Church Road
Barnes, London
Sibling to Kitchen W8 and Elystan Street in Kensington and Chelsea respectively, Church Road is the very model of a restaurant du quartier in leafiest Barnes. A few tables out front between planters under an awning; booth-style tables and comfortable bar-counter seating indoors; hexagonal floor tiles, fresh flowers on the tables, a distant view of chefs checking their order tickets behind frosted glass: one could almost be forgiven for thinking that all's right with the world. The food makes a virtue of sustainability in a light, fresh style that works wonders: in the summer swelter, we enjoyed a salad of lobster, Isle of Wight tomatoes and croûtons, dressed in basil oil and served with gazpacho. Otherwise, try courgettes in two colours with herbed ricotta, or minted and lemon-tinged burrata. Mains bring on the likes of citrus-glazed bream in spring vegetable minestrone, or a robustly rich, accurately timed pavé of aged Hereford beef with bone-marrow butter and hand-cut chips. Temperature contrast makes a dessert of warm bitter chocolate fondant and milk ice cream just the ticket, but if it's frozen or nothing, go for the ebulliently refreshing morello cherry sorbet with lime granita. The gin-based cocktails look all too tempting, while the approachable wine list favours France and Italy.
