Drive 120 miles southwest of London and you reach the bucolic Somerset town of Bruton. With several top restaurants (including one Michelin-starred venue – Osip), it’s been a foodie destination for some time. For a taste of the region lazy Londoners can journey just to Mayfair. Farm Shop is a cool venue – both retail outlet and restaurant.
Kindling: Simply steak
The Brighton dining scene seems to go from strength to strength. Kindling, open now for just over a year, is a worthy addition. Its frontage leaves nothing to the imagination, with the words ‘simply steak’ written just below the venue’s name. This, however, does Kindling a disservice. There’s more than meat on the menu and execution elevates the restaurant.
Mount Street Restaurant: Art gallery in a pub
If you want to lunch with Lucien or dine with Damian (Freud and Hirst respectively), then Mount Street Restaurant might be the place for you. Rumour has it that £50m worth of art hang on its walls. If only the kitchen produced food that was sufficiently exulted to match the quality of the paintings. Mount Street might look impressive, but the food felt to us like posh pub grub – at Mayfair prices.
Chewton Glen: Hot for Hampshire
There should be a lot to like about Chewton Glen. A 5-star hotel dominated by an 18th-century manor set in 130 acres of impressive grounds on the coastal side of the New Forest. The main room where guests dine is beautiful too – light-filled and spacious with a pleasant hum of atmosphere. Although a lovely experience, neither the food nor the service quite hit London standards – a curse that so often afflicts posh country hotels.
The Guinea Grill: Old school rules
Core: Another level
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.
Six Portland Road: Destination venue
Every neighbourhood needs a restaurant like Six Portland Road. It is the sort of place where you can – as your reviewer and his two dining comrades did – go for lunch and easily end up staying for the rest of the day. The team behind the venue have created a wonderfully relaxed vibe with thoughtful British food supported by a few quirky twists.
Boxcar: Every neighbourhood needs one
If New Quebec Street in Marylebone were my local high street, then I would be delighted. Luckily it is close to where your reviewer both lives and works. Zayna has been a long-standing favourite for curry. There’s also a great wine shop, a fishmonger and more. In addition, Boxcar is located on this street. Open since 2017, Gourmand Gunno corrected a long-standing anomaly by visiting it recently. Billed as a ‘neighbourhood restaurant’, it certainly constitutes a wonderful addition to the street, for both food and vibe.
The Midland Grand Dining Room: Grand Designs
It is hard not to fall in love with the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, a landmark of Gothic Revival and High Victorian architecture. First opened in 1873 as the Midland Grand, the hotel received a new lease of life in 2011. The main dining room – now in its second iteration since the hotel’s reopening – is worth a visit, both for the décor and the food, even if atmosphere is a bit harder to come by.
Origin City: Going back to my roots
The Twenty-Two: Yet more Mayfair glamour
Mayfair lacks neither glamorous restaurants nor private members clubs. Into the fray comes the Twenty-Two, located – you’ve guessed it – at 22 Grosvenor Square. Tucked into a listed Edwardian building, there is a restaurant upstairs and club below. There are also rooms to stay. It is a welcome addition to the existing plethora of similar nearby options but could be summarised more as accomplished than ground-breaking.
The Devonshire: Welcome home
It was hard not to enter or leave the Devonshire without a broad smile. Open for only four weeks, it has become one of the hottest tickets in town. Even early on a Monday lunchtime, the front of house told us that she had already had to turn away six parties. Your reviewer felt justly smug, having booked when the Devonshire first opened. Two happy hours later, our group of three all left well sated and could comfortably have stayed for longer, had the real world not intervened.
Thomas by Tom Simmons: Home comforts
The Pontcanna district of Cardiff is where it’s at when it comes to fine dining. Thomas represents a classy offering by former MasterChef star, Tom Simmons. His angle is a simple one: take classic British and French cuisine and give it a Welsh twist. Based on the quality of the output, Thomas would merit a Michelin star, but it won’t get one until it ups its service game.
Alex Dilling, Hotel Café Royal: Diligent delivery
Way back, in 2018, your reviewer and his dining comrade were privileged to eat at The Greenhouse. This was a gem of a restaurant that commanded two Michelin stars throughout its existence. Now sadly shuttered, that meal was particularly memorable owing to the quality of the cooking from a young chef named Alex Dilling. British born, but having trained in New York under Alain Ducasse and other luminaries, he seemed to be a talent to watch. It is now fitting that he fronts the recently opened new restaurant at the Hotel Café Royal. Within its first year, Dilling has again the award he deserves – two Michelin stars.
Noble Rot: If it ain’t broke
From cult magazine to mini restaurant chain in the space of a decade is an impressive achievement. Noble Rot – the term relates to the natural decay on some vines that allow for sweet wine to be produced – started out writing about the wine industry. Recently, it opened its third restaurant venue. Visiting, however, is not just about partaking in a glass or two. There is good food and a top ambience to enjoy.
The Portrait: Picture this
Take an iconic London museum which has just had a makeover, open a restaurant on its top floor with stunning views over the city and install a proven chef in its kitchen and you should be onto a winning formula. Proof of concept lies in The Portrait, the new opening in the National Portrait Gallery, fronted by Richard Corrigan. Visitors now have good reason to come and appreciate both art and food.
20 Berkeley: Club class
Mayfair does not lack for high-end restaurants, but 20 Berkeley pulls of the act of creating something totally novel. Think of it as a breath of fresh air relative to the style over substance vibe of nearby Amazonico, Bacchanalia, Novikov or Sexy Fish. There’s nothing showy or ostentatious about 20 Berkeley. Rather, it wears its class with subtlety; understated charm rather than self-conscious bling. It’s very British, and in being so, fills a gap in the market.
Murmur: Venue with a view
Brighton has a burgeoning dining scene. Sea views, wealthy locals and proximity to London all help. Gourmand Gunno paid his annual visit to the south coast city to check out Murmur. Despite its curious name, the visit was a success. Not all was perfect, but with good sunshine, company and alcohol, this is a pleasant venue to while away part of the day.
St John: Meat comes to Marylebone
1994 might seem an age ago. At the time, your reviewer was just beginning university and rarely visited a restaurant unless benevolent relatives were paying. It was also the year when Fergus Henderson and his team created a culinary revolution when they opened the original St John restaurant in Smithfield Market. With it came the pioneering concept of ‘nose-to-tail’ cooking. This was (and remains) the place to go for offal. It is pleasing that a second St John venture has recently opened in Marylebone. Based on a recent visit, it can be every bit as good as the first.
Muse: Inspired, mostly
In restaurant circles it would be a fair question to ask: having been the youngest chef ever to be awarded two Michelin stars (at the age of 26), where do you go from here? The career of Tom Aikens has certainly not been short of adventure. What diners can experience at Muse is a chef – now in his 50s – clearly having fun and being willing to push boundaries, even if overall execution was not always perfect