Latest opening: Sam’s Waterside
What: A large restaurant overlooking the Grand Union Canal in Brentford, West London. Sam’s Waterside seats 70 in the main restaurant area plus a further 30 at the bar and serves a finely-tuned modern European menu. The Brentford Project is also home to a spin-off called Sam’s Larder, which is currently sharing a nearby space with the development’s concierge office.
Who: One Sam Harrison. Having had success with high-quality neighbourhood restaurants in Chiswick and Balham, Harrison returned to the restaurant industry in 2019 following a four-year break with Sam’s Riverside in Hammersmith. Since then, he has launched two Sam’s Larder sites - one moments from Sam’s Riverside and another in Chiswick - that combine retail with a simple café offer. Harrison has created his current West London mini-empire with business partner Fanny Stocker. The head chef at Sam‘s Waterside is Jacob Keen Downs, whose CV includes Petersham Nurseries, The Rick Stein Group and Caprice Holdings.
The vibe: Created by DesignLSM, Sam’s Waterside shares some of the design DNA of Sam’s Riverside but not to the extent it feels like a copy-and-paste job. Design details include blush pink and ivory leather dining seats and teal velvet banquettes, bespoke large art deco-inspired pendant lights; an island bar with counter seating; and an open kitchen. Two sides of the building have large windows with bi-folding doors that will come into their own when the weather gets milder (an outdoor dining space is set to open next year).
The food: Some key dishes from Sam’s Riverside have made the trip to Brentford - including the popular Parmesan churros, crab on toast and a selection of oysters and shellfish - but the menu is largely made up of new dishes. Options include crispy duck salad with watercress and persimmon; chargrilled octopus with Dorset n’duja and potato; bavette steak, cimi di rapa, black garlic aioli and chips; Cornish monkfish, gurnard and mussel stew; and apple pie with vanilla ice cream. The price point of the food is marginally lower than that of Sam’s Riverside to reflect the less central location. The restaurant also offers a competitively-priced set lunch menu (£23.50 for two courses or £28.50 for three courses).
To drink: The 60-or-so bottle wine list offers around 20 wines by the glass with entry level prices £28 for both red and white. Harrison - who oversees his restaurant’s wine programmes - accurately bills the list as a combination of new rising stars and established old favourites.
And another thing: Developer Ballymore (which is behind a number of successful London developments including Embassy Gardens in Nine Elms and Spitalfields Market) has apparently been sitting on the land for decades. As highlighted by the BBC mockumentary about a hapless group of friends that run a pirate radio station, Brentford might not have quite the same cachet as the nearby Chiswick, Richmond and Ealing but - much like its football team - the area appears to be on the up.
3 Kingham Avenue (Bradshaw Yard), Brentford, London TW8 8GP
www.samswaterside.co.uk
