From The Newt to Harwood Arms, everything the CODE team loved this week

From The Newt to The Harwood Arms, here are the best things the CODE team ate this week.

Blue Boar

It was exciting to hear that chef Sally Abé was off to open four (four!) restaurants within the Conrad St James and while I can’t wait to see what she does in her main, signature restaurant which is yet to open, on the strength of a very appealing, brilliantly cooked bar menu at the hotel’s “pub” The Blue Boar, it’s going to be ace. It’s fighting talk but the scotch egg and the fish and chips were among London’s best…
Lisa Markwell, editor

The Harwood Arms

The first meal I booked as reopenings appeared over the horizon was the Harwood Arms – it’s been on my list for far too long, and it felt time to rectify that. With Sally Abé having now moved on to pastures new (see above), the kitchen is now, perhaps unsurprisingly, in the very capable hands of another Ledbury alumni (Jake Leach). Jersey beef tartare was followed by a beautifully cooked loin and jowl of pork with crispy potatoes. This is proper food (I’m not sure the vegan at the next door table had checked out the menu in advance…).
Will Lake, COO

Farmyard Kitchen at The Newt

While it’s still practically impossible to go abroad for a long weekend, it’s a great time to explore our green and pleasant land which saw me head down to Somerset for 24-hours. After a heart Sunday lunch at Roth Bar & Grill in Bruton, it was a short drive to The Newt to test drive their new accommodation called the Farmyard. Housed in a former Dairy Farm, the Farmyard Kitchen is a breath of fresh air when it comes to in-house hotel dining with clean, simple dishes of one or two ingredients. One of my favourites was some Westcombe saucisson with radish.
Adam Hyman, founder

Smoking Goat

From now on, all meetings should involve chilli fish sauce wings from Smoking Goat. There really is nothing quite like them. An impromptu catch up at Shoreditch Works quickly morphed into wings and a schooner at the sheer mention of the things (I’d just come from lunch, but such trivialities shouldn’t stop one enjoying one of life’s pleasures). Just please don’t reach for your knife and fork – this is serious food…
Will Lake, COO

Otto

Some restaurants are keeping on with their meal kits and finish-at-home menus and some, like superstar chef Phil Howard, are just getting into that part of the hospitality market. I tested his new fresh pasta brand Otto (which for now only delivers in south London) and this pansotti with asparagus, nettles, ricotta and herbs was simply superb. Only a chef would include a sachet of pasta water to make sure of exactly the right amount of emulsifying liquid! 
Lisa Markwell, editor

AT Feast

AT Feast is the new all-day dining spot in St John’s Wood High Street. With a menu championing zero waste and sustainability it is the place to go when you are feeling virtuous. We enjoyed ‘top-to-tail’ tempura veg followed by lightly battered fish and chips with wasabi tartar, black sesame, pickled onion, minted peas paired alongside a delicious, organic Sicilian wine.
Molly Wade, membership manager

Davies & Brook

The news that chef patron Daniel Humm is transforming the menu at his NY restaurant Eleven Madison Park into all-plant-based dishes is fascinating. Certainly for the reopening of his outpost within Claridge’s, the signature foie-gras chicken and honey- lavender duck are still on the menu, but also some thoughtful, delicious new dishes including one of peas in a delicate broth and wafer-thin white asparagus on broken rice with ginger and apple. There’s no denying, though, that this seafood platter is a real showstopper!
Lisa Markwell, editor

The Garden Museum Café

There is nowhere more appealing to have a bike puncture than by the river at The Garden Museum Café. The bank holiday stretched lazily over a lunch facing the courtyard, and the bike lay still in the sun. With a sweet and short menu, there was an ease to the day. The floral skirts and summer garb of other guests beckoned in negronis, bread, and sea trout salad to start, swiftly followed by a soothing bed of pea farfalle, showered with parmesan and, across from me, a rosy pork collar, succulent and stacked with tropea onions.
Céire Carey, team assistant

To read more reviews from the CODE team, click here