New Tom’s pop-up to launch evening bar and bistro
The aim with the new dining area is to create a more ‘intimate’ setting, with a ‘secret’ garden attached. The bistro will offer a range of modern dishes from head chef Tom Straker, while the bar menu will emphasise cocktails. The site is located on Westbourne Grove and will open this September.
Food and drink offering
In the bistro’s kitchen Straker, who trained with Heston Blumenthal at Dinner, intends to use very modern cooking techniques. He will separate the menu into three sections, ‘Garden’, ‘Ocean’, and ‘Field’, and intends to source a number of ingredients from his family’s farm in Hertfordshire.
The menu will include dishes such as Lamb Neck with Creamed Polenta, Borlotti Beans and Pancetta, and desserts such as English Strawberries with Toasted Oats and Vanilla Custard. The bistro will also feature a six course tasting menu which cost £55, and features offerings including Crab Brioche and Sucking Pig.
The bar team at New Tom’s Bar & Brasserie will put together an original cocktail list, featuring drinks such as Tommy's Margarita, which is made with Tom Conran's own Chamucos tequila, fresh lime and Agave syrup, and the Kensington Park Swizzle, which is a blend of rum, Angostura bitters, fresh mint and lime juice.
Snacks have been specifically chosen to complement the cocktails and include Crispy Pork Skin with Caramelised Apple and Thyme Salt, and Bruschetta with Smoked Tomatoes, Goats Curd and Olive Oil.
Eclectic feel
The interior at Tom’s Bar & Bistro will be ‘eccentric’ and ‘eclectic’, with walls lined with pop art, tables with mismatched wooden chairs and low slung lightbulbs. There will be something of a retro feel, with a mirrored back bar, white table cloths and soft lighting.
A more informal bar area will serve breakfast and lunch in the upstairs of the venue, which will include features such as 1930s Parisian metro booth seats along the wall, blue leather stools and a raised rotunda with a mural showing an Italian Madonna.
The venue’s garden will feature marble-topped tables and be used to host evening cocktail parties, or as a place for guests to sit out on warm afternoons.
New Tom’s Bar & Bistro is located at 226 Westbourne Grove.
