Chez Bruce is a restaurant located at 2 Bellevue Road in
Wandsworth
Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
Toponymy
Wandsworth takes its name ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England.
History
The restaurant was opened in February 1995 by Bruce Poole and his business partner Nigel Platts-Martin, a proprietor of several other
Michelin-starred
The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...
London restaurants, like
La Trompette in
Chiswick
Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...
and The Glasshouse in
Kew
Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...
, both of them also co-owned by Poole. Before the opening, Poole previously worked for Bibendum under
Simon Hopkinson and then
The Square (then-located in
St James's
St James's is a district of Westminster, and a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End of London, West End. The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of St. James's Palace and much of ...
), which had been also co-owned by Platts-Martin and its chef patron
Phil Howard.
Chez Bruce occupies the site of former
Marco Pierre White
Marco Pierre White (born 11 December 1961) is an English chef, restaurateur and television personality. In 1995 he became the youngest chef to earn three Michelin stars. He has trained chefs including Mario Batali, Shannon Bennett, Gordon Ramsa ...
restaurant,
Harveys. It also occupies the site of a nearby former post office since 2009 for building expansion.
The restaurant has held its first Michelin star since late January 1999.
Menu
The restaurant's menu has been seasonal and has featured wines. Poole's cuisine has been
French brasserie
In France, Flanders, and the Francophone world, a brasserie () is a type of French restaurant with a relaxed setting, which serves dishes and other meals.
The word ''brasserie'' is French for "brewery" and, by extension, "the brewing busine ...
.
Among the dishes served in July 1995 were salt cod
fritters
A fritter is a portion of meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables, or other ingredients which have been battered or breaded, or just a portion of dough without further ingredients, that is deep-fried. Fritters are prepared in both sweet and savory var ...
with potatoes, fried
parsley
Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum''), is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to Greece, Morocco and the former Yugoslavia. It has been introduced and naturalisation (biology), naturalized in Eur ...
, and mayonnaise; and
soused mackerel
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment.
...
with
frisee leaves, sliced boiled potatoes and bacon
lardon
A lardon, also spelled lardoon, is a small strip or cube of fatty bacon, or pork fat (usually subcutaneous fat), used in a wide variety of cuisines to flavor savory food and salads. In French cuisine, lardons are also used for larding, by thre ...
s. Among the
main course
A main course is the featured or primary dish in a meal consisting of several courses. It usually follows the entrée () course.
Usage
In the United States and Canada (except Quebec), the main course is traditionally called an "entrée". En ...
s were sliced roast neck of lamb with spinach,
merguez
Merguez () is a red, spicy lamb- or beef-based fresh sausage in Maghrebi cuisine. In France, merguez became popular in the 1960s and 1970s, as Algerian immigrants and the pieds-noirs of Algeria settled in the country and opened small shops and ...
sausages and a
timbale of spiced
aubergine
Eggplant ( US, CA, AU, PH), aubergine ( UK, IE, NZ), brinjal ( IN, SG, MY, ZA, SLE), or baigan ( IN, GY) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit, typica ...
; and grilled calf's liver with sliced grilled
onglet, spinach and diced fried potatoes. Among desserts were
sandwich biscuit enclosing raspberries and vanilla ice cream, entitled "sablé of raspberries"; and strawberry
granita
Granita () or () is a semi-frozen dessert made with sugar, water, and various flavorings. Originally from Sicily, it is available throughout Italy in varying forms. It is related to sorbet and Italian ice; however, throughout Sicily its cons ...
.
Among the dishes served in August 2019 were cod
brandade with ''sauce nero'' and warm salad of
cuttlefish
Cuttlefish, or cuttles, are Marine (ocean), marine Mollusca, molluscs of the order (biology), suborder Sepiina. They belong to the class (biology), class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique ...
,
courgette
Zucchini (; : ''zucchini'' or ''zucchinis''), courgette () or ''Cucurbita pepo'' is a summer squash, a vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and epicarp (rind) are still soft and edible. It is closely r ...
and chili; diced (raw) tuna with
tamarind
Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this spe ...
-glazed aubergine,
soy
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed.
Soy is a key source of f ...
, sesame and pickled ginger; mackerel
rillettes
Rillettes (, also , ) is a preservation method similar to confit where meat is seasoned then submerged in fat and cooked slowly over the course of several hours (4 to 10 hours). The meat is shredded and packed into sterile containers covered in ...
with cured mackerel,
elderflower
''Sambucus'' is a genus of between 20 and 30 species of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae. The various species are commonly referred to as elder, with the flowers as elderflower, and the fruit as elderberry.
Description
Elders are mostl ...
,
crème fraîche
Crème fraîche (English pronunciation: , , lit. "fresh cream") is a dairy product similar to cream cheese, a soured cream containing 10–45% butterfat, with a pH of approximately 4.5. It is soured with a Microbiological culture, bacterial cult ...
, cucumber and
gooseberries
Gooseberry ( or (American and northern British) or (southern British)) is a common name for many species of ''Ribes'' (which also includes currants), as well as a large number of plants of similar appearance, and also several unrelated pl ...
; as a main course, roast cod with olive oil mash,
provençale tomato and
gremolata
''Gremolata'' () or ''gremolada'' (, ) is a green sauce made with chopped parsley, lemon zest, and garlic. It is the standard accompaniment to the Lombard braised veal shank dish ossobuco.
Ingredients
''Gremolata'' usually includes grated ...
; and hot chocolate pudding with
praline parfait
Parfait ( , , ; meaning "perfect") is either of two types of dessert. In France, where the dish originated, parfait is made by boiling cream, egg, sugar and syrup to create a custard-like or meringue-like puree which is then frozen. The Amer ...
.
Reception
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, List of restaurants owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has ...
, who worked under Marco Pierre White at the former site Harveys for three years, praised Chez Bruce in 2005 as one of his favourite restaurants. In July 2016, after disdaining it as "ultra-bourgeois and a little dated" around ten years prior, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' food critic
Marina O'Loughlin rated Chez Bruce's food, atmosphere, and money value nine out of ten points each, calling it "an absolute classic".
Accolades
In 2006, Chez Bruce was first named as "
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
ers' Favourite Restaurant" in a
survey conducted for ''Harden's London Restaurants'', a title which
The Ivy had held for the past nine years. Chez Bruce has since been top of the list as London's favorite restaurant for eleven consecutive years as of September 2016.
Out of top 100 British restaurants, ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' ranked Chez Bruce 43rd in 2011 with a score of 9.28 out of ten, 31st in 2012 with a 9.42 score, 40th in 2013 with a 9.44 score, 79th in 2014 with a 9.25 score, and 82nd with a 9.30 score.
See also
*
List of French restaurants
This is a list of notable French restaurants. French cuisine consists of cooking traditions and practices from France, famous for the rich tastes and subtle nuances with long and rich history. France, a country famous for its agriculture and indepe ...
References
Further reading
* eBook:
External links
*
{{Restaurants in London
Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Wandsworth
French restaurants in London
Michelin-starred restaurants in the United Kingdom
Restaurants established in 1995
Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Wandsworth
1995 establishments in England