Latest opening: Mountain
What: Located on Soho’s Beak Street, Mountain is a wood grill and wine bar that has breathed new life into the corner spot that was once home to burger brand Byron and brings Spanish cooking with Welsh and English ingredients.
Who: Mountain is the latest project from Super 8 Restaurants, led by Ben Chapman, Brian Hannon and Tomos Parry, which runs Thai restaurants Smoking Goat in Shoreditch and Kiln in Soho and Basque-inspired restaurant Brat in Shoreditch and Climpson’s Arch. The group has put together a strong team for its new venture with the kitchen led by Parry while its grain and bakery program is headed up by Suzi Mahon with Pamela Yung, formerly head chef at Flor, joining for the opening. The restaurant also has a head butcher, Sophie Cumber, while the wine list is developed by head of wine Martina Larnach and Holly Willcocks.
The food: Anglesey-born Parry draws on his Welsh heritage as well as a love for cooking over open fire with a menu that showcases some of the best ingredients around. The menu is loosely divided into small plates that include raw sobrasada with honey; raw sliced scallops and red mullet; stuffed grilled vine leaves as well as larger options such as beef sweetbreads and violet artichokes; grilled red peppers with razor clams; and tripe. Things start getting really serious with the mains, all of which are cooked on Mountain’s bespoke grill, with options that include a four-year Jersey rib of beef; turbot head; and a three-year-old Tamworth sow collar. One of Mountain’s signature dishes is a whole lobster caldereta - Spanish for cooking pot – that comes to the table in an earthenware pot (pictured). Many dishes are designed for two to four people to share and are priced accordingly with the lobster caldereta £90 to serve three to four people and £120 for four to five, and the meat cuts ranging from £55 to £80.
There is much going on behind the menu: Maintain’s grain and bakery program sees it baking ensaimadas and loaves in the wood ovens made from stone milled diverse grains from wheat farms in south west England and Wales and it also has a cheese programme using organic milk from cows and sheep in Cumbria.
To drink: Mountain’s focus is on ‘thoughtfully made’ wines, many from lesser-known producers. It’s a surprisingly extensive list with a large range of sparkling wines from the new generation of producers in Champagne as well as those from other regions in France, Italy, and Spain with a large selection of white, red and orange wines from France, Spain and Italy. For those looking to curb their spending, as well as a good selection of wines available by the glass - seven each for red and white and four orange and pink – the list has a ‘down to earth’ section at the back which lists all the wines priced at £50 or less.
The vibe: Split across two floors, the ground floor is home to an open-plan dining room with the open kitchen to the rear and two raised bars to one side where diners can have a pre meal drink or indeed eat and packed wine chillers to the other. Below is a more intimate bar that leads into the kitchen prep area, and which has a bar stacked with vinyl records and a large – and very powerful – bespoke speaker (above). Super 8’s intention was to create a buzzy restaurant designed to encourage long lunches and dinners and it has achieved this.
And another thing: The restaurant takes its name from being inspired by the ‘mar y montana’ - sea and hillside - cooking of Spain, the seas and mountains of the Welsh landscape.
16-18 Beak St, London, W1F 9RD
https://mountainbeakstreet.com/
