A basement in London’s Soho might well conjure up all manner of elicit connotations referencing the area’s former guise as a hub of naughtiness and antics best kept behind closed doors. Fast-forward to today and the area is more foodie than fondle. Though dare to try to make a reservation in this part of town and you’ll be firmly put in your place… that being at the bottom of a pencil-drafted list that is at least two hours long. So it was with some relief that I was informed of a booking… an actual booking…gasp…at Coal Vaults a brick-lined and aptly cavern-like space opened by Martyn Simpson and Andy Kanter on Wardour Street. Stride too quickly though and you might well miss it; subtle the entrance certainly is, but with the most fabulous of hosts running the door personality replaces prime frontage. With a make-do ethic from the handcrafted scaffold furniture, home-made preserves, and self-concocted vodka infusions, the menu is a seasonal roll-call of sharing plates encouraged to be paired with a punchy cocktail courtesy of Jerome Slesinski. Cue a Marano, a 2 for 1 affair of staunch Mirto Rosso, gin and crushed blueberries paired with a crisp sparkling prosecco, buy one get one free at its best surely! An autumnal Coxsone of Carpano Antica, golden rum and spiced apple is given a more tropical note with a twist of lime. Sustenance is definitely required after such a liquor love-in and under the watchful eye of head chef Magnus Reid a host of sharing plates that one can actually share… shock, horror…seemed to effortlessly drift from the kitchen. A charred courgette, caramelized red pepper, goat’s curd, and hazelnut salad was awash with freshness and flavors emerging like top and bottom notes in a fragrance. The ‘Pulled Rabbit’, a signature dish for Coal Vaults is a sort of lovechild between rural England and Urban Mexico with the flakiest rabbit served on flatbread with smoked black beans and pineapple. A potted crab with a rich butter-set lid to it cried out to be generously smeared across the home-baked soda bread before layering with brown and white crabmeat. To top it all off dessert in the form of a flourless chocolate cake is worthy of an addiction that won’t have one reaching for the nearest clinic, just a gymnasium. Deep, rich, and smooth with a zing of mint and crunch from toasted almonds I would come back just for another slice. JAMES TREGASKES
Coal Vaults, 187b Wardour Street, London W1F 8XB, for more information see, coalvaults.com
