The Dairy

The Dairy | Fresh Produce Restaurant in Clapham Old Town, London

The Dairy | Seasonal British Restaurant in Clapham

http://www.the-dairy.co.uk

The Dairy | Seasonal British Restaurant in Clapham

Bloodshot at The Dairy, restaurant review: Robin Gill's 1am dinner ...

I reviewed his first place (he now has three, and a deli) back in 2013 and I was delighted when Mike Higgins, the editor of this magazine, chose Robin to be one of the guest chefs who have shared their fabulous recipes over the past few weeks.

Robin's a gregarious fella, and hosts something called Bloodshot at The Dairy on the last Saturday of every month, in which a visiting chef creates a menu.

There are two twists: one is that it takes place at 1am; the other is that it's designed for other chefs, who finish work at their own restaurants around midnight and are looking for fun and good food.

February's guest chef is the American-born Brad McDonald of the always-excellent Lockhart and Shotgun; the theme is Mexican, hence the soulful caterwauling and frenzied strumming on the soundtrack.

There's a palpable excitement as folk arrive; I can see food writers, publicans, chefs and front-of-house staff from other restaurants, and a few clusters of enthusiastic amateurs like me.

Review: The Dairy, 15 The Pavement, Clapham Old Town, London ...

At The Dairy, the chef makes a point of bringing out one dish to each table, in a trope that has caught on in recent years at a certain type of restaurant.

With the exception of the scallops, of which there are about eight (and that's a lot of slithery raw for a child to manage), every dish is perfectly sized, balanced and tastes a dream.

Talking of nutty, it is the junior palate that identified the hazelnut purée in the first dish.

It's only the vanilla whey in the strawberry dish that gives us both the lip-curl – another translucent slippery thing to eat around.

With its simple, flavoursome dishes, this quirky new bistro is an excellent addition to Clapham.

Vegetarian London: The Dairy Restaurant Review | Londonist

As befits a restaurant that calls itself the Dairy, churns its own butter, grows its own vegetables and herbs in its rooftop garden, keeps its own bees and even has cloudy, unfiltered wine on its drinks list, it’s selling a rustic fantasy – and judging by the Twitter buzz, urban Londoners have been lapping it up.

Like many restaurants, The Dairy doesn’t advertise its vegetarian menu on its website (why, oh why?)

Vegetables grown in the roof garden make an appearance in a dish of shaved carrots, beetroot, salad leaves, whipped goats cheese with buttermilk dressing and crunchy pieces of oat granola.

So in a restaurant that cares so much about their diners’ dietary needs, why is there a dish with Parmesan cheese on the vegetarian menu?

We would understand if it were an oversight or ignorance on part of the chef, but staff – who confirmed in an email that the other cheeses on their veggie menu are indeed vegetarian – gave a vague and confusing response about this one.

The Dairy, London SW4, restaurant review - Telegraph

The Dairy really is an unusual place; it looks like an ordinary bar, pretty cool, a bit New Yorky; the food is Strada-ly priced (yes, that is a word) but genuinely experimental.

M had potted salmon (£5), which arrived in an anchovy-tin-shaped tin, with crunchy, thinly sliced pickled beetroot over the top, two dainty, sweet pickled onions, and some Guinness soda bread on the side.

M then had what I wanted; I couldn’t quite muster the chutzpah to order two eggs in a row.

I had a sort of pea feast (£6.50), difficult to describe (not really a salad, but more like that than anything else), easy to eat.

Montgomery cheddar, shaved over the top, cubes of celery jelly and a sprinkling of fried bread sealed this as my favourite dish – ambitious, intricate, purposeful cooking.

Restaurant: The Dairy, London SW4 | Life and style | The Guardian

On it are weeny homemade doughnuts, still warm, dusted with something peppery and aromatic (hibiscus sugar?

The Dairy opened a few months ago with no marketing or publicity, but a ready-made audience of well-off restaurant-going neighbours pining for something better than Clapham's leerier joints.

From the little explosions of taste in a pea dish – thyme buds, lemon verbena jelly, mint granita – to the almond milk that comes with small rectangles of pork belly, it makes you beam with pleasure at the knowledge there's more to come.

Chef Robin Gill's CV reads like a box-ticking of places to namedrop, including Noma and Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons.

There's an endearing knockabout quality to The Dairy: the fact that it operates as a cocktail bar till the wee small hours; the informality of both setup and staff; those old-school chairs and cinema seating, which I suspect aren't really salvaged at all.