So far, 2009 has seen a lot more restaurant closures than openings, with only a handful of restaurateurs daring to launch high profile eateries in the middle of a recession. Luckily for us, one of these brave new ventures is High Timber – a ‘wine dining’ restaurant with an unbeatable location and a serious team of experts behind it.
The restaurant is the brainchild of Gary and Kathy Jordan, who own the award-winning Jordan Wine Estate in South Africa, and their friend and business partner, Neleen Strauss. (If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Neleen co-founded Vivat Bacchus in 2001).
“This is a natural progression for us - we make wines that should be enjoyed with great food and what better place is there to do this than in our own London restaurant, where Jordan wines will be showcased alongside the very best in the world,” said Gary Jordan.
Just a short walk from the Millennium Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral and the London Stock Exchange, High Timber is the only venue in the City with tables on the banks of the Thames. The restaurant features temperature and humidity controlled red and white cellars, where customers are welcomed to view and choose their wines from the 40,000 bottles on offer. They will range from the affordable to the priceless, and will include a range of British wines – both established names and new discoveries.
“Our cellars will also contain a spectacular range of European wines, across all budgets; Neleen has used her last seven years living in England well, and explored many wineries throughout France, Spain and Italy,” explains Gary, “Kathy and I also have some formidable US contacts, as we originally studied there, and many friends in the Australian and New Zealand wineries, so we will be very well represented there too.”
The European menu, with a focus on grilled steaks and British meats, has been created by head chef Justin Saunders, formerly of the prestigious Dukes Hotel in Mayfair. The steaks – which are all from Cumbria – are cut to order from the bone and matured for a minimum of 28 days. The menu also includes dishes like rump of Herdwick lamb with spiced aubergine; John Dory with white asparagus and cockle vinaigrette; and loin of venision and braised haunch with red cabbage and quince puree.
For dessert, there is chocolate tart with blood orange ice-cream; lemon steamed pudding with sultana syrup and clotted cream; and an exotic fruit terrine with lime syrup. The restaurant also boasts an impressive cheese room specialising in seasonal cheeses alongside a selection of original chutneys, honeys and jams.
High Timber is open for lunch and dinner Monday to Friday, as well as brunch (11am to 3pm) and dinner on Saturdays. In traditional early bird style, London food bloggers DosHermanos have already been in and written a review which you can read here.
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