Town

We love a comeback story, so imagine our delight when we learned that Stevie Parle - one of London’s favourite sons - was returning to the capital’s dining scene. Need a refresher? Parle trained at Ballymaloe and The River Cafe before rising to fame at the wildly popular Dock Kitchen, Rotorino in Dalston, and later Joy in Portobello - all built on a foundation of classy, flavour-first cooking. Frankly, London is a better place with Parle in the kitchen, so Town is a welcome sight indeed.

Town gives little away from the outside, but inside there’s an instant sense of something special. The interior is a 60s vision of space-age glamour: chrome accents, angry volcanic-red tiles, and sleek Bauhaus armchairs. A grid of square lightboxes beams down over a space-age open kitchen, where Parle orchestrates service, glowing like a demi-god in his shiny green lightbox. There’s something of The Jetsons about it; we half expect to see Cosmo Spacely necking an Old Fashioned at the bar after another hard day at Spacely Space Sprockets.

If there were lingering concerns that Parle might have been out of the game too long, they’re quickly dispelled. Tempura sage leaves with honey and chilli are among the year’s best snacks; miso turns out to be a far better partner for radishes than taramasalata; and the decision to serve potato sourdough with a pot of gravy is ballsy, mad-genius menu writing (because really, who doesn’t want to eat bread dipped in gravy?)

From start to finish, the cooking is exemplary. The menu is daring, but grounded in dishes you genuinely want to eat. Steaks are cooked to perfection. The cocktail list - courtesy of Satan’s Whiskers boss Kevin Armstrong - is compact but faultless. We finish with a whisky kashi (essentially a cuboid canele) and a glorious morello cherry clafoutis, and raise a toast to the return of a prodigal son. Town is a tour de force - perhaps Parle’s greatest performance yet.

Situated in Covent Garden, Town is the highly-anticipated restaurant by Stevie Parle who is best known for his post-lockdown pop-up, Joy. Town embodies Stevie’s ethos of considerate sourcing, sustainable practice and seasonal cookery. 

The space is polished, colourful and sleek with velvet red wine furnishings, glossy green countertops and curved orange walls. Unlike its modern interiors, Town offers a more traditional approach to its food, with a focus on farming and rustic cooking. Stevie has carefully selected agricultural partners that share the value of growing food in a considered way. Town has its own herd of grass-fed cows in Oxfordshire and is the first restaurant to use Wildfarmed beef. The restaurant takes a whole-carcass butchery approach to reduce waste and sources ingredients from sustainable providers, such as The Goods Shed, Coombeshead farm and LAM farm. 

Stevie has handpicked an exceptional team to help bring his vision to life, with Olly Pierrepont (previously Luca and La Trompette) as executive chef and Andy Bright (previously Kerridge’s Bar & Grill, Saison and Fera) as head chef. The menu showcases seasonal modern European dishes, including potato sourdough with Town House gravy, pork with roasted quince and hot mustard, and butterflied day boat fish with anchovy and rosemary sauce. For dessert, keep your eyes peeled for buttermilk pudding with spiced dates, and Muscat grape sorbet with a brown butter crumb. 

As well as an a la carte menu, there are also set lunch and dinner menus, for those on a budget or in a rush. 

The wine is led by Donald Edwards, who has curated lists for Peckham Bazaar, Temper and St Leonards, with cuvées by the glass and vintages by the bottle. There are also cocktails by Kevin Armstrong who is the brains behind Satan’s Whiskers, which ranks in the World’s 50 Best Bars.