Three north London eateries have just made it into the guide’s Great Britain & Ireland selection.
London Fields wine bar and neighbourhood restaurant Sesta, Peruvian restaurant Llama Inn in Shoreditch, and Basque steak house Ibai near the Barbican have all been approved for inclusion by inspectors.
Sesta was opened in Wilton Road in September by Drew Snaith and Hannah Kowalski. On the site of the former Pidgin restaurant, it champions seasonal British ingredients and modern creative takes on British and European classics.
The 26-seat restaurant has an extensive wine list and serves up the likes of cod’s roe beignet and green pepper ketchup, date and tahini sorbet, and Hereford beef rump with gentleman’s relish and black walnut.
Inspectors said it served “an appealing à la carte, which includes delicious snacks such as pea and ham fritters and a beef ragu toastie”.
“British ingredients like Yorkshire chicken and chalk stream trout sit alongside European and Asian influences from dolma to tempura. There’s a short but terrific cocktail list and plenty of natural wines – and the delightful staff sashay around the small space in an impressively efficient way.”
The Llama Inn is a rooftop restaurant in Willow Street that draws on chef Erik Ramirez’s Peruvian-American background. The London outpost of the New York original, they serve up pisco sours and Latin American spirits along with sharing menus featuring the likes of stonebass ceviche, sudado seafood stew, and slow braised beef empanada.
Inspectors said: “Look for the bright yellow door, then take the lift to the seventh floor and you’ll find this colourful Peruvian restaurant, sister to the Manhattan original. A pisco sour, with some cheese yucas, will let your taste buds know that fresh, perky flavours are coming their way.”
Ibai was opened in June by Nemanja Borjanović and William Sheard, with head chef Richard Foster leading the kitchen. Not far from Bank and St Paul’s, the Bartholomew Close eatery boasts ictopus and piperade marmitako, Galician blond steaks from Spain, and La Noir de Bigorre ham and crisps with smoked piparra peppers on its menu.
Inspectors liked the restaurant’s “large, airy industrial-chic vibe that perfectly matches the buzz of its open kitchen”.
They added: “Backed by one of the co-owners of Lurra and Donostia, it takes those restaurants’ love of Basque cooking and leans it further towards the region’s French influences. The signature ‘Croque Ibai’ is a prime example and a delicious pintxo to start your meal with. Quality ingredients are used throughout, treated with care and often cooked over fire.”
