Spring in London tends to appear quietly. The light stays longer. Lunch lasts a little later. Tables outside start filling again.
In the kitchen the shift usually shows up first. Greens return. Herbs become brighter. Plates begin to move away from the deeper flavours of winter and back toward the kind of Mediterranean food that feels right when the days get longer.
That is usually when the spring menu begins to form.
These are the kind of dishes that settle easily into the rhythm of lunch, and into the kind of healthy food we lean toward when spring arrives.
- Labneh Beets & Berries, with beetroot, labneh, citrus, and hazelnuts. A plate that feels both earthy and bright.
- The Ginger Honey Goat bowl returns. Greens, roasted sweet potato, goat cheese, and ginger honey dressing.
- Crunchy Tuna Tartare lands on a crisp corn tortilla, with tuna, yellow chilli, soy mirin, and passion fruit.
- The Green Harissa Bowl brings together greens, black rice, beans, vegetables, and herbs, finished with harissa and sumac.
It reflects the way people tend to eat this time of year. Plenty of vegetables, grains, and herbs, with combinations that are often vegetarian or vegan, without needing to make a point of it.
Some plates remain constants.
Charcoal grilled piri piri chicken returns with British chicken thighs, hot honey piri sauce and coconut coriander dressing. Alongside it sits charcoal grilled miso salmon glazed with soy, miso and rice and finished with furikake.
Spring often shows up most clearly in the smaller plates.
Asparagus with labneh and pink tahini. Moroccan rice with lentils and spices. Roasted pumpkin with feta. Glazed aubergine with herbs. Individually they are small plates. Together they fill the table.
Spring rarely arrives loudly in London. It just settles in. And the food begins to reflect it.
Earlier in the day the room moves at a different pace. A slower lunch, a relaxed healthy brunch, sometimes finishing with Hg Beans specialty coffee from Ozone before the afternoon begins.