How do you make excellent even better? In the world of food, it’s a question that Clare Smyth, the chef-patron of Core, is able to provide a ready answer to: keep plying your trade joyfully. This is your author’s fourth review of the venue. Each time he and his dining comrade have visited, the experience has been taken to another level. Throughout, there remains Clare, in the kitchen, still smiling.
For those unfamiliar, the restaurant opened in 2017, Clare’s first solo outing after having trained under Gordon Ramsey. Core has progressed up the rankings in terms of multiple awards, has endured one refurb and opened a beautiful bar upstairs, but the ethos has remained unchanged. What we observed on our initial visit was how entering Core feels like dining in the house of a very good (and wealthy) friend. Forget snooty waiters and starched tablecloths. Instead, think of informal yet understated elegance. There are books shelves with ornaments, mellow lighting and no ostentatious music. Nobody is trying to prove anything to anyone. Come here, relax, and let the food do the talking. It obviously helps that Core has become – and probably always was – a superbly oiled machine. All the staff seem genuinely to enjoy working there and this undoubtedly rubs off on the guests too. Our Friday night visit saw every table full and a buzz pervading from 8pm until midnight.
Yes, if you want to experience Core properly, then you will need to dedicate four hours to doing so. It will be worth it. Sure, a la carte options are available, but the tasting menu represents the way to go. Diners are given the option of ‘classics’ or ‘seasons.’ If you ask nicely, there is always the chance to swap dishes across the two. Our group of six mixed and matched across menus, and the inclusion of one vegetarian flight proved no afterthought either. Begin at the beginning. The art and the sensation of the amuse bouches require seeing and tasting to believe. Testament to any top chef is how they are able to pack into a morsel barely larger than a coin so much flavour intensity. Jellied eel and toasted seaweed was a masterclass in perfection.
Clare’s classics menu – chosen on this occasion by your reviewer – is rightly labelled. Keep making the same dishes but make them better each time has to be a winning formula when done well. At Core it is. Take either the humble potato or its close sibling the carrot. Here, they are taken to another level. Both the ‘potato and roe’ and ‘lamb carrot’ options have been perennial fixtures at this restaurant. Top the former with herring and trout roe and finish with beurre blanc and the potato becomes a luxury, something to savour with every bite, the sort of dish you don’t ever want to end. Likewise, add braised lamb to a single carrot and accompany with sheep’s milk yoghurt and your relationship with orange root vegetables will never be quite the same again. Were space to permit then a similarly glowing reminiscence could be appended to each offering on the seven course menu. Top tastes for your reviewer on this occasion were the Rhug Estate venison and the ‘Core apple’ toffee palate cleanser.
While Clare deserves fulsome praise, no experience at Core would be complete without the genial wine advice provided by arguably the best sommelier in London. Gareth guided our group – which included three demanding wine geeks – through his extensive list. Swiss Petite Arivne and a 20-year Cretan red blend proved apt off-piste options and genius food pairings. Nothing ever seemed too much trouble. Each penny spent at Core is well worth it. Dinners here are always truly memorable.