An extension of the famous sustainable restaurant, St John in Farringdon, St John Bread & Wine stands as an East London outpost for more casual nose-to-tail dining. It’s a restaurant for adventurous eaters looking to dine in a slightly more casual location compared to the original Smithfield restaurant. Founded by Fergus Hendersen, the menu here is hyper-seasonal and focused on sustainable approaches towards whole animal butchery, uncomplicated but hearty cookery, and typically unloved cuts and produce.
You’ll find it just around the corner from Spitalfields Market, in a very on-brand dining room showcasing the signature pared-back St John’s style. The interiors are white, almost clinically so, but warmed through with the clever use of homely chairs and wooden tables. Chalkboards on the walls detail the specials of the day, while waiters in smart-casual white uniforms take orders.
The menus change each day, and are released just an hour before service, but a lot of thought has gone into them. The lunch menu is similar, if a little smaller, and St John Bread and Wine also offers a seasonal feasting menu. Starters here have previously included white cabbage with brown shrimp and chervil; smoked cods roe, egg, and cress, and chicken liver toast with brandied prunes.
You can often expect to see offal on the menu here, such as grilled lambs heart with Jerusalen artichokes and anchovy alongside faggots with celeriac and pickled walnut. But it’s not all offal, the St John’s Bread and Wine menu has also offered the likes of lentils with roast shallots and sheep’s milk yoghurt, cod with fennel and aioli, and whole crab with mayonnaise. There are plenty of desserts to choose from, which is rather rare in a restaurant that offers a small, changing menu. Think eccles cake with Lancashire cheese, ginger loaf with a butterscotch sauce, and pear and hazelnut Eton mess.