Eat & Drink
Originally published on Thursday, 9th December 2010
The Henry Root
Cosy modern European sharing comes to Chelsea.
9 Park Walk, SW10 0AJ - 020 7352 7040
www.thehenryroot.com
Location
Park Walk in Chelsea has seen a few iconic restaurants come and go. From the Claudio Pulze owned Eleven Park Walk of the Eighties to the place where it all started for Shouty Ramsey, Aubergine. This new wine bar cum bistro has taken the place of one-time family favourite Gilmour’s, and a very welcome addition to the area it is too.
Vibe
Despite sounding Dickensian Henry Root (real name William Donaldson) was a satirist, letter writer and general hell raiser who lived in nearby Elm Park Mansions in the Eighties. Nigel Sutcliffe and Jerome Armit, the brains behind the bar (and also the hugely successful Terroirs in Covent Garden) decided the name conjured up just the right mood for their new venture.
Flavours
The menu is a good balanced mix of wine-friendly charcuterie and large and small sharing plates, and chef Sang Nguyen (whose background is littered with the poshest of fine diners) turns them all out beautifully. A potted black pudding was like savoury Nutella - very hard to stop dipping into – goats curd, beetroot and pine nuts refreshing and glazed pork cheeks with sauce vierge deeply satisfying. Chocolate tart was indeed ‘fabulous’, as stated on the menu, but a baked fig and almond pudding had just the gooey edge, and a German Pinot Noir waltzed along splendidly with everything.
Décor
The room has a continental feel; bar at the front, open kitchen and high-backed booth for a large group at the back and the rest narrowish so it feels intimate without being claustrophobic. Apart from being subtly rusticised and there being a few likeably eccentric touches added such as white china fish-shaped water jugs and a smattering of Henry Root memorabilia, the room hasn’t been over designed, which is always a plus.
Upshot
Sutcliffe in particular has such a lovely tableside manner (garnered perhaps at The Fat Duck where he was a director) and considering the place has just opened it’s already feeling impressively professional and homely. The perfect winter warmer
