Any pub that employs a chef with credible restaurant CV now feels it has the right to append the prefix ‘gastro’ to its name. Many have installed josper grills or wood fires to buttress their claims. Renovate on old boozer may earn extra points. The Baring doesn’t try too hard. It doesn't need to either. This neighbourhood venue lets its quality speak for itself.
Your reviewer’s only previous visit to a Georgian restaurant was a disappointment. The passing of time and a desire to be open-minded provoked a recent visit to a new venue purveying Georgian cooking. It was well-conceived, but ultimately underwhelming.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Oxford students will take every opportunity to show off their erudition. With this maxim in mind, when your reviewer and eight of his chums returned recently to their Alma Mater for a reunion weekend, he was reminded of the famous line of Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr: “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” In simple terms, the places where we dined some thirty years ago have stood the test of time.
Harrow is famous for its school, perhaps its eponymous hill, but little else. Although it is located less than ten miles from where this reviewer grew up, he was not aware of its dining options – until recently. Step forward Jay Rayner. I have long been a fan of the restaurant critic of The Guardian and have enjoyed several of his books, including My Dining Hell. This is a summary of his most damning reviews. 19 of the 20 places subsequently have shut. Fortunately, his recent piece on the incongruously named Panda’s Kitchen was praiseworthy – and rightly so.
People love to make lists, however arbitrary they may be. KOL is one of only two UK restaurants to rank in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, placing at number 17. It must, therefore, being doing something very good. Your reviewer had written two highly praiseworthy pieces about KOL in the past (see here and here), but a recent visit to the venue demonstrated to our group of four – all of whom were previously familiar with KOL – just how much it had raised its already strong game.
From a modest café that opened over a hundred years ago, to a Michelin-starred celebrity hang-out, the history of the Ivy has been both varied and colourful. The brand remains an enduring one in the culinary world despite having opened Ivy spin-offs across the country, in towns such as Guildford. Its most recent venture has been to create an Asian sub-brand. Trading partly on its name, the ethos at Ivy Asia is full-on decadence with decent enough food to match.
The restaurant trade is Darwinian. Only the fittest should survive. How Dim-t has endured for since the mid-2000s and expanded into a mini chain of half a dozen outlets is an absolute mystery to this reviewer. He and his dining comrade visited the Hampstead original and were mostly disappointed from start to finish.
Could Arcade be the future of modern dining experiences? Many would believe so. Go visit at any time of the day and Arcade is packed. Even with a capacity of 350 covers, booking on a week night evening has now become necessary. Far from the JKS Group (the backers of Trishna, Gymkhana, Brigadiers etc.) having over-extended themselves with Arcade, it is an exceptionally well-executed concept. There’s something for everyone.
A decade or so ago, Gordon Ramsay was, arguably, one of the most famous chefs in the UK. He has certainly been responsible for a subsequent generation of culinary luminaries such as Clare Smyth and Jason Atherton. Current consensus, however, veers to the critical for Ramsay – maybe he has lost his touch? – and when Lucky Cat opened in late 2019 (unfortunately just pre-pandemic), critics seemingly rushed to be sceptical. Sure, maybe London does not need another slightly edgy yet still very commercial pan-Asian venture (think Roka, Zuma et al), but my comrade and I were recently impressed by a lunchtime visit to Lucky Cat.
Why call a restaurant avenue? Are diners being taken on a journey? If so, to where? Plaudits to Avenue for having survived for over twenty years – no mean feat in the cut-throat restaurant market of London. Some of its success must be down to constant reinvention, attempting to stay relevant and draw in as broad a range of punters as possible...
It seems that if you want to attempt to ensure success in opening a London restaurant then there is a fairly simple formula to follow: you hire a chef formerly at a prestigious restaurant (in this case, Nobu); you offer pan-Asian fusion food; you make all the dishes obligatory for sharing; and you staff the place with trendy and good-looking people.
