽️ David Ellis (Standard) reviews One Club Row, a brand new place in Shoreditch, upstairs from the Knave of Clubs. “This is a restaurant with the generous, old-fashioned feel for hospitality. You may have noticed rather a few references to other restaurants — One Club Row is not entirely original; it has cribbed from the best. Thing is, by doing so, it now counts among their number.”
Catherine Hanly (Hot Dinners) also visits. “Think of this as the best of both New York's bistros and the brasseries of Paris (with some amazing British produce thrown in).”
Christina (LOTI) likewise weighs in. “The pork schnitzel has been getting a lot of love on socials and rightly so – not only is it massive, it comes with a rich mustard sauce underneath and generous blobs of gorgonzola on top.”
🍽️ Jay Rayner (FT) loves Calong, the hip Korean place in Stoke Newington. “The properly cool thing here is the food, which is cool in an understated way, and that’s the best kind of cool.”
- (Braise) also checks out Calong and enjoys “Dishes that draw primarily from Korean home comforts, tweaked by elevated techniques and Western ingredients, but not so much that they lose sight of where they came from.”
Grace Dent (Guardian) tries The Lavery in South Kensington. “There’s something rather special happening here, even if, on the surface, it may appear to be rather snoozily boring.”
Charlotte Ivers (Sunday Times) raves about Himi, a Japanese spot in Soho. “There’s something liberating about this place, with its laid-back atmosphere and bursts of surprise and delight.”
William Sitwell (Telegraph) heads to Krokodilos, a Greek place in Kensington. “The goat came as the centrepiece of a satisfying spread served in a well-designed room of pale woods and brickwork.”
Gavin Hanly (Hot Dinners) reviews Tom Brown at the Capital Hotel. “You'll get a seafood meal like no other in London with some real inventiveness in the dishes, along with a warm, welcoming service.”
Salty Plums is mystified, but ultimately pleased, by “Thai-American” Chet’s in Shepherd’s Bush. “The Thai comes out in the flavourings and the sauces they throw in with these dishes. And don’t let the casualness fool you, this kitchen puts a lot of care and attention into each dish.”
Anna Selby (The Arbuturian) goes to Penelope’s in the new Amano Hotel in Covent Garden. “Not only were both dishes delicious, they were the epitome of healthy Mediterranean food – light, fresh, savoury and just a little bit fruity.”
The Picky Glutton tries Pho Thuy Tay, a Vietnamese spot in Surrey Quays. “Sometimes a good meal comes from taking a chance, rather than planning everything down to the last plate. It’s well worth taking a chance on Pho Thuy Tay and its specials board.”
Peter Sullivan (
) falls for Camille in Borough Market (which I reviewed last year). “I loved Camille. London is producing more and more of these small, modest restaurants that serve keenly priced classic French inspired dishes.”Giles Coren had the week off.
Beyond London
William Sitwell (Telegraph) doubled up this week, with a trip to Tropea in Birmingham. “Tropea is cheerful, upbeat fun and, I suspect, on its best days, a prized asset to the neighbourhood.”
Marina O’Loughlin (FT) suggests Antwerp as a must-visit gastronomic destination. “I’m not sure which is more pleasurable: the forward-thinking Antwerp of Hertog Jan or the defiant old school.”
She also Instagrams from Chez Francis Brive in France, which offered “seriously impressive dishes from père et fils Tessandier in the kitchen, charming welcome from madame.”
- (Bald Flavours) continues with reviews from his trip to Copenhagen, this time spotlighting Barr. “The menu is deliberately accessible: roasted smoked bone marrow, thick cuts of beef and pork chops, fat glowing with age, aided by the ageing chambers tucked in and around the restaurant floor.”
Nick Lander (jancisrobinson.com) checks in from Kyoto with three restaurant recommendations.
Edible Reading heads to Bath. “I think Upstairs At Landrace is worth going to Bath for all by itself – with or without the shopping, or the coffee, or the beers, or the old friend – because it’s supremely good at what it does.”
UPDATE: Comedian David Baddiel reviews Mana in Manchester for the Observer. “A lot of thought and care and love and invention and detail has gone into these dishes. They linger a long time in your mouth-memory.”
Thanks for reading this week’s update. Please do subscribe if you haven’t already.
Table 8 at Rules, the bar at El Pirata in Mayfair, any table at Zedel and I second the bar counter at Arlington.
That black pudding is exemplary