London Calling - What's New and Interesting?

[howardlong]

I'd like to weigh in here if I may.

I am finding this thread interesting, but one thing concerns me now and has done for some time regarding restaurant goers. And I admit that that includes on some occasions, myself.

Somewhere that's trendy now can quite easily become untrendy a few months later. What I have never been is trendy, that's for sure, but I find that restaurant goers are notoriously fickle.

Take for example the Pharmacy or the Oxo Tower. Although the former's reasonably close for me, I never went. It was my intention to do so after its 'makeover', when it wasn't trendy anymore, and the good folk of eG had said good things. But it shut rather abruptly soon after the makeover, so I had to make do with purchasing Chicken Tikka Masala instead from the M&S that's now occupied the location. The latter I went to under some duress for the first time only recently having been invited by a supplier, and my reluctance turned out to be wholely justified in the end.

Both opened to a marketing hype almost beyond belief, and for a few years they lived under their spell of dreams until everyone had been, or at least everyone had heard of someone who'd been, and then we all realised that the dream was more of a nightmare of aspirationals after bragging rights of "Have you been to the Oxo yet? You must go".

Here's where I stand. If I can't get in somewhere, life is too short to spend half an hour each day trying to book a table for two months hence. I have never been to the Ivy for example. And unless someone invites me I don't intend to ever step in there.

I have tried to get into the Connaught now five times. OK, so I don't book up until the day, and I live in ever receding hope but to be honest the fervour is rather receding too. I did make it into Murano last weekend. I also tried to get into Ambassade de l'Ile, and failed.

And where do I end up after these failed attempts? The stalwarts, typically Le Gavroche, Racine The Capital. Always welcomed, always recognised and always genuinely appreciated. And almost always I can get in on the day. One thing you can definitely say about restaurants like this is that they don't tend to attract the fickle crowd after bragging rights.

I'm all for new openings, but right now it worries me, especially in the current climate, how many will survive, and exist for the long term, once the dust settles from the initial excitement of something new being in town.

(BTW, I am certainly not meaning to suggest the regulars on eG fit into my stereotype of fickle aspirational braggers, far from it in fact!)

Cheers, Howard

Edited September 11, 2008 by howardlong (log)

[Roger le goéland]

Howard, any more stalwarts? :-P