Trivet

Excellent cooking

In the gentrified hinterland to the south of London Bridge, Trivet has the capacious, calming feel of somewhere on the American West Coast. A small outdoor terrace (with its own summertime menu), a glamorous bar and well-spaced tables set the scene for a smooth operation centred on an open kitchen, where Jonny Lake – formerly executive chef at the Fat Duck – is an authoritative, gentle giant armed with tweezers. Staff are responsive to queries, the sommelier is particularly good with recommendations, and the whole experience is restorative (assuming tootly-flutey jazz doesn't spoil your digestion). Nibble on olives, spiced cashews, or long, broad vegetable crackers to get started. The food is all about sharply delineated flavours, with bite from pickled ingredients, salty savour from the likes of kombu and dashi, and combinations that spark the imagination. A braised spiky artichoke dressed in seaweed stock with cauliflower mushroom has plenty of piscine intensity, though it is actually a vegan dish, while dashi stock poured at the table turns a heap of saladings with kombu and gorse flowers into a sharp-dressed escort for panko-crumbed veal sweetbread. At main course, a spin on duck with orange is composed of livid-pink fatless breast crusted in puffed rice and cracked peppercorns, with Tarocco blood-orange, orange-laced carrot purée, orange and endive salad, and bigarade sauce. An essentially fairly mainstream dish of turbot poached in citrus with herbed Chardonnay butter sauce was less than successfully partnered with chunks of confit Delica pumpkin that would have done better with the duck. A Turkish note is sounded in a small steamed yoghurt sponge coated in sesame seeds for a dessert that comes with vanilla cream rippled with black olive caramel, or there may be a great wedge of griottine and almond tart with fantastic pastry, only let down by very pallidly flavoured pistachio ice cream. The wines are an adventurous modern collection, with stars from Turkey and Georgia alongside the skin-contact and 'funky' offerings. Seek the readily forthcoming advice. In a recent development, the owners have launched Labombe, a wine bar open every Monday evening in the restaurant's bar space. Alongside the rich depths of Trivet's full cellar, punters can look forward to a special by-the-glass selection from master sommelier Isa Bal, plus a blackboard menu of snacks and small plates.

3 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence

Located on a surprisingly peaceful street moments from London Bridge station, Trivet is the debut solo project from The Fat Duck alumni Jonny Lake and Isa Bal. Opened in 2018, the quietly ambitious restaurant takes its name from the iron tripods that were once placed over a fire for a cooking pot or kettle to stand on. The cooking here isn’t nearly as low-tech as the restaurant’s name might suggest, but it’s certainly a lot more understated than that of The Fat Duck, which the Canadian-born Lake oversaw for nine years as executive chef. His style is creative and precise (as one would expect given his experience), but also stripped back and unfussy. Taking influence from the pair’s travels, the menu changes regularly, but there are a few constants including chicken with a vinegar sauce; and Hokkaido potato and a stunning baked potato mille-feuille with sake and white chocolate mousse. Then there’s Turkish-born Bal’s wine list. One of the world’s most distinguished sommeliers, he has created a list that features an extensive selection of wines from the Middle East, Georgia and Armenia, as well as more obvious wine producing countries. Bal has taken the unique approach of putting the list in chronological order, starting at around 7,000 BC (Georgia, Armenia and Turkey), and including 4,300 BC (Lebanon, Syria and Israel). Trivet’s dining room is classy and muted with an open kitchen and a bar area in which Lake offers a menu of lighter bites designed to be paired with the restaurant’s extensive by-the-glass selection. The duo might have swapped the flamboyance of The Fat Duck for something more low key, but they still know how to dazzle.