Restaurant St Barts
Smithfield, London
*St Barts is introducing an intimate four-seater chef's counter so that diners can watch the team at work directly from the pass.*
Secreted within the reticulations of the glitzy development between Smithfield and the medieval church of St Bartholomew the Great, the restaurant named in his honour is a labour of sustainable and ecologically conscious love from the team that created Nest (formerly of Hackney, now in Shoreditch). Johnnie Crowe is executive chef, and has established a format to enliven an area of the City that tends to deflate after business hours. The dining room has the spacious feel of a repurposed showroom, with plate glass views of the church. Seats are upholstered in deep fleece, and the atmosphere is one of leisurely progress through a multi-stage tasting menu (10 courses at dinner, including the canapés), which is payable upfront. At an autumn visit, the seafood hits just kept on coming: langoustine flamed with green serrano chilli; an ingenious shredding of cuttlefish (to resemble noodles) piled into a squid-ink broth and topped with caviar; potted white crab warmly seasoned with Sussex ginger on a bed of soft brown-crab custard. Everything is British, so there is no importing of such fripperies as lemons or chocolate. Instead, contemplate the savoury beauty of a piece of grain-crusted veal sweetbread in a glossy stock reduction split with burnt butter, made gentle with a Halloween-orange purée of autumn squash. Our main event was grouse shot in Yorkshire, the crown pristinely roasted in juniper twigs, served with preserved plum and pickled loganberry. It was heralded by a serving of the offal (liver and heart prominent) in a porridge of roasted barley. Red kuri pumpkin provided a refreshingly icy pre-dessert, before the clever stand-in for chocolate – a toffee-ish, coffee-ish splodge of black koji (the stuff that starts sake fermenting) with pure milk ice cream. The wine pairing is worth a punt (£100 in the evening), but be aware that a couple of the selections are expected to do two dishes. Not every match is spot-on, although maître d'/sommelier Luke Wasserman gives excellent vinous bants.
Dining Information:
Private dining room, Separate bar, Counter seating, Wheelchair access, Deposit required
63 Bartholomew Close, Smithfield EC1A 7BF
020 4547 7985
