This Hoxton restaurant comes from the Jamie Oliver stable. Since 2002 it has followed an admirable not-for-profit ethos, giving disadvantaged young people an apprenticeship in the culinary arts. They recruit 18 people every year, giving them tools to become professional chefs.
On our visits, the quality of the food has been high. Dishes range from starters of quail with corn, pickled girolles and coriander, and Dorset crab with courgette, dill, crème fraîche and almonds to mains of guinea fowl with burnt celeriac, smoked bone marrow, baby leek and girolles, and iberico pork shoulder with wild mushroom, leek and smoked walnut. Desserts include a coconut panna cotta with roasted pineapple and coconut crumble.
Cocktails feature on the drinks list, with options including a rose gimlet (Beefeater gin served with a house-made yuzu and rose water cordial), and a calavera (mezcal, Lillet Blanc, orange liqueur, lime and absinthe). The wine list leans on the old world, and 13 are available by the glass.
Keep an eye out for cocktail masterclasses and other special events, too.