Food Review: Smoke & Salt

Smoke & Salt ★★★★★

By Lydia Manch Last edited 79 months ago
Food Review: Smoke & Salt Smoke & Salt 5
Smoke & Salt: brining, curing and smoking at their first permanent site

'Modern dining, ancient techniques' is how chefs Remi Williams and Aaron Webster pitch their offering. We were fans of their Chapel Bar residency last year, and the smoking, brining, curing duo's first permanent site in Brixton turns out to be better still.

Perched on Pop's mezzanine level, we eat flanked by treetops on one side and wistful punters forming an orderly queue on the other. Their cooking's light of touch, though there has to be a staggering amount of skill and attention to detail going into dishes like the lamb merguez tartare, delicate and meaty in one hit. You're never bludgeoned over the head by the cleverness of it. Dishes are simply presented, unexpected flavours teased out of the main ingredients rather than added over them in a sauce.

Smoke & Salt are bringing their summery desserts to Brixton. Photo: Lydia Manch

Surprising stars of the dinner are the tomatoes — served with a squiggle of smoked and lightly charred ricotta — and the London Mess dessert we didn't really think we wanted, cherries and fragments of dried fruit balancing out the creaminess. In extra, welcome news, you can book. And you should — because it's small, lovely, and already bustlingly, deservedly popular.

Smoke & Salt, Pop Brixton, Brixton Station Road, SW9 8PQ

Last Updated 07 August 2017