THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
49-51 St. John’s Wood High Street, London NW8 7NJ
I can’t remember ever receiving such a warm welcome. Honestly, the staff were all so lovely, I’ll go back just for that! And the bread!!!
The neighborhood bakery, bistro and wine bar is the latest from Chef Jake Finn, the man behind Cinder. Both Jake's menu and his kitchen are an eclectic mix of bakery, New York style deli and European bistro. Warehouse chic with exposed brick, banquettes and a window counter facing the al fresco dining area and street beyond. We chose to sit at the latter, with the endless entertainment of St John’s High Street. The Tottenham rubes, gawking at the other half!
Back to the bread... Sourdough with a gorgeously crisp crust was the best I’ve had in a good long while. Served with a heart-stopping gob of whipped butter and salted honey, it had me in raptures. Baked goods are much more predominant on the brunch menu which reads like salivatory dream. From 5 o’clock, the bistro menu takes over and the bakery recedes into the background.
There's a wide range of influences in the menu. At a glance, Mexico, Italy, Jamaica, France and Japan are all represented. Multi-culti cuisine. My kind of mix. Seabass Crudo with aguachile and tostadas (£16) was simple perfection in a blend of lime juice and chilli, sweet fish and quality corn chips. 3 chicken wings in truffle hot sauce brought Jamaican fire to the table. It wiped out the truffle but I really didn’t care. The wings were served whole. After a brief attempt at decorum, we threw caution to Emily Post and dug in with our fingers. The sauce was so good, I forgave the £16 price tag. It’s probably average for St John’s Wood.
Grilled bass (£20) was very plain and the skin needed crisping but came with a delicious salad of fennel and citrus.
2 sheet pasta with pesto, béchamel and marinara (£18) was ginormous! Definitely enough for 2. The “flag”, somewhere between a pizza and a lasagne, truly paid homage to Il Tricolore! The outer edges were crispy with all the gooey bits in the center.
Sweet potato (£8) was beautifully roasted in brown butter and vincotto, a gorgeous grape syrup from Puglia. Nearly blackened from the sugar, the sweetness offset by the nutty saltiness of the butter. Wonderful.
I sampled 2 wines from the list by the glass. A ’21 Gamay L’Artiste VDF Famille Bougrier (£10), bright and full of cherry and a ’24 Les Plans VDP de Vaucluse, Famille Gras (£12) with dark fruit and spice. Both easy drinking and easy on the wallet.
Croissant gelato (£4) was a brilliant tasting innovation but had sadly crystallized, losing its creamy texture. I had to ask the waiter if crack pie (£9) was for eating or smoking. It’s the former! A Manhattan invention, it’s aptly named for its addictive nature. I’m absolutely hooked!
