It is the day of City AM’s Toast the City Awards, celebrating the hospitality and placemaking that makes the Square Mile great. I could not be more proud to be attending, as both a judge and a nominee. I would like to reach out ahead of the event to wish all the best to everyone involved, from the wonderful City BIDs who sponsored the event to the team at City AM for pulling it all together and, most of all, to my fellow entrepreneurs in the Square Mile – it’s one of my favourite places on earth and somewhere that is always surprising me.
I would love to spend this column talking about why Angler should win Best Restaurant, Paternoster Chop House or 14 Hills should win Best Casual Dining, Madison or Coq d’Argent should win Best Roof Terrace, the South Place Hotel should win Best Overnight Stay, and Bluebird Club should win Best Members’ Experience. But let’s leave that to the Toast the City judges and turn our attention to matters further afield…
What do London restaurants at a Premier League football club, in Berkeley Square and at Carousel all have in common? They are all run by chefs I’ve long admired, culinary geniuses who, like myself, have taken the leap to brave it alone as entrepreneurs in the capital.
BRASSERIE CONSTANCE
Fulham FC is now home to chef Adam Byatt’s Brasserie Constance, situated on Fulham Pier in the new Riverside Stand. One will struggle to find a better ‘pitchside’ restaurant in the Premier League (particularly if you put aside fellow Michelin star holder Tommy Banks’ new Banks on the Wear venue at the Stadium of Light).
I first discovered Byatt’s Thyme restaurant in 2001 in Clapham, where he has based himself since. On many occasions I have called one-star Trinity on Clapham Common my favourite London restaurant (although that accolade has recently shifted to the aforementioned Angler and Chop House, both in Liverpool Street) and have long been a fan of Byatt’s other venues: Charlie’s at Brown’s Hotel on Albemarle Street is always fun to visit as it has the most eccentric maître d’s.
A couple of years ago the legendary Jesus Adorno (formerly of Le Caprice) was strutting the floors and on my most recent visit, the famously huggable Ben Matthews (a junior GM for me in my days overseeing Gaucho) was running the show – a delight to see him serving fine food once more.
Constance is named after Constance Spry, a 20th century cook and florist who designed vases for, and was closely linked with, Fulham Pottery.
I am not sure what Constance would have made of the décor at her namesake pad… and neither did I. My best attempt to describe it would be like a Maine boathouse, generously adorned with gold. It has walls and chandeliers of coloured glass dripping with crystals, with snapshots of views of the hallowed Craven Cottage. It is unapologetically ‘Annabel’s’.
The Sunday lunch crowd are clad in mint velvet and Boden outfits, so there’s lots of opportunity for people watching as double breasted waiters spin around the restaurant with trolleys of salmon and baked alaska.
The food is great: modern British, local, seasonal – Byatt doing what he does best. I started with a steak and ale skewer, followed by a coronation chicken pâté en croûte, which triumphed. The claypot chicken with barley and beer is a feat of service and a feast of a dish: it demands to be seen (and consumed)! To finish, a bloody good baked alaska from the posh boys trolley. Service isn’t up to Trinity level and you are left waiting far too often for wine to be topped up from a bucket across the diamante dining room. Despite the décor, this is a relaxed space, perfect for a pre-match ritual.
LILIBET’S
Another chef I’ve known for years is Ross Shonhan. We met in the early noughties on a New York restaurants study trip and shared a whole goat (including the eyeballs).
Ross worked with Freak Scene’s Scott Hallsworth at the original Park Lane Nobu when it was listed among the world’s best and has re-emerged (after stints at Bone Daddies, Zuma and Netsu) in Mayfair, opening Lilibet’s. It’s a sumptuous seafood restaurant on Bruton Street – an address with royal history – and no expense has been spared to make this palatial set of rooms feel truly regal: silks, fireplaces, rugs, bespoke wallpaper and more…
Great City entrepreneur Andrew Harding and I, having enjoyed the evening in the company of DJ Spoony and David Beckham, finished our night relaxing into a sumptuous seafood platter accompanied by a fine bottle of Cuvée Frédéric Emile Trimbach (£145). The service was outstanding, led by some front of house veterans; we enjoyed a rare and wonderful balance of appreciation, anticipation, over-delivery and understanding of privacy.
The speciality of the house is the fish triptych, an initiative to celebrate a fish (often an unfashionable breed) three ways. Ours was a heavenly Scottish halibut, served initially as ceviche, then grilled to perfection and latterly as a soup. We didn’t need the soup, but it’s a worthy idea to use the fish in its entirety with zero wastage. Certainly worth a visit if you are stomping around Mayfair.
CAROUSEL X MILLER PRADA
Housed on Charlotte Street, Carousel is a restaurant which, as the name suggests, rotates chef residencies on a weekly basis. Sometimes it is quirky, usually the quality is excellent, occasionally it is an outstanding dinner. Chef Miller Prada delivered on the latter, ticking every box: dishes of visual splendour, taste sensations based on texture and flavour. With Prada, you are in the presence of the extraordinary.
Prada made his name working at the Ledbury, then with Endo Kazutoshi (Endo Rotunda and Endo at Raffles), Sumi and Humo, where he gained a Michelin star. Prada loves using wood, smoke and fire: now, embarking on a new project, the Colombian-born chef is testing dishes at Carousel, inspired by his extensive travels to Australia, Singapore, Japan and Europe but not forgetting his South American heritage.
Crispy bomba rice, with girolles, pied-de-mouton and jamón was my favourite dish of the year to date. A native lobster cooked over whisky barrels and served with an inspired Caribbean spirulina was also in my top lobster courses ever. When Prada the perfectionist returns to Carousel soon, jump on and grab a table!
• For more information on Toast the City visit the website here