A London Restaurant That’s ‘Simpler’, but Not Simple

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/13/travel/elystan-street-restaurant-london-philip-howard.html

Version 0 of 1.

One way for a chef to shift culinary gears — an extreme one, perhaps — is to sell his restaurant and open a new place. In September, six months after Philip Howard relinquished the Square, which earned two Michelin stars for its precision and elegance and where life goes on under new owners, he and his business partner opened Elystan Street on a quiet corner in Chelsea. The décor is spare but not unadorned, with art on the walls and bare tables topped with concrete or wood. Happily, in this age of throbbing restaurant soundtracks, there is no music.

Also happily, there is no dictatorial tasting menu, just a traditional list of first and second courses plus desserts. In an email, Mr. Howard said he was aiming for food that was “simpler” and “bolder” than the fare at his previous restaurant. In chef-speak, “simpler” rarely means simple, so don’t expect a bowl of cereal. One excellent starter was crisp-roasted veal sweetbreads nestled in an autumn vegetable slaw heady with truffle, nut-seed butter and intense mimolette cheese — the dense sweetbreads satisfyingly lightened by the vegetables. Another was a big raviolo of langoustines barely touched with a sweet-tart “barbecue” dressing and served with frothed-up corn broth and surprisingly harmonious strips of tender cabbage.

As to “bold”: What was that unctuous sheet of meat supplementing the roast loin of lamb with pesto-topped eggplant, garlic purée, olives and buttery potatoes? Tongue! For a tongue-lover, it made a fine dish memorable. And what was special about the fried onions set atop an impeccable chunk of cod? They’d been dredged in chickpea coating like onion bhaji, and harmonized with the Indian tinge of a subtly curry-spiced cauliflower purée. And doesn’t caramelized endive and fig tart sound like a grand and slightly unexpected accompaniment to breast of duck?

At least one dessert actually was simple in the normal sense of the word: a clean-tasting lemon tart served unadorned. A little more elaborate were glistening roasted figs with smooth, refreshing goat-milk ice cream (the accompanying fritters of lemon and thyme added little flavor, so perhaps simpler would have been better).

The look of the customers in the packed dining room suggested that Elystan Street will be full of old friends from the Square and prosperous Chelseans from the neighborhood, which means that reservations ought to be made well in advance.