Feature-Soho’s Gastronomic Revival
Soho’s reputation has had more ups and downs than a hooker’s bedsprings, but despite its louche aura, this centre of depravity and good times has consistently been a magnet for London’s immigrant communities. From the 1680s onward French Huguenots, East European Jews, Italians, Indians and Chinese have all left their mark on the area, and the food shops, delis, coffee shops, restaurants and even street names still reflect their influence. We can see the roots of the contemporary scene starting to take shape in the period between the two World Wars; Italian restaurants such as Leoni’s Quo Vadis in Dean Street (1926) became fashionable and in 1927 L’Escargot opened its doors in Greek St. with proprietor George Gaudin farming snails in the basement kitchen, the first restaurant in the UK to serve them fresh. There were Indian restaurants, The Dilkush in Windmill Street and The Shalimar on Wardour Street and the Chinese had made there mark as far back as 1908 with the opening of former ship’s chef Chung Koon’s ultra-smart Maxim’s soon to be followed by its sister establishment The Cathay in Glasshouse Street. By the 1960’s the zone south of Shaftesbury Avenue had become London’s Chinatown and with the 1959 launch at 19 Romilly St.of La Trattoria Terrazza, the gastro-lovechild of two former waiters Mario Cassandro and Franco Lagattolla, it seemed that the post-war food blues was all sung out as the two friends founded a network of restaurants serving authentic Italian cuisine.
However by the mid-noughties there were only a handful of places that could be regarded as food destinations; the classic Gallic fare at L’Escargot, politician’s favourite The Gay Hussar and Alastair Little’s eponymous Frith St. berth where the foundations for much of the modern British cooking revival were laid, were in danger of being swamped by faceless chain outlets and undistinguished oriental pitstops. By 2005 even the cheap and cheerful Italian cafes such as Pollo and Presto, such an integral part of the quartier’s ‘boho’ appeal, had disappeared. It wasn’t until the opening of Anthony Demetre and Will Smith’s Arbutus in May 2006 that Soho’s foodie renaissance really took off. Combining a chic informality with creative cooking and the much copied ‘fine wines by the 250ml carafe’ USP, Arbutus earned a Michelin star in January 2007 and set the tone for what was to come.
The elements that characterise the contemporary Soho scene were crystallised in the 2007 opening of brothers Sam and Eddie Hart ‘s Barrafina. The Hart’s had shown their Spanish gastro credentials with their formal Spanish restaurant Fino located in Fitzrovia, but with Barrafina, their take on Barcelona tapas bar Cal Pep, they defined the contemporary Soho style: small tapas style plates, no booking, reasonable prices and a relaxed approach to service. This model was given a Italian spin through the 2008 opening in Wardour St. of Rocco Princi’s iconic Princi panetteria (bakery). Backed by serial restauranteur Alan Yau (Hakkasan, Yauatcha, Busabai Eatery, Wagamama, Sake No Hana, Cha Cha Moon) who had wowed the public from West End to the High St. with a series of high-concept oriental successes, Princi’s signature wood-burning ovens provide pizzas. pasta and Italian desserts alongside delicious salads and Italian aperitivi to the young Soho media crowd who can’t get enough of the cool Claudio Silvestrin interior and Milanese style.
2008 also saw the opening of chef Jacob Kenedy and general manager Victor Hugo’s Bocca di Lupo, both owners being veterans of London’s iconic Spanish/Moorish restaurant Moro. Bocca di Lupo offers Kenedy’s selection of seasonal regional Italian dishes to be finished off with delicious home-made gelati also featured in their dedicated ice-cream shop Gelupo immediately opposite the restaurant’s Archer St. location. The critical acclaim that accompanied Bocca di Lupo focussed attention on the Soho scene to the extent that the next significant opening, Russell Norman’s 2009 Polpo, was as much a social media event as a traditional restaurant launch. Norman had been operations director at Caprice Holdings, Richard Caring’s private member’s club and restaurant empire, but with Polpo he created something much more in tune with the moment than the urbane sophistication that he had previously been associated with. Polpo set itself up as a Venetian bacaro selling cicheti (small tapas style plates) washed down with tumblers of prosecco or maybe a negroni; but if its gastronomic heart lies in the Veneto, with a stylishly distressed interior and tattooed waiting staff, its style is New York Lower East Side with a dash of London cool. Polpo became so popular that Norman quickly replicated his Beak St. formula in Dean St. opening Polpetto above The French House pub in 2010. Spuntino was the third of Norman’s Soho outposts opening in 2011 with a postmodern New York take on the traditional Italo-American diner; the menu offers a mac and cheese (macaroni cheese), sliders (mini-burgers) and truffled egg and cheese on toast.With its rusted metal exterior, minimal signing and website and Rupert St. sex shop neighbours it offers a grittier experience than Polpo/Polpetto but is still fun. Having taken Soho by storm Norman is now setting his sights on Covent Garden where his new venture will rather bravely combine Jewish food with cocktails.
Mark Hix had worked alongside Norman at Caprice Holdings as Chef/Director but left to set up on his own opening Hix in Brewer St. to great critical acclaim for its modern British menu in 2009; and in 2011 three of Mark Hix’s ex-employees have created Ducksoup, a tiny and cramped space in Dean St. selling an eclectic menu of their favourite dishes and a ‘natural’ wine list alongside a BYO vinyl policy to add to the restaurant’s quirky and slightly chaotic feel. Next to Ducksoup in Dean St. is Cay Tre, Soho’s first Vietnamese restaurant and another 2011 opening, which transplants the hip DNA of the Hoxton original into a more sophisticated Soho setting.
Bucking the trend against these hipster Soho hangouts with a return to old-fashioned luxury and glamour is Bob Bob Ricard which sticks a bejewelled two fingers up at Polpo to which it sits opposite. With a gloriously over the top interior designed by David Collins Bob Bob Ricard delivers an upscale brasserie experience that never takes itself too seriously, and with booth dining, buzzers for summoning the champagne trolley and the decadent jewel box of Bobby’s Bar downstairs serving chilled vodka shots and cucumber martinis, what’s not to like?
Arbutus
63 — 64 Frith Street
London, W1D 3JW
020 7734 4545
Barrafina
54 Frith Street
London,W1D 4SL
020 7813 8016
Bob Bob Ricard
1 Upper James St.
London,W1F 9DF
020 3145 1000
Bocca di Lupo
12 Archer Street
London W1D 7BB
020 7734 2223
Cay Tre
42-43 Dean Street
London W1D 4PY
020 7317 9118
Ducksoup
41 Dean Street
London W1D 4PY
020 7287 4599.
Gay Hussar
2 Greek Street
London W1D 4NB
020 7437 0973
Gelupo
7 Archer St
London W1D 7AU
020 7287 555
Hix
70 Brewer St
London W1F 9UP
020 7292 3518
L’Escargot Restaurant
48 Greek Street
London, W1D 4EF
020 7437 6828
Polpetto
Upstairs at The French House, 49 Dean Street,
London, W1D 5BG
020 7734 1969
Polpo
41 Beak Street
London W1F 9SB
Princi
135-137 Wardour St
London W1F 0UT
020 7478 8888
Spuntino
61 Rupert Street
London W1D 7PW
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