FENN Kate Weir Fenn is our first time at a restaurant in a depressingly long time – we dine alfresco in their cosy-as-can-be heated (and covered, praise be!) terrace, of course – but, by the time this goes to press, everything being well, things should be back to as normal as they can be, and you won’t have any excuse for not getting yourself to Fenn for their excellent tasting menu, or to simply pick and choose your way through their equally excellent à la carte.
A gift to Fulham’s fine-diners from the team behind Nest, chef Joe Laker (formerly of Farringdon’s Anglo) and executive head chef Johnnie Crowe, Fenn brings Nest’s appreciation of an ingredient’s provenance and some East London swagger to Wandsworth Bridge Road. It’s a love letter to British produce; and with some of the country’s finest producers already in their address book (say, Swaledale Foods’ and HG Walter’s meat, Cornish Flying Fish seafood, shellfish from Scotland’s Keltic Seafare, and fruit and veg from Shrub Provisions), they’re expertly placed to fly the flag in delicious fashion. The à la carte presents something of a problem in that you’ll feel drawn to each dish, but compelled to order just three courses (and five helpings of Lincolnshire Poacher dumplings, which arrive drenched in mop-uppable shavings of cheese). So, the very reasonable tasting menu (just £50 for a very satisfying seven courses) is the way to go in our opinion, with the very interesting wine selection, a journey through soft Iberian reds, English sparklings, cider-y natural wines and other unique selections by manager Harry Cooper. To start, some of those moreish cheese dumplings and FFC (Fenn Fried Chicken), a spicier, Korean-leaning take on popcorn chicken with a punchy wild garlic purée, then the potato sourdough with a crust you can tap on and the pillowiest of insides. Beef tartare, a dish I normally associate with tart dressings, comes with fermented chilli and smoked oil, which gives the high-quality meat a more complex, earthier flavour. At this point, we opt to supplement the meal with the hand-dived scallop with apple, bathed in chicken butter (£11), because frankly, who could resist? A meaty slab of halibut is elevated by the sea-saltiness of samphire and delicate sweetness of crab, and aged Yorkshire beef comes with a quenelle of puréed purple sprouting broccoli, pickled walnut, bone-marrow sauce and a decadent layered potato cake. To finish, Pump Street chocolate ganache and soil with a yoghurt sorbet that brings just the right amount of acidity. It’s a Goldilocks menu that doesn’t over – or, indeed, under – whelm you with food, with enough of each dish to let the flavours and the top produce truly shine. We left overjoyed that this time around, the chance to return was higher than it’s been in the last year – book now before everyone else does. 194 Wandsworth Bridge Road, Fulham, London, SW62UF
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KENSINGTON & CHELSEA REVIEW
