Dan Doherty, Sprout pop-up

Dan Doherty is probably best known as the Chef Director of Duck & Waffle - and of the new fast-casual Duck & Waffle Local in St James's Market. Alternatively, you may have sponsored him on a marathon, trek or cycle ride in aid of Learning for Life, or possibly (like me!) you have a ticket for Too Many Chefs, where he will be one of the ten top chefs donating their time and cooking a dish for Action Against Hunger. No? Perhaps you own one of his cookbooks - Toast Hash Roast Mash, the latest, is one of those genuinely useful, home-cook-friendly chef offerings. Yep, that's all him. Exhausting isn't it?

Today, however, was about yet another string to his bow - a pop-up for his first solo venture, Sprout, due to open later this year. Dan's previous pop-up was on the Fifth Floor Terrace at Harvey Nichols; this one was at the rather lovely Nape in Camberwell, with around 30 guests per sitting for the 4-course tasting menu. I rather wish I lived a little nearer, as I am quite keen to pop in and try their usual offerings of British charcuterie, snacks and wine - most of which is available to take away from the wine shop/deli. It's officially on The List.

We started with Hangover Oysters; gutsy, punchy, juicy Bloody Mary-type oysters that would either kill or cure those in a somewhat delicate state. Simply, unfussily presented on a steadying bed of rock salt, these were served with a chilled glass of 'I Think' Manzanilla which stood its ground and complemented them beautifully, giving them a sunny Spanish tapas bar feel.

Next up was the pea hummus with smoked yoghurt and a selection of baby garden vegetables - radishes, courgettes, cucumber, tomato, carrots. Dan admitted that it happens to be one of the 'healthiest' dishes he has ever served; I would just like to say I am totally on board with the five-a-day thing when I can eat dishes like this. The pea hummus was delicious and the quality of the produce shone through.

I was a little undecided about the smoked yoghurt here; I loved the idea but found it slightly overpowering, perhaps because of the light, clean, fresh tastes of the rest of the dish, which was accompanied by a dry, fruity Sepo Pansa Blanca which balanced the fresh vegetables really well. I shall be stealing the combo for my next drinks and nibbles session.

Nape was a great choice of venue for a pre-launch pop-up; it has a relaxed, intimate feel and a long, narrow bar which puts the chef and his team never more than a few feet from the customers. This was a real chilled-out family affair; Dan's partner, digital editor Rebecca Brett (@HungryBecs on socials for you foodies) was helping out and their guest-magnet spaniel Miso was in attendance, being generally adorable.

The grilled skirt steak, zhoug, spiced aubergine and feta arrived basically in 'if-Carlsberg-did-kebabs' form portion for two - tender steak, fiery spices, served on a flatbread and accompanied by more smoked yoghurt (which worked fabulously here) and a glass of Barbera d'Asti. I couldn't have been happier and would absolutely order this if it made its way on to a permanent menu (cough).

The same goes for the dessert - deconstructed buttermilk cheesecake with fresh peaches and home-made hob nobs, drizzled with an intriguing caramel made from tarragon vinegar, bringing a bright acidity alongside the fresh fruit. This was absolutely perfect - a masterclass on appreciating the natural flavours of your ingredients and knowing when you've done enough to bring them out.

As you may have guessed by the name, greenery is going to figure prominently in both menu and decor at Sprout, with the emphasis on local, sustainable ingredients. It will serve simple, delicious, seasonal food that changes throughout the day in tune with the kind of food people want to eat - brunch, lunch & snacks by day, small plates and cocktails by night - in a relaxing, cosy space. The plants and ceramics will be sourced from the local community and for sale, with proceeds going to the original suppliers.

Dan has hinted that the eventual location of the restaurant will be a surprise; so, not Soho or Shoreditch then - or Islington, which seems to have had a recent restaurant/bar boom. Smart money is apparently on South-East London/Lewisham way (which would certainly match the community vibe) but we shall have to wait and see.There's certainly a rather sparse area on my Mapstr under Greenwich that could well do with a few more options.

Yours, first in the queue,
London Girl About Town xx

Barnyard

So it's a warm, drizzly Saturday afternoon in Fitzrovia and I'm just off to Michelin's hottest star Ollie Dabbous's restaurant. No, not that one - I mean Barnyard, his newest venture round the corner, where I'm reliably informed the wait is mere hours rather than months thanks to a 'no reservations' policy.

The first surprise; we appear to have fortuitously turned up between busy periods and are shown to a table immediately - nice. The second surprise; that the famously precise Ollie Dabbous, whose endive salad contains endive to orange to mint in an exact 3:3:4 ratio and who reputedly once roundly berated staff for leaving a ragged edge on the toilet paper instead of a clean line, has chosen to open a restaurant that looks like - well, like the inside of a ramshackle old barn. 

To be fair to Dabbous though, nobody gets that good without a fierce eye for detail and a relentless drive for perfection. (Actually, in Dabbous's case, hardly anybody gets THAT good at all.) Barnyard, then, feels almost like an alter-ego: reclaimed fixtures, sunflowers, mottled corrugated iron walls, manly staff in checked shirts who look like they've just finished pitchforking hay, white enamel plates and cocktails in half-pint dimpled beer mugs. It's very Of Mice and Men, but in a good way. It's fun. I'm already looking forward to good things.

Dabbous himself is still somewhat busy running his aforementioned eponymous joint so the food at Barnyard comes courtesy of Joseph Woodland (The Square, Launceston Place) and has been described by Dabbous's business partner Oskar Kinberg as 'home cooking, done well and without the washing-up'. At first glance, the menu - divided, with suitably agricultural unsentimentality, into sections headed 'cow', 'pig' and so on - contains the usual suspects for a retro Americana vibe, along with some British classics: beef, eggs, fries, chicken wings, sausage rolls, milkshakes. More of which later.

