Eat & Drink
Originally published on Monday, 18th March 2013
BARE GRILLZ
The cooking method à la mode
Fried food it’s been fun (doughnuts! buttermilk chicken! gherkins!), but your days are numbered. The grill is moving into your greasy, hipster territory.
Pitt Cue Co has been leading the grill front with its smoky, BBQ, pulled offerings – and their philosophy is spreading. Former head chef Neil Rankin has started a residency at John Salt where almost 90% of the menu is cooked over an open fire or smoked (even the cold dishes). If Pitt Cue is classed as “dude food” (Gill, 2012) then this one’s for the grown ups: coal-baked crab; burnt leeks with parmesan, egg and truffle; and pork floss, popcorn and smoked loin.
New openings are also getting their grill on. The Jonathan Downey-Carl Clarke hybrid Rotary Bar & Diner has a simple British diner-style menu with wood grill options – fish, pig, bone-in sirloin or rump cap – and a BBQ in the pipeline (brisket, tips, belly, ribs…). And, down the road at Master & Servant, ex-St John alumni Matt Edwards has curated a menu centred on a charcoal grill and spit. Dine on devilled duck hearts, crab claws and saltmarsh lamb chops. On the lunch front, Carbon, Soho’s latest packed-out spot, cooks everything on a charcoal grill – think grilled prawns with patatas bravas and chicken taouk with aioli.
Lastly, as with many a London eatery of late, we’re looking to New York-inspired grills. The Shard’s 32nd floor restaurant Oblix (from the same stable as Zuma and Roka) will be a rotisserie and grill combo, and the prodigal restaurateur Richard Caring’s next venture is rumoured to be a fast, counter service grill place.
The backlash has begun.
Info
John Salt, 131 Upper St, N1 1QP
Rotary Bar & Diner, 70 City Road, EC1Y 2BJ
Master & Servant, 8-9 Hoxton Square, N1 6NU
Carbon, 78 Brewer Street, W1F 9TY
