From Bebek! Bebek! to Brutto, here are all the best things the CODE team ate this week

Whatley Manor

There’s something restorative about escaping London, even if it’s just for 24 hours, which is exactly what I did last Sunday in travelling to Whatley Manor. A couple of hours later on the M4 and you arrive through a tree-lined driveway to a Cotswold estate set in 12-acres of land. The 23-suite hotel has long been a destination for diners and after a recent change in chef, the one Michelin-star restaurant is headed up by Ricki Weston. The Dining Room serves a tasting menu for dinner from Thursday to Sunday. These days, a first snack being taken in the kitchen before moving to your table for the rest of the meal. Dinner was well-paced, with a beautifully paired wine flight from lesser-known producers. The hotel’s club sandwich is also worthy of a special mention – ideally taken outside on the terrace with some fries and a glass of Domaine Ott in the summer sun.
Adam Hyman, founder
CODE was a guest of Whatley Manor

Sa Llotja, Mallorca

I’ve recently returned from a short trip over to Mallorca and one of my go-to restaurants when I’m in the South East of the island is Sa Llotja, a beautifully designed restaurant overlooking Cala D’or marina. It feels that each year I return, the food gets better and better. I kicked things off with sea bass and red prawn ceviche which was served with avocado, a smooth butternut squash pureé and some peanuts. Divine. Next, I go for a Spanish classic of lobster with fried eggs and potatoes. This simple but incredibly comforting dish leaves you every bit fulfilled. I finish things off with homemade vanilla ice cream drowned in molten hot raspberries.  Might need to book another trip…
Henry Southan, social media manager

Brutto

If you’re afraid of carbs Brutto is probably not a place you should be stepping foot in. If you are a lover of traditional Italy this is one for you. It is so refreshing walking into a restaurant that is solely focused on replicating what it would be like where the concept originated, not trying to change it for the fussy British diner. Highlights would include the ‘Coccoli, prosciutto e stracchino’ or as some refer to as ‘cuddles’. Deep fried dough balls with stracchino cheese and prosciutto, delightful. Pork Tonnato up next, another nod to the traditional Tuscan institutions. Mains continued to be simple yet delicious, rare roast beef with roast potatoes, an array of pasta and Tuscan sausages came flying our way. All finished with what was described by my fellow diner as the best tiramisu he has had in a long while. I will definitely be making Brutto one of my new regulars!
Harry Cromack, accounts manager

Nus, Greece

A small cat sat on my lap for the duration of my meal at Nus, a three-year-old restaurant on Sifnos in Greece. The restaurant is run by a Greek chef who, among other venues, spent a few years cooking at a cafe in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, that pocket-sized mecca for literary types who carry St. John tote bags and probably know someone with a mullet. Having taken the site over from his father (who had been cooking traditional taverna-style dishes there since 1993), his cooking at Nus follows a similar paradigm – it is beautiful, and makes use of his family farm where his father now spends his days. First came garlic and walnut skordalia with caper berries and chive oil, an ideal nest for homemade bread. And then a sort of origin story for the ubiquitous beetroot and goat’s cheese salad, which is done better at Nus than anywhere else thanks to varying textures and the quality of the cheese, the latter as local as the chef himself. The triple cooked chips, meanwhile, were, in fact, ruffled potatoes, spritzed by Greek olive oil and Fat Duckish in their precision. Calamari? Yes, I ate that too, and dipped each tender piece of squid into heavy aioli while gazing out to a noisy sea and taking swigs of Malagouzia, a mineral-clad white wine that cost 30 euros (like £24?) and came recommended. Sea bream was prepared as ceviche. It was doused in charcoal and persistently eyed up by my purring companion of a cat until I finally relented and fed it. Nus is a special restaurant.
Josh Barrie, editor

Bebek! Bebek! at Arcade Food Hall

Arcade Food Hall seems to be going down very well. Every time I walk past it is buzzing with hungry stomachs. There are so many incredible options inside, but this time I really wanted to delve into Bebek! Bebek! the Indonesian street food outlet by chef Luke Farrell. The menu is built around the twice-cooked crispy duck and chicken that Javanese street stalls are famous for, and they didn’t disappoint. The beef satay sticks are also a must – just watch out for the chillies if you’re sensitive to spice. Of course, being able to order from other outlets meant we gave Hero’s masala paneer ago which was richly delicious and we finished off with some penny licks and architectural trifles from the jelladrome.
Henry Southan, social media manager
CODE was a guest of Bebek! Bebek!
Arcade Food Hall is available on the CODE app

Flowerhouse Pub

This week we quietly kicked off our 100 Most Influential Women in Hospitality campaign with a dinner at the gorgeous Flowerhouse Pub in Marylebone. We partnered with the illustrious Bibendum wines who brought gorgeous bottles of Catena, which paired beautifully with the bright springtime menu. Of the dishes we enjoyed that warm evening, the plump asparagus served with radicchio, hazelnuts and coriander was a lively dish full of the joys of the season. Matched wonderfully with the Catena 100% Chardonnay and the ever-brilliant Adriana Catena herself, it was the opener to a wonderful evening.
Mike Daw, partnerships manager 

Coravin Wine & Bubbles Bar

I interviewed Greg Lambrecht, founder and inventor of Coravin recently for a CODE Meets (you’ll see that soon) and he kindly invited me back to their new Wine and Bubbles Bar in Mayfair. A couple of the CODE team popped down to try the underappreciated white Italian wine flight, consisting of three wines we hadn’t tried, or heard of before! I like this idea – on demand wine tastings at any time that suits you. We also got to see the Coravin systems in action which are pretty impressive. Tip: get some truffle and pecorino mix and chorizo to nibble at.
Henry Southan, social media manager

Read more reviews from the CODE team here