In keeping with the informal feel (you are very likely to end up squished elbow-to-elbow with other diners, it's really not the place for a private chat) the dishes are designed for sharing. I love this, as in my experience meal envy can test the strength of any relationship, but it can be tricky to gauge portions on a first visit; also the tables are quite small, so expect mild juggling and balancing to be involved. We went with our waiter's advice of 5-6 dishes plus sides and plumped for the chicken in a bun, duck egg with asparagus, fries, roast beef with watercress salad, crispy chicken wings, and broken eggs with mushrooms, garlic and parsley.

Restaurants mixing high-end dining with low-end classics can face the Bubbledogs conundrum; how much can you polish up a classic dish before it loses what makes it a classic in the first place? Barnyard has balanced this well. The chicken in a bun was moist and flavoursome, in a light brioche-style bun and served with delicately-seasoned mayonnaise. The duck egg and asparagus was delicious and beautifully presented, although given that it is a sharing plate, getting both halves of the egg would have been nice. The fries were, well, classic fries; crispy and just right.

Opinion was divided on the broken eggs - basically barely-cooked egg swirled with earthy mushrooms, spiked with garlic and balanced out with parsley. The texture was a little strange, but it was somehow comforting and I couldn't help thinking that, accompanied with some sourdough toast perhaps, it would make a perfect hangover breakfast. The wings, much hyped, were actually not my favourite; there was a quite strong herby note (fennel?) that whilst not unpleasant, I just hadn't expected from the description.

The beef, on the other hand, was outstanding. Supple slices of intensely-flavoured rare roast beef, the lightest crisp of toast, fresh peppery watercress and a warm buttermilk dressing that blends nursery comfort with the bite of horseradish. I loved this. Do not, on any account, visit Barnyard without having this dish; visually, texturally, the blend of flavours - it is fabulous in every way.

My other personal must-have - although this could be just me - is the acorn flour waffle with chocolate and malt. Totally undersold on the menu, this is delicious; a perfect dense waffle (completely unlike the plasticky fast food versions), a rich, nutty chocolate sauce and a divine malted cream that tasted exactly like the inside of Maltesers. What's not to like? 

Which brings me, neatly but not really, on to the drinks. Trust me and beware, these are the archetypal wolves in sheep's clothing. Shandies? I think not. They may well contain beer or cider plus lemonade, but these are basically cocktails in a swigging glass. Extras include gin, bourbon, whisky and tequila, with not a warning umbrella, sparkler or decorative pineapple quarter in sight - and in a half pint glass. They are intriguing, delicious, and incognito. I am absolutely serving a version of these at every BBQ I host this summer. Form an orderly queue, please. (Oh, and don't think you can escape with a milkshake - even they come with an optional tot of something stronger.)

My one regret is the absence from the menu of the popcorn ice cream with smoked fudge sauce; I had heard good things and was keen to try it. During a quick chat with the utterly charming, laid-back manager he explained that their ice cream maker had broken the day before but that the dish would be back on the menu very soon. Hey ho - I guess at least I got to experience the waffle with malted cream. Ollie, Oskar and Joseph Woodland, I salute you.

Yours, in virtual gingham and petticoats,

Girl About Town xx

Crazy golf? You bet!

Not a lot of people know this but in the 1930s the roof of Selfridges boasted a pleasure garden, cafe and golf course. This summer it has been reopened to host the Big Rooftop Tea and Golf Party; it's golf, but not as you know it.

British food architects Bompas and Parr have designed a 9-hole course that puts the crazy right back into crazy golf. Each hole is a tribute to a treasured London landmark, modelled as if made of elaborately iced cake or jelly - and realistic enough that one of the club rules is 'No licking the obstacles'. Now that's not a sentence you hear every day.

Step out of the Express lift into a 'Mad Hatter meets genteel English village fête' blur of bunting, teacups, strawberries and golf balls. Collect your putter, choose a pastel-coloured ball, grab your gloriously cherry bakewell-scented score card and make your way to the first hole - the Portal of Destiny. Big Ben, Nelson's Column, and a rather wonderful Tower Bridge (complete with rather thoughtful shrimp net to retrieve errant balls from the water) are all here.

St Pinbaul's is a rather tricky fifth hole, complete with tempting jellyesque models of St Paul's (I did manage to restrain myself from licking, but only after a prod or two revealed them to be more solid than you would expect from the real deal). One of the joyous side-effects of freely-accepted madness is the inevitable shedding of reserve between strangers. How can you hope to adhere to social norms when you are belting a pink golf ball at a giant piece of cake?

The final hole is a twirly lilac Gherkin (okay, 30 St Mary Axe) and then you can tot up your score and retire to the cafe for some well-earned refreshment. I know we probably should have had the afternoon tea, but my companion and I were waylaid by the menu into a glass of Prosecco and a Gin, Elderflower and Violet jelly; a delicately-hued and delicious treat to round off our superbly random London afternoon.

You'll have to hurry as 2nd September is the last day. Online tickets sell out pretty quickly but they keep tickets back for walk-ups each day; go through the Fragrance department on the ground floor and you'll see two lifts on the right. The left hand lift is the Express lift straight to the top floor and should have a hostess with a clipboard standing next to it. You can book your tickets there - time slots should be available throughout the day.

If we're talking high tea it doesn't get too much higher than this.





Yours, in fabulously British randomness,
Girl About Town xx