Origin City

Specialising in nose-to-tail cooking, Origin City effortlessly delivers high quality meat and sustainable produce in a French style with a no frills attitude. All its meat is reared on the team’s 600-acre organic farm in Scotland, and butchered in house, while fish is from Loch Fyne just down the road.

Located just opposite Smithfield Market, Origin City is undeniably stylish, with a moody bar area as you enter that we imagine would be perfect for a pre- or post-dinner cocktail. Neutral tones feature throughout, while tweed banquettes, pre-historic themed art, soft lighting and white tablecloths create a refined feel.

The menu revolves primarily around first-rate pork and beef, changing with the seasons and according to what the farm produces. We started with thyme bread and nduja butter, which was salty, deliciously fatty and comprised of offcuts that would otherwise go to waste. Following our attentive waiter’s suggestion, we opted for the steak tartare, a generously sized dish bursting with zesty notes of capers. The pastrami was just as good, drizzled with a Marie rose dressing and topped with pickles and plenty of grated Old Winchester cheese, a simple but effective combination.

It would be a sin to visit Origin City without trying its steak, and the 40-day, dry-aged Black Angus cut of the day did not disappoint. Perfectly medium-rare and tender, and served with tallow carrot, roscoff onion and a whisky peppercorn sauce, the whole dish was a complete knockout.

The thoughtful wine list is reasonably priced and features a diverse range of bottles. We opted for a bold yet light Pinot Noir which complemented the meal beautifully. Overall, Origin City is a meat-lovers paradise and definitely one to visit if you’re interested in sustainable eating and high-grade meat.

From the team behind the groundbreaking 56 West Smithfield wine bar, Origin City is a British fine-dining restaurant in the heart of Farringdon, which aims to deliver a truly authentic, pasture-to-plate dining experience. Combining the family’s passions and traditions, with a touch of Scottish, French, and Slavic flavours and techniques, Origin City centres and reimagines British cuisine, with a nose-to-tail ethos.

Pasture-to-plate means using meat directly from local producers, and Origin City follows this concept by ensuring the menu champions only the best of pasture-raised, organic heritage breeds from the family farm in Scotland. Similarly, the seafood comes fresh from the family's aquafarm in Loch Fyne, and the restaurant’s wine list highlights many organic wines from the owners’ Provencal family vineyard. Alongside this ethos is also the restaurant’s commitment to a nose-to-tail dining experience, meaning that little to no part of the animal goes to waste - innovative and exciting ways to celebrate all cuts of meat ensure this. This sustainable model is the driving force behind the restaurant’s decision to butcher its meat in-house.

With these dedications in mind, expect to find quality meat on the seasonal menu, such as black Aberdeen Angus steak tartare, with watercress and radish, black pig terrine with a celeriac remoulade, or Origin house charcuterie. The restaurant proudly makes almost everything from scratch, including sausages and the popular charcuterie. Other rich and indulgent dishes you may find include triple cooked beef dripping chips, 40-day aged black Angus sirloin with tallow carrot, roscoff onion, and a whisky peppercorn cream, and, if you want a break from the meat, courgette flower with goat’s cheese, romesco, and white beans.

Drinks are similarly organic, high-quality, and fresh, with many of the wines and aperitifs coming from the family vineyard. You may find vintage ports, bitters, digestifs, and Scottish whiskies, alongside amaro liqueurs, and a variety of classic cocktails. The curated house cocktails, which go back to the origin of the historic recipes, are also impressive, such as the fresh and zesty 1920’s last word, with gin, maraschino liqueur, lime, and chartreuse, or the Parisian sidecar, with cognac, lemon, and cointreau. Whatever the dish or drink at Origin City, there is no doubt that it adheres to their motto of ‘great taste, no waste.’