I am closely watching a young chef skilfully stuff sweetbreads between the fat and flesh of a French-trimmed rack of lamb. We are in the tiny former beer cellar of an 18th-century pub that converted into a restaurant with only 12 countertop seats semi-circling an open kitchen. Three chefs beaver away with production-line efficiency; when a dish is ready, one of the men presents it with an explanation to an eager diner. The sommelier is also host and busser. Everyone works front of house.
Chef’s table restaurants — where fine dining meets immersive theatre — have been cropping up in interesting spaces around London, offering diners insider access to some of the city’s most serious cookery. These venues are a playhouse for the gastro-curious (or MasterChef obsessives): the kitchen is the stage and a secret tasting menu, the restaurant’s sole offering, is the performance. Only a dozen or so bookings are available per night.
The concept is not entirely new. Like much of modern fine dining, it stems from Japanese tradition: omakase, which translates to “I leave it up to you”, the method of countertop dining in which guests leave themselves in the hands of the chef. In return they receive an elegant several-course meal with an emphasis on premium ingredients and seasonality. Omakase requires a chef’s full attention and privileges the happiness of the guest, so only a limited number of diners are served per night.