Tom Kerridge has, quietly, become a British institution. While many of his rival chefs have either disappeared from view altogether, opened so many restaurants that any quality control has vanished entirely or simply failed to capture their initial spark, Kerridge has remained someone who understands what good food is, and what people want to eat.
Whether you’re visiting his two-Michelin starred pub The Hand and Flowers, one of his more casual Butcher and Tap establishments or his fish and chip shop at Harrods, you are assured of a superlative meal, and so it proves at his flagship London outpost, Kerridge’s Bar and Grill at the Corinthia.
Under the careful stewardship of a new head chef, Tom Childs, who was previously sous chef under the previous incumbent Nick Beardshaw – who spent 14 years with Kerridge, indicating the loyalty that his lieutenants feel towards him – this is an evolution, not a revolution, of a restaurant that has attracted consistent acclaim since it opened in 2018 and will continue to do so, on the basis of what we had.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. If you’re visiting the Corinthia, there will always be something interesting to eat and drink wherever you are, and it was a particular delight to head al fresco onto a first floor terrace for the Velvet Alfresco pop-up, masterminded by cocktail supremo Salvatore Calabrese, in association with Campari.
The cocktails on offer here range from superlatively made Negronis (the ‘Mediterranean’ comes with Eve liqueur and so is slightly smoother, and costs a pound more) to very fine spins on other traditions, such as the Velvet Garibaldi, a wonderfully moreish concoction of Campari with grapefruit juice and lychee, or my own preference, the Altamule, Calabrese’s take on a Moscow Mule. The weather, unusually, is refreshingly warm, and the whole caboodle feels a lot like being in Europe for an hour or so, far away from the bustle of central London. Then it’s time to head downstairs, and be reminded of Englishness all over again.
Kerridge’s Bar and Grill is, for my money, one of the great restaurant rooms in London. Black-walled and high-ceilinged, it offers that rare mixture of space and intimacy, in which every table is sufficiently spaced out so that you’re not being exposed to eavesdropping on your neighbours, but it also doesn’t feel as if you’re vainly waving at the waiters in order to be served.
The atmosphere of the Hand and Flowers – that perfect mixture of superb food and friendliness – is maintained, but on a far grander, glossier scale. The family feel is helped by the presence of Kerridge’s artist wife Beth’s sculptures, which strike the right kind of monumental note. We order a couple of glasses of the Hattingley sparkling wine from Hampshire, the fittingly named ‘Hand and Flowers Brut’, and admire the setting. ‘This’, my dining companion murmurs, ‘is going to be a very fine evening.’
You know that it’s a Kerridge joint when, along with the superb treacle bread, you’re brought a sausage roll as an amuse-bouche. And these are sausage rolls from the gods; the perfect mixture of lighter-than-you’d-expect pastry with a superbly seasoned dollop of sausage meat in them.
Oh, they’re good, and work superbly as a precursor to starters of cured chalk stream trout, presented in a jellied dashi surrounding – shouldn’t work, but it does, superbly – and, a Childs addition, the pate en croute, which is not only very fine in itself, giving the legendary Calum Franklin’s creations a run for their money, but comes with a suitably decadent selection of garnishes, including something I’ve never tried before in the form of pickled quail’s eggs. Accompanied by a carafe of very fine Sancerre, this is the kind of meal that doesn’t allow for conversation so much as contented murmurings of “Oh, this is so good.”
The momentum is sustained, even increased, when it comes to the mains. We’re sat by the high-tech version of an open fire, so we can watch various cuts and joints of meat being roasted upon them, and although my usual preference is to opt for some wonderful steak – something of a house specialty here, with a chef’s larder full of extra special cuts – we decide against it in favour of the Barnsley lamb chop and another Childs innovation, the honey roasted suckling pig ham, served – of course – with parsley sauce.
We order a small, far from excessive, selection of sides, including the tomato salad of heroes and Kerridge’s legendary triple-cooked chips, gratefully accept the sommelier’s perceptive suggestion of a 2017 Barolo from Garesio to drink – which is the most superb pairing imaginable – and revel in something that should be commonplace but isn’t: the knowledge that you are in the hands of utter professionals doing their job, of feeding and cossetting you, as well as anyone on earth could be doing.
There isn’t a weak link in the meal, and although I’d be warned in advance that the portion sizes could verge on the monumental, I was relieved to discover that, while you’re not going to leave remotely hungry, there isn’t the overwhelm that you often get in inferior places.
This carries right on into the dessert courses, where the Kerridge-Childs take on the late, lamented Gary Rhodes’s bread and butter pudding is undoubtedly the best example of this fine sweet treat I’ve ever eaten, and where the crème brulee had the true touch of genius to it. I veered away from wine back to the cocktails, enjoying a ‘Bronze Age’ – something not a million miles away from Hawksmoor’s legendary Shaky Pete’s Ginger Brew – and sighing with contentment at an evening wonderfully spent.
As we take a reluctant but fond leave, the same man who wishes us goodbye is the one who greeted us to whisk us up to Velvet Alfresco, demonstrating a remarkable commitment to consistency of welcome and farewell. “Did you enjoy yourselves?” I can assure him that we most certainly did. He smiles. “Most people say that.” Well, Arbuturian readers, let me tell you this: you will be amongst their number, and no mistake.
Kerridge’s Bar & Grill at The Corinthia, No. 10 Northumberland Ave, London WC2N 5AE. For more information, and for bookings, please visit www.kerridgesbarandgrill.co.uk. Velvet Alfresco with Campari is available Tuesday-Saturday from 4-8pm. For more information, please visit www.corinthia.com.
