Best New Places to Eat
The darkness of January needn’t prevent us from exploring the new venues making noise in our cities. As with every New Year there is much talk of health and well-being, dieting methods and new exercising tips, the focus is on self improvement and prevention, future-proofing ourselves in preparation for another year ahead. With this in mind we are noticing an ever increasing interest in the provenance of our food, we are looking not just at how the food we are eating is impacting on our health and the way we look but now, perhaps more than ever, the health of our planet and how it is beginning to look; we realise, finally, that sustainability really does concern us all, not just those who are able to dine in the Michelin-starred and high end venues. Better late than never, London has just welcomed its first ever zero-wastage eatery to its restaurant collection whilst more and more other venues are becoming more selective of produce and suppliers. This is just the tipping point to a restaurant revolution, we just need to watch it unfold.
Zuma, Rome
Sushi and the Eternal City
Excitement is in the air in Rome since the announcement that Zuma, the world-renowned contemporary Japanese restaurant from creator and co-founder Rainer Becker, will open its doors in Spring 2016 in the iconic Palazzo Fendi. This initiative is a first for the luxury Italian house, FENDI – a collaboration with Zuma, the international, multi award-winning restaurant.
Zuma will cover two entire floors of Palazzo Fendi with a beautiful roof terrace overlooking the Eternal City. The marriage of these two global companies has resulted in a natural synergy of style, excellence and creativity and it will mark the Group’s 10th opening in the world. Designer, Noriyoshi Muramatsu of Studio Glitt, has worked with creator Rainer Becker to ensure each new restaurant celebrates the energy of the location, whilst retaining the style and ethos of Zuma. The restaurant will showcase its modern Japanese cuisine that is famously authentic but not traditional. Dishes – designed to be shared – are created in three different cooking styles: the main kitchen, the sushi counter and the robata grill offering a variety of textures and tastes. The restaurant will also include a bar area where guests can enjoy world-class cocktails.
What to order
Zuma’s signature dishes will all be on the menu; seared beef with soy ginger, lime and coriander, thinly sliced seabass with yuzu, truffle oil and salmon roe and seabass with burnt tomato and ginger relish. There will also be the classic tasting menu additions including global favourite marinated black cod wrapped in hoba leaf.
Palazzo Fendi, via Della Fontanella di Borghese, 48, 00186, Rome
Tiny Leaf, London
Zero-wastage comes to London
It is clear than we are in the midst of a sustainability revolution. Not only are we as consumers becoming more aware of our legacy – the way in which we travel and the kind of accommodation we select is under increased scrutiny – we are also looking more and more at not just what we are putting in our mouths and how it is changing our bodies but also where it has come from and the ramifications it is having on our soils and on our system as a whole. The pioneering team at Tiny Leaf are tapping into this growing movement that has gained serious momentum in recent times, the growth of the vegetarian and health food sector being evidence of this. This is happening on a global scale, recently the UN has explicitly recommended that we eat less meat and world leading chef Alain Ducasse has recently removed meat and dairy from his menu. In celebration of a small step towards a global conscience, Tiny Leaf is London’s first organic, vegetarian, zero waste restaurant. The long-standing dream of chef, writer and food activist Justin Horne, Tiny Leaf, despite its modest sounding name has huge ideas for its future in the UK capital. Horne believes one way to tackle the 18 million tonnes of food ending up in landfills each year is to “change people’s perception of what waste is, then we can change out how much waste we create.”
Justin Horne believes that through a more conscious approach to eating we can change our behaviour and sustain the planet and the human race. “Vegetarian cuisine is a great medium, I don’t think they’re always given their place. There’s no reason why you can’t make something amazing out of vegetables alone.” “Essentially we want to educate, inspire and also have some fun in exploring this new approach to food”. 20p per litre from the sale of Tiny Leaf’s alkaline bottled water will be donated to Whole World Water, an organisation that aims to improve water supplies to some of the one billion people that are still in need of clean water. In addition, Tiny Leaf will match fund each £1 voluntary donation to be added to each bill, with the money raised going to Refugee Community Kitchen Calais and the Soil Association. Diners can even do their bit, by taking leftovers home in free ‘bio-boxes’ made from biodegradable vegetable polymers.
What to order
Reflecting the restaurant’s surplus supply chain, menus change daily depending on would-be-waste deliveries from partners including Planet Organic and the UK’s largest wholesales of local and seasonal organic produce Langridge.
209 Westbourne Park Road, Notting Hill, London W11 1EA
Jidori, London
Image courtesy of Mary Gaudin
East is East
Japanese Yakitori restaurant in Dalston, Jidori, founded by Brett Redman and Natalie Lee-Joe, for the first time, brings the hugely popular Japanese street food concept of Yakitori from Tokyo to east London. The menu focuses on a selection of Yakitori Skewers; made with free-range Goosnargh chickens directly from Swainson House Farm in Lancashire, served alongside inventive Japanese small plates and rice dishes. Jidori works closely with Nama Yasai, specialist Japanese agricultural growers to supply vegetables and herbs. Jidori seats 40 people, including those around the open kitchen. The space is designed by Giles Reid, with a minimalist approach yet intimate feel, accented by wood, neat lines and brass trim. The bar will serve a short list of well-balanced cocktails with Japanese spirits and ingredients, alongside both local and Japanese craft beers, whiskies and sake.
What to order
A selection of Yakitori sticks of course. We recommend; the Negima (Thigh and Spring Onion); Aubergine & Miso Butter and Tsukune (Minced Chicken and Egg Yolk). Don’t forget a few small plates to go with your skewers; Mackerel Sashimi or Mandarin & Young Ginger Ponzu. Wash it all down with a cocktail or try their homemade Umeshu, a sweet and relatively mild liqueur (10-15%) made from Ume fruits which are commonly known as Chinese plums or Japanese apricots.
89 Kingsland High St, London E8 2PB
Aulis at Fera, London
Intimate & High-Tech: Aulis @ Fera
Michelin-starred Chef Simon Rogan has just launched the multi-functional high-tech space of Aulis at Fera Claridge’s, in London. Aulis is located adjacent to the main kitchen at Fera and will function not only as a development kitchen for chefs to explore new ingredients and cooking techniques, but also as an exclusive, intimate and interactive private dining room for guests.
The six-seat Aulis kitchen counter will offer guests the opportunity to book individual spaces or the table in its entirety to get ‘up close and personal’ with the chefs as they prepare and serve the multi-course dinner menus. The space is named Aulis as a tribute from Simon Rogan to Aulis Lehtimäki, a Finnish Chef and artist who was a key collaborator at L’Enclume, in Cartmel, Cumbria.The ever-changing menu reflects Rogan’s modern British cooking style and creative techniques with the chefs drawing inspiration from regular deliveries of seasonal produce from key British suppliers, and, of course, from Rogan’s own farm near Cartmel.
What to order
Aulis is a six-seat, bookings-only development table that is entered by walking through the kitchens at Fera. A surprise menu of many different plates is created for you using ingredients from the kitchen’s own farm and some of the UK’s finest suppliers. These are dishes not previously served at Fera, cooked right in front of you and explained at every stage. We can’t necessarily recommend what to eat but we can tell you that it will be very exclusive.
Fera at Claridge’s, Brook Street, Mayfair, London W1K 4HR
Please contact your lifestyle manager for bookings.
January 29th 2016