Latest opening: OMA
What: A sleek, broadly Greek restaurant in Borough Market. Taking its name from the Greek word for raw, OMA juxtaposes a crudo bar with an open plan live fire kitchen. On the first-floor of the site that was once home to Hotel Chocolat’s Rabot, the restaurant has around 70 internal covers and a further 50 on a terrace to the rear that backs onto the main market.
Who: OMA (and its more casual counterpoint AGORA) is the creation of Manteca and SMOKESTAK founder David Carter. The kitchen is being led by former Sabor executive chef Jorge Paredes. Ex-Kiln head chef Nick Molyviatis was heading the kitchen at both OMA and AGORA, which is on the ground floor of the site, but is now understood to have left Carter’s dcco. restaurant group. The GM is David Cheles, whose CV includes SMOKESTAK and MJMK restaurant group.
The food: OMA offers a tight menu that reinterprets Greek food for the London market. Meals begin with breads served with an array of spreads including salt cod with chilli oil and labneh; and the red pepper-based ajvar with mizithra (a soft Greek cheese) and hazelnuts. Next up is crudos, with options including gilt head bream ceviche with green tomato and apple aguachile; and chalkstream trout tartare with Datterini tomato and citrus dressing. This is followed by small plates including hand-dived scallop with chilli oil butter; and charred lamb belly with hummus, shallot and mint salad. More substantial dishes include skewers - the highlight of these being perfectly cooked and very fresh squid with garlic and za’atar oil - and a duo of giouvetsi (an orzo-based dish that is not too dissimilar to risotto) served in rustic little pots. Fast becoming OMA’s signature dish is giouvetsi with wild red prawns (diners are instructed to squirt the contents of the heads into the pasta and stir vigorously to emulsify). Desserts include cold rice pudding topped with plums; and a sensational olive oil gelato dusted with fennel pollen.
To drink: With a 450-bin plus list, OMA is being billed as a wine-led restaurant. Around 60% of the restaurant’s wine is being sourced from Greece. Overseen by dcco. head of wine Emily Acha Derrington, the list is largely arranged by the level of sea influence with sections including Surrounded by the sea (Mediterranean islands); Influenced by the sea(much of Greece as well as parts of France, Spain, Portugal and even England itself); and Further inland (wines that are not so much influenced by the sea, including spendy places like Piedmonte and Burgundy). Alessandara Tasca (Manteca and natural wine importer Modal Wines) is heading up the wine service at OMA.
The vibe: Designed by Box 9 – which also worked on SMOKESTAK and Manteca – OMA takes its cues from the rugged landscapes of Greece, employing colour schemes of eucalyptus, stone and dark wood, and finishes utilising natural materials throughout. The focal point of the space is a square, fully open kitchen that features a large grill and a raw bar. Carter’s trademark attention to detail and eye for design is in evidence throughout - for example the computer screens on which the kitchen manages its tickets are encased in neat wooden boxes. Particularly impressive is the way the kitchen flows into the rest of the space (unusually, the counter is positioned at the same height for guests as it is for the chefs working on the other side).
And another thing: While there are some influences from Greece’s more spice-driven southern and eastern neighbours, Carter says that since launching the restaurant the team has found itself gravitating to simpler flavours.
2-4 Bedale Street, London SE1 9AL
www.oma.london
