Latest opening: Riding House Bloomsbury
What: A buzzy all-day spot in Bloomsbury’s The Brunswick Centre that is a follow-up - of sorts - to influential Fitzrovia restaurant Riding House Café. Riding House Bloomsbury occupies the space that was once home to Carluccio’s to the front of one of London’s most infamous Brutalist buildings (fans of Modernist architecture consider it a masterpiece, many others think it’s anything but).
Who: New Zealand-born restaurateur Adam White. White is notable for being among the first to really capitalise on the all-day dining opportunity in the capital with venues including Garrison and Village East (both in Bermondsey). His current portfolio includes Fitzrovia’s Riding House Café and Victoria’s Rail House Café which opened in 2011 and 2017 respectively. Though it’s by no means a copy and paste job, Riding House Bloomsbury is a pitched as the sequel to the former. Its menu is overseen by House Café Company executive chef Henry Omereye and Riding House Bloomsbury head chef Gerald Mirey, who has rejoined the Riding House family having previously been head chef The Garrison.
The vibe: An industrial design graduate, White certainly knows how to put a restaurant together. The interior of Riding House Bloomsbury has been designed as a counterpoint to The Brunswick Centres hard lines with design details including an open bar and kitchen, heavy wooden doors from a Mayfair private members club, lots of greenery and an irreverent mural of a giraffe.
The food: The food at Riding House Bloomsbury is accurately billed as ‘international, contemporary and unfussy’. The menus take inspiration from Omereye and Mirey’s travels and include the likes of caraway harissa chicken and cassava chips with fennel and cardamom gravy; teriyaki rabbit legs, shiitake mushroom, sweet potato champ and crispy kale; and miso-grilled sea bass, nuoc cham and pickled cucumber. In common with White’s other two House Café Company sites, breakfast is a big deal. Dishes include Pea fritters, oak-smoked salmon and asparagus; and a green tomato shakshuka. There’s also a dedicated Malted Deep Dish pancake menu, with options including Dingley Dell bacon, blueberry compote, sour cream and maple syrup.
To drink: Overseen by The Ned and Hix Restaurants alumnus Harry Hughes, the drinks programme is focused on cocktails. Large barrels of pre-mixed house-aged cocktails - including Negroni and a rum-based Manhattan - take pride of place and a number of new serves have been developed for the launch, including the Piña Picante (tequila infused with pineapple skins and chilli, shaken with citrus and sweetened with agave).
And another thing: White has previous for architecturally-divisive real estate. Riding House Café is beneath a staggeringly unattractive 1950s building and Rail House Café is at the heart of Victoria’s Nova development, the recipient of architectural booby prize the Carbuncle Cup.
