For us, eating in London has always been a bit of an experiment. Over the last 30 years, the culture has changed and become, in our view, more multi-cultural. This means that, if you put your mind to it, you can traverse London eating a completely different cuisine every night for a month (or more – we don’t have actual figures or statistics as they get in the way... but you know what we’re trying to say – there’s loads of different scrum out there to be eaten). Despite that, we see our local Pret normally has a queue out the door at lunchtimes. [For legal reasons, we have nothing against that or any other convenience food outlet].

Noted. 

Nuno Mendes, therefore, was our hero when he set up The Loft last year. It was intended to be a supper-club-cum-science lab-cum-member’s club, a home-made and cosy restaurant set up in his stylish loft home in East London serving up spectacular food created after honing his skills in numerous restaurants including El Bulli. When we order food at a restaurant we tend to avoid dishes we could/do cook at home. There’s no danger of that at the Loft.

 

It was, as you would expect, an experience more than a meal – a 10 course taster menu where Mendes tried out crazy ideas on his willing test subjects in advance of his new restaurant Viajante. Each course had a matching drink and you were treated as hallowed guests to his home rather than to customers (though at £120 a pop you would hope for some warmth).

 

Since then, Mendes has opened Viajante to critical acclaim, but has refused to give up his Loft – and we are grateful for it. It has now become a venue for the world’s best young chefs to visit and occupy for a month or so as Chef’s in residence. Happily this means you no longer have to trawl London (or the world) for new and exciting cuisine – the Loft brings them to your doorstep (literally if you live opposite the Mendes Loft) with chefs currently coming from all over Europe to intimately entertain at the Loft.

 

It may have started as an experiment, but the Loft is quickly becoming the future of restaurants in London – both in format and in terms of the food being dished out. You must go to the Loft as soon as possible... and then go again a month later for something completely different.

 

http://www.theloftproject.co.uk/home/