Fay Maschler reviews Rochelle Bar & Canteen at ICA: Canteen cooking elevated to an art form

Margot Henderson's sophisticated cuisine excels in its new gallery setting
Beyond the pale: Rochelle Canteen's bright new space at the ICA
Matt Writtle
Fay Maschler20 November 2017

Rochelle Canteen in Shoreditch, which I love, invariably drops off my “Where shall we go?” radar because its location is that cornball, tautologous thing, a hidden secret. Located in what was the bike shed of a school on the periphery of Arnold Circus, recent loosening of stays has added a drinks licence and end-of-week evening openings, but entry is still via a bell beside a shabby door in a brick wall in what those of us not steeped in Shoreditch lore think of — if we think at all — as the boondocks.

The ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) at the foot of Carlton House Terrace steps in The Mall has been off my radar for ages. I think I saw Yoko Ono perform her Cut Piece there in the late 1960s as part of the Destruction in Art Symposium, but I could be hallucinating. I do remember a talk given by Leonard Cohen, who observed that it was so wrong that he was on stage while we, the audience, were sitting below him. When invited to join us he looked absolutely horrified.

The ICA has a new director in Stefan Kalmár, previously the highly successful director and curator at New York’s Artists Space. In commenting on the vision of the ICA founders 70 years ago, he describes it as the start of an organisation in which different modes of cultural production could thrive on engagement with each other.

In 1947, food would not have been countenanced as an element of culture. Now though, when food is all we ever hear or read about, how perfect that Melanie Arnold and Margot Henderson of Rochelle Canteen are bringing their vision and version of how to eat to the revivified gallery. It is, simply put, a great move, an historic one, even.

My lunch companion Victoria, who arrives before me, texts to say that there is a £1 fee for daily membership of the gallery. I offer the money at the desk only for the attendant to look up and briskly comment, “Seniors are free.” Not exactly exhilarated — but with a pound saved — I walk past the film and video survey exhibition of the works of American artist Seth Price to the bar and canteen now spread out, freed up and flooded with natural light and an inevitable level of noise.

Fay Maschler's 50 favourite restaurants in London

1/50

Sitting by the window, autumn leaves in trees lining The Mall spiral down. At morning coffee time most days the Household Cavalry clips-clop by.

Aficionados of Rochelle Canteen and/or those lucky enough to frequent events catered by Arnold & Henderson will note signifiers on the menus, assemblies such as rillettes and pickled cucumber, celeriac soup and back fat, deep-fried sprats and tartare sauce, Barnsley chop, minestra nera and anchovy, roast brill, lentils and green sauce, St James (washed-rind sheep’s cheese), crab apple and oatcakes.

The list changes in part daily. On Instagram, as I write, the editor of Restaurant magazine is posting a picture of pheasant, trotter and prune pie with buttered greens and extolling the restorative power of proper grub.

At lunch and then supper two days later items that particularly gratify are a huge heap of fat red radishes alongside a cream of pale pink smoked cod’s roe (taramasalata if you like); queen scallops — the diminutive ones — spiked with lemon and chilli; spatchcocked quail sprinkled with harissa before fearless roasting served with aioli that hoots garlic; a slice of douce, rich chicken liver pâté with the necessary salt and vinegar in the equation being provided by small, crisp cornichons; braised fennel sausages dense and peppery but tender to the touch surrounded by polenta rising like a soft reef in a sea of gravy; succulent lamb cutlets with bobby beans; an exemplary green salad with quite spiky personality.

Braised fennel sausages are peppery and dense but tender, surrounded by polenta rising like a reef in  a sea of gravy

Desserts deserve a rave of their own, particularly a smooth meringue with a chewy heart served with slices of faintly grainy quince and whipped cream flavoured with the juices, and a rustic apple tart with al dente fruit and the ideal lashing of yellow Jersey cream.

Chef Ben Coombs has come from Rochelle Canteen. Fin Spiteri, son of Melanie Arnold and Jon Spiteri, is in charge of drinks. He makes a mean Negroni, although this seraphic lad could only be accused of compassion. He nods through my decision to order a bottle of red and one of white — there are four of us eating — from the Berry Bros. Merchant range, charged at an eminently fair £20 each. They keep the bill in check and are as steady as you might anticipate.

The cookbook Margot Henderson published five years ago designed for entertaining numbers — always daunting — is called You’re All Invited. Now is the moment to take her at her word.

ICA, The Mall, SW1 (020 7729 5677, Rochelle Bar & Canteen). Open Tue-Sun 11am-11pm. Lunch noon-3pm and dinner 6pm-10pm. A full meal for two with wine, about £88 including 12.5 per cent service

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in