The Anchor & Hope team arrive in the West End with a promising Covent Garden sequel
When the Anchor & Hope opened in 2003, behind Waterloo Station in The Cut, many people thought it was an odd location to open a pub serving good quality food. And who could blame them. By night, the local area is a hang-out for the homeless, and by day, its shops are a magnet for betting folk, comic fans, and purveyors of bondage and fetish wear. Yet it attracted droves.
Now the team behind the award winning operation is placing its bets on Covent Garden by opening their second operation, Great Queen Street, following a year spent looking for an ideal location.
Cue partners Mike Belben, Rob Shaw, Tom Norrington-Davies and Jonathan Jones.
The team's professional history is well documented - Mike Belben is owner of the Eagle in Farringdon, famed with creating Britain's fi rst ‘gastropub', and Rob Shaw was a bar manager at St John, which is where he met chef Jonathan Jones.
Harry Lester – who worked in the kitchens of Belben's pubs the Eagle and the Fox Dining Room – was part of the dream team. However, he's now running a hotel in France and has been ‘replaced' by Chef Tom Norrington-Davies, who's a cookery author and regular columnist for The DailyTelegraph. According to Shaw he's an ideal fi t for the team, as food-wise he shares the same values, ethics and love of simplicity.
The formula for the new 70-80 cover restaurant follows the same format as the Anchor & Hope – the key difference being that you can make a reservation at Great Queen Street, rather than hoping for the best in nabbing a table.
Meat is sourced from a Hereford supplier – the animals are delivered on a Monday, and steadily carved up throughout the week, which means if you go to the restaurant at the start of the week, you'll fi nd dishes such as Tongue, Warm Lentil and Radish Vinaigrette. Later on in the week, the menu will have moved onto ribs and braised beef. Fish is sourced from an Essex supplier, with the menu including Cured Gurnard, New Potatoes, Onions and Parsley. Gurnard – a bottom feeding coastal fi sh – is gaining popularity in restaurants who are concerned about depleting fi sh supplies.
Seasons are faithfully followed as at the Anchor & Hope. And like the Anchor & Hope, there's the sociable eating feast in dishes such as Seven Hour Neck of Lamb and Boulangère Potatoes for four. Tried and tested favourites also include Rabbit, Mustard and Bacon; and Warm Snail and Bacon Salad. Currently there's a barrel of locally brewed Brew Wharf beer on the back bar, the plan being to offer one barrelled ale at a time.
Interior-wise, if you've visited the Anchor & Hope you'll get a sense of déjà vu, from the ox-blood red walls, yellow nicotine-coloured ceiling and scuffed wooden fl oors. It took the guys fi ve weeks to give the place a rapid make-over. It was previously called The Rampage, complete with snooker table-like blue velvet walls, cheap Thai food and sport on the TV. It's still a work in progress, though. The chairs, inherited from the previous owner, will be replaced with more stylish models and the downstairs basement will eventually be turned into a cocktail bar.
However, the guys have no plans to promote it – instead, they want it to be a ‘secret' bar for regulars.
The old crowd, says Shaw, were disappointed to fi nd their old boozer had been turned into restaurant, but nevertheless, it looks like its attracting attention. Two weeks after opening, diners could be heard sending their compliments to the chef, and there appeared to be an endless stream of passers-by with noses glued against the window.
Where? |32 Great Queen Street, London WC2, 020 7242 0622