SEPTEMBER

NIEVES BAR-
RAGÁN MOHACHO
BARRAFINA,
LONDON W1
Bilbao-born Nieves is the
culinary dynamo who, as
executive head chef, gives
Sam and Eddie Hart’s
Barrafina restaurants their
auténtico edge.
@nievesbarragan1
“Mitch has the best seafood and
he really knows how to preserve flavour
in these amazing ingredients.”
The Seahorse,
Dartmouth, Devon
“I first visited The Seahorse 10 years ago.
Mitch Tonks, who is the chef and co-owner
there, had been at (Barrafina’s then sisterrestaurant)
Fino, he loved it and said, ‘come
to my restaurant and I’ll cook for you’.
Nowadays it’s my favourite place. The
restaurant is a stunning room overlooking
the estuary with a very special ambience
– it feels like home. The food may look
simple – perhaps just three ingredients on
the plate, and Mitch is not overly fussy about
presentation – but it’s backed-up by real skill.
Being by the sea, and because he knows
everyone locally, Mitch has the best seafood
and he really knows how to preserve flavour
in these amazing ingredients. His white port
scallops are heavenly, as is the cuttlefish
cooked with fennel, tomato and orange juice
served with a cuttlefish ink polenta. Mitch
also introduced me to roasting fish using
a charcoal oven (we have one at Barrafina
Adelaide Street and Drury Lane because of
him), and he loves to cook delicate fish such
as brill or John Dory whole, on-the-bone,
as we do in the Basque Country. It’s always
a long dinner. I never want to leave.” Mains
from £20; seahorserestaurant.co.uk
The Ninth, London W1
“This is Jun Tanaka’s place and, so far,
his rabbit lasagne is my dish of the year.”
Mains from £15; theninthlondon.com
Quality Chop House,
London EC1
“Unbelievably tasty, interesting English food.
The cod with langoustine and hollandaise
is wonderful.” Mains from £14;
thequalitychophouse.com
Salvo’s, Leeds
“Normally, in India, you eat Indian food
everywhere, so when I came to Britain in 2004,
I discovered lots of new cuisines, from English
to Chinese. My husband Bobby first took me
to Salvo’s about six years ago and it took
some time to get used to these Italian flavours.
We know John (Dammone, Salvo’s co-owner)
and so he would make specials for us and put
a little more chilli in certain dishes for me, but,
nowadays, I love the cheesy gnocchi ai quatro
formaggi. I like the simplicity of it, it’s soothing
and homely and the potato gnocchi are really
light. We’re vegetarian and I also really like
the casarecce frattese, a short tubular pasta
served with tomatoes, mozzarella, pecorino
82 Omagazine.com September 2016
and my favourite vegetable, aubergines – from
Puglia in this case. I don’t drink alcohol, so with
my meal I’ll usually have an Italian blood orange
juice. We normally have Monday off, so we
might go to Salvo’s with our young daughter.
It has a really good family-friendly atmosphere,
the service is warm and it’s good to see the
owners working in the kitchen. When we first
went it was tiny, but it has been expanded
recently and now it’s a really open, dynamic
space.” Starters from £6.50; mains from
£8.50; salvos.co.uk
Benares, London W1
“Lovely food and atmosphere. I like to see how
Atul Kochhar is experimenting with Indian
cuisine, its ingredients and presentation.”
Mains from £21; benaresrestaurant.com
Akbar’s, Bradford
“I usually order a mixed vegetable curry or
slow-cooked channa dhal and the special
potato and pea brown rice is beautifully
fragrant.” Mains from around £7.95;
akbars.co.uk
MINAL PATEL
PRASHAD, NR.
LEEDS
Head chef at one of the
north’s most celebrated
Indian restaurants, Minal’s
Gujarati vegetarian food packs
revelatory layers of flavour.
@Prashad_veggie
“The service is
warm and it’s
good to see the owners
working
in the kitchen.”