“The tofu filling has a surprisingly custard-like texture and flavour, with the shell being a slightly chewy, nutty treat.” “There are more than 40 ingredients in that butter,” Brizard says.ĭessert offers a light espresso panna cotta (using coffee roasted in-house at My Kingdom for a Horse), with a golden toffee corona, as well as a raspberry mille-feuille with white chocolate ganache and freeze-dried berries, and an almond and dark chocolate tart with tofu and passionfruit that’s been an “unexpected success,” says Raven. Served simply with potato and broccoli, and finished with a cafe de Paris butter, the dish is deceptively complex. When a French chef is offering flat iron steak, expectation (and salivation) levels are high – and Brizard does not disappoint. The acidity of the dish is dialled down to allow space for a kafir-infused olive oil to really sing. It’s followed swiftly by a kingfish gravlax with squid ink aioli and apple. It’s finished with a scattering of granola that adds weight and texture, grounding the flavours. On the day we visit, the first dish to hit our table is a colourful carpaccio – a carnival of mixed beetroots, wafer thin, served with black garlic. Restaurant manager and sommelier Mathilde Tytgat hails from Lille and chef Stéphane Brizard (ex- Crafers Hotel) was born in Brittany.

“It is purely coincidental but both my front of house and kitchen lead are French,” Raven says. The menu is more “grown up” than Raven’s other venues, focusing on lunch and dinner and brought to life by a team of French hospo professionals. Alfresco seating serves to heighten the “neighbourhood bistro feel”. A combination of booth and table seating makes economic use of the interior, while large collapsible doors open onto the square.

A prayer for the wild at heart kept