What: A smart new corner restaurant on Mayfair’s Heddon Street in what has become an MJMK and JKS enclave and which is also home to Spanish restaurant Sabor and Punjab restaurant Ambassadors Clubhouse (JKS) and Casa do Frango (MJMK). Spread over two floors, Fonda is said to represent ‘the evolution of Mexican cuisine’ and has been inspired by the cooking found in Mexico’s restaurants, markets and in the home.
Who: The restaurant is the brainchild of Mexican chef Santiago Lastra, who hit fame in London with his debut restaurant KOL, which is now listed among the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. As with KOL, he has partnered with the aforementioned MJMK restaurant group to open Fonda. Lastra will spend the majority of his time at his flagship in nearby Marylebone, leaving the kitchen in the capable hands of Lancashire-born head chef Lewis Spencer, whose impressive CV includes time working at Moor Hall, L’Enclume, Eleven Madison Park in New York, and Davies and Brook at Claridges, before moving to the Nomad hotel in Covent Garden. Fonda’s senior sous chef is Mexican chef Marisol Corona, while the dining room is run by restaurant manager Lily Simpson, who has worked at restaurants including Quo Vadis and Sanchez in Copenhagen, and assistant general manager John ‘LJ’ Boden, a Cape Town native who has worked at Blues Kitchen and Blacklock in the City.
The food: Fonda serves an a la carte menu that comprises a trio of small plates to start, including Lastra’s very successful riff on a guacamole that’s made with roasted pumpkin seed and pine served with crispy totopos, and fresh cheese served with a martajada sauce and pink-hued tortillas. Beyond that is a selection of ‘comal’, single tortillas that come in options such as aged ribeye and grilled cheese; and beer-battered Cornish cod, chipotle, and cabbage (pictured below); and specials such as Oaxaca cheese and Wiltshire black truffle quesadillas; cured bluefin tuna with kohlrabi, pickled scotch bonnet, and a soy and sesame salsa; and a large confit scallop with gooseberries, sesame and burnt habanero salsa, and corn chicharrón. For the mains there are more tortillas – this time made from corn rather than wheat –available with toppings of slow-cooked short rib and mole poblano; confit pork shoulder and chicharrón; hen of the woods and oyster mushrooms and smoked pasilla salsa; and charred monkfish with ratte potato and a spicy kelp butter. Additional tortillas are on hand if necessary, as is some extra zip, with a selection of three salsas of varying heats placed in the centre of the table at the start of the meal for diners to use at their leisure – a spicier salsa ‘furiosa’ that is dispensed via a pipette is also available and is not as hot as the name or method of application suggests (but don’t hold us to that).
To drink: Fonda’s agave-leaning cocktail list is imaginative and full of vibrant creations thanks to the inclusion of ingredients such as damson, tomato, squash and even mushrooms. Signature serves include the Corn Husk Old Fashioned, made with Michter’s bourbon, Vago elote, burnt corn husk, and bitters; and a Pineappleweed Negroni made with Sapling gin, sweet vermouth, Campari, and pineappleweed and there’s also a section dedicated to the paloma that includes serves such as one made with ocho blanco tequila, verjus, agave, and grapefruit soda; and one with mezcal, Ancho Reyes, pasilla chili, and grapefruit soda. In addition, there are some creative takes on the michelada - a Mexican drink made with beer, lime juice, spices, and chili – that include one made with squash and yellow bell pepper, and another with mushroom and oyster shell. Those abstaining from alcohol needn’t miss out on such Mexican food-friendly concoctions – all micheladas can be served without beer and other non-alcoholic options include a Gooseberry Spritz and Squash Margarita. The tight wine list is predominantly European, but its extensive mezcal and tequila offer definitely isn’t.
The vibe: MJMK are known for creating beautiful places in which to dine, and Fonda is no exception. The ground floor dining room benefits from the light coming in through large windows looking out onto Heddon Street and has smart green booths and green tile-topped tables as well as more standard wooden two and four tops. The restaurant is in essence split into three areas, a dining space in front of the open kitchen to the left of the room as you walk in, and a space directly in front of the door that leads downstairs to the more moody dining area. The highlight of the open kitchen is the comal, a flat griddle on which the restaurant’s tortillas are cooked and at which most of the action takes place.
And another thing: It was Lastra’s original intention to open Fonda at the same time as KOL in the downstairs part of the Marylebone restaurant, but he decided to mothball the project believing it not the right time to launch two concepts at the same time.
12 Heddon Street, London, W1B 4BZ