food & drink
January 2022
Bitesize ― Cara Cummings
ZIA LUCIA LANDS IN BALHAM
FANTASTIC FIVE SUPPER CLUB AT CINNAMON KITCHEN Grab your diary: next month, Battersea’s legendary Cinnamon Kitchen will host a truly spectacular supper club. ‘Fantastic Five’ sees founder Vivek Singh join forces with Santosh Shah, Philli ArmitageMattin, Bart Van der Lee and winner Alex Webb - aka the 2020 Masterchef: The Professionals final four - for a 10-course extravaganza. Each chef will prepare a signature ‘snack’ or small plate, followed by a main. It’s a culinary tour de force featuring Philli’s cheesy Chawanmushi (a Japanese egg custard) alongside Santosh’s Timur spiced octopus, nettle leaf potatoes, fenugreek pickle, dungri popadum and spiced yoghurt. Also expected are Bart’s grilled scallop with sea buckthorn, yarrow and chicory, plus Alex’s iconic Chalk Stream trout with parsnip, parsley, mussels and caviar sauce - the dish which won him the Masterchef trophy last year. Unmissable: and all for just £120pp including a glass of champagne.
FLOR BAKERY OPENS AT SPA TERMINUS Food mecca Spa Terminus continues to go from strength to strength with the arrival of Flor Bakery, a new bread-and-pastry focused offshoot of Flor restaurant in Borough. Using flours milled on-site and from trusted farmers across the UK, Flor Bakery will produce a range of new loaves including house sourdough, a ‘Baker’s Choice’ porridge loaf and a 100% rye tin loaf made with house-sprouted rye berries. You’ll also find a range of Flor’s pastries made with handmade cultured butter - drool - like twice-baked almost croissants, lardy buns (croissant dough buns with tea-soaked currants, laminated with pork fat from free-range Cornish pigs and dipped in sticky mace caramel) and Danishes topped with different seasonal produce. Race you there. Spa Terminus, Unit 6, Spa Road, SE16 4RP. www.flor-bakery.com
4 and 5 February, lunch and dinner service available. 4 Arches Lane, Nine Elms, SW11 8AB. www.cinnamon-kitchen.com
South London boasts a lot of great pizza joints but news of Zia Lucia’s new opening is something for foodies to really be excited by. Their famous 48-hour slow fermented dough - available in four different varieties, no less - has won Zia Lucia armfuls of awards and even a spot on global food hotlist Where Chefs Eat. Hotfoot to Balham High Road and feast on an Arianna Sbagliata - mozzarella, gorgonzola, fresh sausage, honey, truffle oil - or a Red Vegana (tomato, garlic, oregano, roasted peppers and olives) to see what all the fuss is about. 65 Balham High Road, SW12 9AP. www.zialucia.com
TATALE AT THE AFRICAN CENTRE Something special is coming to Great Suffolk Street this spring, where Ghaniana-British restaurateur Akwasi Brenya-Mensa will open Tatale, a panAfrican concept eatery based on West African chop bars, at The Africa Centre. Featuring dishes and techniques with both continental and Ghanian roots, Tatale’s signature dishes will include Omo Tuo Nkatekwan Sesame (mashed rice with groundnut, peanut soup); the Tatale Signature Chicken Burger 2.0 with buttermilk fried chicken topped with shito chilli, citrus yoghurt and basil oil, and Akwasi’s very own Plantain Cheesecake. 66 Great, Suffolk Street, SE1 OBL. Follow @tataleandco for opening updates.
WALTER’S ARRIVES IN WEST DULWICH West Dulwichers, listen up: a brand new bar and restaurant from the duo behind Covent Garden’s much-loved seafood bar and kitchen The Oystermen is coming to your neighbourhood. And with Head Chef Khalid Hassan, formerly of Social Eating House, L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon and Murano in the kitchen, you know Walter’s is going to be good. We hear Hassan’s menu will feature snacks like trout skin with a cod roe dip and truffle arancini; small plates including a Bloody Mary crab salad; apricot and harissa glazed lamb belly, and Jerusalem artichoke orzo risotto; and mains like roasted venison loin and parsnip, and roasted hake with romesco sauce along with spiced cabbage and a slow cooked duck egg. The drinks list, meanwhile, promises a focus on sparkling wines, high quality grower champagnes and the best of the new wave of English producers. PHWOAR. 84 Park Hall Road, SE21 8BW. www.waltersdulwich.co.uk
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