1 | Asparagus & Boiled Eggs (at 45 Jermyn St.)
Someone should be sounding a claxon because asparagus season is here and, dear lord, is it good. Yes, ok, you can purchase watery tree trunks at any time of year but now? Now is when they get good. Proper asparagus is THE taste of British spring and, bonus, it’s excellent for your health.
We had ours at 45 Jermyn St. (the light, bright and unfailingly smart restaurant behind Fortnum & Mason’s), where they are serving spears in myriad ways but none better than at breakfast: plainly steamed, with soft boiled eggs. Simplicity at its finest.
2 | Prosciutto & Gorgonzola Pizzetti (at Polpo)
So spring is in the air, and what with Esquire food columnist Russell Norman’s new Venetian cookbook going on-sale, things are seeming positively balmy. Just one sip of Aperol Spritz and you could be on a gondola, gazing ahead at The Floating City. And if you take a read of Venice, Four Seasons of Home Cooking (published by Penguin) then you’ll feel one step further. Nothing like a bit of culinary inspiration.
But since we haven’t quite mustered the energy to conjure these treats up for ourselves, we’ve been relying on Norman’s Polpo restaurants (our nearest is on Beak Street), to fill us up on prosciutto and gorgonzola pizzetti (that’s mini pizzas, if we’re being really honest) and allow us to dream of European holidays so imminently to come.
3 | Slow-cooked duck breast (at Simpson's On The Strand)
After 190 years, Simpson’s In The Strand can make a real claim to being a London dining institution – something the classy but comfortable interior quietly asserts. But as with any restaurant, there comes time for a revamp.
Thankfully, this one has proved a triumph. Upstairs in Knight’s Bar you can get one of the best martinis in the city in the kind of unfussy yet sophisticated setting its easy to think have vanished from the capital.
Downstairs for dinner, a new menu is – thank the Lord – still focused on the best of British. The duck with parsnip, spiced pear & red wine jus is delicate yet deeply satisfying, while heart-warming fare like the haddock and salmon pie or barley and cauliflower cheese fills you with a most unusual sense of pride in our national cooking. Places like this are what make London special.
4 | Flame-Grilled Chateaubriand (at Sophie’s Steakhouse)
There are some major players in London’s steak game, but one that doesn’t always get much hype is Sophie’s Steakhouse. Not for much longer. The original is in Chelsea and then there was Covent Garden, before Robert De Niro’s lot turfed them out to make way for his big new hotel (the manners of some people…).
Soho is where you’ll now find replacement branch number two, which is as far from a poor relation as you can imagine: the vast space is like a Tardis – you walk in on Great Windmill Street and the room just keeps going, all the way back to the fire pit. Yes, fire pit. Over which steaks by the legendary supplier Phil Warren & Son are cooked, meaning that you can expect the highest quality. Go for the melt-in-the-mouth chateaubriand, which takes on a smoked flavour thanks to a good chargrilling over the flames. The martinis, FYI, are giant – perfect if you’ve had a rough day.
5 | Boeuf Bourguignon (At Brasserie Zédel)
Sunday drinking certainly splits opinion (do you succumb to the impending Monday by drowning your sorrows, or rise above the blues with uber-healthiness?), so whisky-drinkers face a dilemma with Brasserie Zédel’s first ever bourbon masterclass, which takes place this week. Led by the restaurant group’s bar manager and the UK ambassador for the exemplary Woodfood Reserve variety, guests will be taught all about bourbon and the history of its most popular incarnation (thanks, Don Draper), the Old Fashioned. They’ll also learn how to make their own among the swish facilities of the Bar Américain.
It’s all super casual, just as a Sunday calls for, but we’ll be taking the precaution of a hearty plate of beef Bourguignon in the dining room before the 2.30pm start, along with plenty of mash (sorry: ‘pommes purée’), just so that we don’t totally scupper the working week ahead.
8th April, 2.30-4pm. Tickets cost £35 and are available via reservations@brasseriezedel.com (please quote 'Bourbon Masterclass'). The next event will be 24th June.
6 | Bottomless Charcuterie & Cheese (At TraTra Bar)
How much cheese and charcuterie could you eat in a single sitting? An offensive amount, for sure. It doesn’t bear thinking about, really. Except it absolutely does! Because TraTra bar and bistro are offering late night ‘Bottomless Charcuterie & Cheese’ to guests every week for just £10 per person (alongside a huge selection of wine to wash it down with.)
Spearheaded by award-winning Parisian chef and writer Stéphane Reynaud, there’s a brilliant menu of meat, from saucisson to chorizo. You can even opt for larger sharing plates, including pork belly and short ribs.
Unlimited cheese! It’s what (very weird) dreams are made of.
TraTra Bar, 2-4 Boundary Street Entrance on Redchurch Street, London, E2 7DD. From Tuesday – Saturday 5.00pm – 8.00pm, or late night from Tuesday – Saturday 10.00pm – 11.30pm. Book here.
