Kitchen Table () – London, England

Don't judge a book by its cover, and that cuts both ways. For every 'Kissing the Coronavirus' (a semenal [sic] piece of pandemic literature, which you may not figure from the cover), there's a Kitchen Table. For my money, Kitchen Table has some of the most delightful plating in the English capital. Flavours? Not so much.

Kitchen Table is a restaurant in Fitzrovia with 2 Michelin Stars that have been held since 2018, with James Knappett at the helm. James has a mighty fine CV, with stints at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Petrus (a 1 Star Ramsay restaurant), Per Se, and noma. I don't see much noma influence in the food on offer here, other than the foraged ingredients and rather stately pacing.

There are two seating areas at Kitchen Table, that together function as a parenthetical clause; the first seating area is the bar, which bookmarks your visit, with snacks being served at the beginning and the (delightful) petit-fours at the end. The meat of the meal, as it were, takes place in the horseshoe counter seating that looks onto the open kitchen. Kitchen Table self-describes as offering 'a dining experience, where full interaction with the chefs showcases previously unseen kitchen theatre'. Unseen to who, Ray Charles? This isn't The Fat Duck; there is no theatre here, just customers being given a view onto the plating station (it should be noted that little is cooked in this open kitchen, as there is another – hidden – kitchen where most of the prep work is done). I don't mind what it is, but I do mind when it's suggested to be something more.

The downside of 20 (thereabouts) covers being served the same food at the same time means that there's no room for an adjustment in pacing. What could take two hours for the number of courses on offer will take double that. In addition, if what you want out of a restaurant visit is peace and quiet, you likely won't get that. In the main dining area, where you spend most of your visit, you'll be shoulder to shoulder with other diners. Even if those next to you are reverential introverts, all it takes is one loud diner to disrupt the peace. Voices carry in this restaurant.

All of these are things to note, but ultimately – to me at least – come secondary to the food. Blow me away with tastes and textures, and the rest fades into background noise. It wasn't until the squid tagliatelle that the meal really started to get going. This came after five snacks and four courses, with the snacks being preferential to the courses; the mackerel tartlet was a good opener, fresh and slightly acidic, and preferable to the gauntlet of dullness that was the first four courses (albeit for the fruit bread). The trout roe added absolutely nothing to a rather lovely fruit bread, given just how strong the latter was. The N25 caviar was similarly wasted on the scallop dish. One-dimensionality reigned, so absent were the beginning dishes of any complexity. This didn't change with the squid tagliatelle, but it did improve. With a base of garam masala and cream, and hints of coriander, the squid tagliatelle was the best version of a Curry Pot Noodle that I've ever had (this isn't a glib comparison. I think Knappett knows what he's doing, and I'm here for it). It was nice to have something vibrant and fun, with a certain depth of flavour (barbequed peanuts were a suitable if standard addition, on both a flavour and textural level) that had been missing for the first half of the meal.

This was the turning point of the meal, and while nothing ever hit a certain 'wow' factor, there were some standouts that worked to make the first half of the meal but a hazy memory. The duck leg ragu was warm and soothing, and the apple tarte tatin with Baron Bigod brie was a wonderful (if not exactly groundbreaking) combination. The final two courses, the 72% madagascan chocolate tart and the canele, were served back in the bar area, and were outstanding.

Overall, it's hard to recommend Kitchen Table, given its status as a 2 star restaurant and the price tag that comes with it (perhaps this is something of an indictment as to the rating system of the Michelin guide, where it appears that the quality varies considerably even at the three star level). While the plating is superb, many of the dishes were rather flat, one-note creations. Despite the commendable range of ingredients used, there isn't much inspiration here, and it's for that reason that I'm surprised it's a 2 star.

Courses:

1. Oyster, elderflower, sour cream, red meat radish, meyer lemon
2. Mackerel, chilli, jalapeño, red pepper, croustade, ponzu
3. Cep, parfait, wild garlic
4. Chicken, rosemary, mascarpone, bacon jam, rosemary flower
5. Black truffle, wagyu, feuille de brick, sauce americaine, cornichons, black garlic
6. Torbay shrimp, rose, fig leaf, rhubarb, dulse
7. Trout, apple, grapes, cucumber, dill, yuzu yogurt, salad burnet
8. Soda bread, crème crue, trout roe, Meyer lemon
9. N25 Caviar, scallop, hazelnut, cobnut, roe, smoked cream
10. Swuid, curry, mango, peanut, crab
11. Jerusalem artichoke, agnolotti, parmesan, sherry vinegar, coffee, black walnut, black truffle
12. Duck liver, cherry, coco nib, chervil, pumpkin, oxalis.
13. Duck ham, heart, turnip, damson, wild garlic, black truffle
14. Duck ragout, celeriac, celery
15. Baron Bigod, apple, medlar, walnut, black walnut
16. Cherry blossom, panna cotta
17. Blood orange, EVOO, custard
18. Rhubarb, black pepper meringue, milk, tarragon
19. Chocolate tart, cep, sea salt
20. Canele, Seville orange