Expert opinion: Where to eat and drink in London
Yuma Hashemi opened Clerkenwell’s 20-cover restaurant The Drunken Butler in 2017, combining classic cooking techniques with Persian influences. This summer he is serving a Persian Summer Feast, an evolving tasting menu with wine pairings. He gives his expert opinion on where to go in London.
Paradise, Soho
Paradise is serving some of the best Sri Lankan food in London. I love sitting in the little nook at the back of the restaurant when I dine. Paradise is special to me because of the people, owner Dom is so hospitable and knowledgeable about his Sri Lankan ingredients. The hogget roll is a must.
Berenjak, Soho
Berenjak is one of my favourite places to take a group of friends – we order most of the menu to share. The ghormeh sabzi – lamb stew served with kidney beans – is always a crowd favourite when I take people. Berenjak is special to me as it cooks the kind of food I grew up eating. It reminds me of family holidays in Iran.
Da Terra
Rafael Cagali’s menu at Da Terra is outstanding. I love the playful way he incorporates his personality into each of the dishes. A particular stand out from my last visit was his take on a rum baba topped with caviar. It completely blew me away and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
Kiln, Soho
I love Kiln because it feels exclusive but also very relaxed. I remember queuing for quite a while to get in the first time I dined and it was worth the wait. There is such a great atmosphere in that tiny dining room and the food is delicious. Kiln is a go to weeknight treat… If I can get in.
The Drunken Butler
I have to mention my own restaurant, which is so special to me. I had never opened a restaurant before so everything was a voyage of discovery. The Persian menu is an ode to my mother and grandmother’s grand sunday feasts and you’ll even find antique furniture from my childhood home in the restaurant.
Food news
Celebrate Bastille Day at Mayfair’s LPM
LPM Restaurant & Bar – the Mayfair restaurant formerly known as La Petit Maison – is planning a Bastille Day celebration on 14th July, at which it will celebrate iconic French cuisine. Guests will be served spin on the signature Tomatini cocktail while troubadors performing “high energy songs” throughout both lunch and dinner. For more information go to lpmrestaurants.com.
Bubala to open second site
Critically-acclaimed Middle Eastern restaurant Bubala will open a second London site on Soho’s Poland Street next week. The 50-cover restaurant will feature a counter-style bar, open kitchen and yakitori grill. It will serve dishes from Bubala Spitalfields, as well as some new additions to the menu. Expect confit potato latkes with toum and chilli, baba ganoush with curry leaf oil and pine nuts, and Chinese cabbage skewers with preserved lime and maple.
Ferrari fizz at eataly
The City’s Italian eating and drinking emporium Eataly will next week host a sparkling wine dinner at its Terra restaurant in partnership with Italian sparkling winemaker Ferrari. For £80, the evening, on 12 July, will pair glasses of fizz with three seafood courses, before finishing things off with a vanilla crème brulée and poached strawberries.
Valderrama’s comes to Islington’s Upper Street
Chef James Cochran will next week expand his Islington empire with the opening of Valderrama’s, a new bar on Upper Street. The chef behind the lauded 12:51 named the new venture after the big-haired footballer Carlos Valderrama, who captained the Colombia national squad in the 1990s. According the Cochran the retro interior will be “filled with specially commissioned murals, paintings, including one made from vintage goalie shirts, and pictures by renowned, local artists, evoking classic 90s nostalgia”. There will also be a food menu by the same team as 12:51, with dishes including crispy buttermilk chicken thighs with chip-shop curry sauce.
Cook steak like a pro
This Friday Hackney School of Food will host Hawksmoor chefs for a one-off ‘how to cook the perfect steak’ masterclass and dinner. Tickets are priced at £99 per person and include cocktails, hands-on experience of cooking alongside Hawksmoor chefs and a steak feast. All proceeds will go to Chefs in Schools, a charity on a mission to transform kids’ health through food. For tickets. visit eventbrite.co.uk.