Shane Lazzo’s London in the summertime
Our much-revered and ever-charismatic Venue Manager, Shane Lazzo recently returned from the World’s 50 Best Restaurants celebrations in London, full of tales of high-summer dining at its best.
Highlights from Shane’s London trip were thorough and varied. From breakfast at the Towpath Café, on the banks of Regent’s Canal with billowing wildflowers, and sun filtering through the trees. Eating the best and biggest tomatoes imaginable, on toast with mojo verde. There are few London experiences like it.
There was also lunch at Brawn - a bright, rustic neighbourhood restaurant on Columbia Road serving exceptional British dishes like mackerel, cucumber, gooseberry, coriander and yoghurt. It doesn’t get much more quintessentially British than that. Other highlights were the bracingly fresh and briny Morecambe Bay oysters, and the sweet melon, vesuvio tomato, with peperoncino and bottarga.
And no trip to London would be complete without a sunny soirée by the Thames at the River Café. It’s unmistakably beautiful, balanced and simple Italian food where dishes are impeccably cooked, achingly simple, and perfectly positioned between rustic and elegant. On the table were red mullet cooked with fennel, chilli and pine nuts, sultanas and volpaia vinegar on Sorrento tomato bruschetta. And a risotto alle pesche - new season white peaches, Prosecco and purple basil. Not to mention the most perfect pannacotta with peach and life-affirming gelato.
Brat on Redchurch Street in Shoreditch offered the most British of menus - Dover sole, leeks with walnut and fresh cheese, and a whole turbot that was enthusiastically shared with friends, along with smoked potatoes and roasted wood greens. Everything was simple, local and lovely, and most dishes had made acquaintance with the wood-fired oven. Including the roasted oysters with seaweed and tomato, which was a revelation.
A garden lunch at Rochelle Canteen was the stuff of fables - amongst a lush patch of wildflowers looking out to the trees of Arnold Circus beyond. Another menu of classic dishes, local produce and a whole lot of heart. Skate, brown shrimp and butter sauce, roast rabbit with mushrooms, and the most vibrant corn on the cob imaginable were thoroughly enjoyed with an ale from a brewery just around the corner.
A London pub lunch is mandatory, and as such The Cow in Notting Hill came out on top, where he knocked back a half dozen Jersey rock oysters and a pint of Guinness before even assessing the rest of the menu. Leeks vinaigrette with a soft egg, mustard and tarragon was the next step, along with whipped cod roe with fennel salad and buttered toast.
And the award for favourite London drinks was a tie. It’s too hard to choose between cold beers at The French House, spilling out onto Soho’s Dean Street with the happiest punters. And a table-side martini at the classic Dukes Bar, made by the legendary Alessandro Palazzi as they have been since 1908.
