The Best of London Food and Beverage for 2016.

Here is my list of best of London food shops , restaurants and wine establishments for 2016.

Best Restaurant(s) in London : Hedone , Dinner , Bonhams , The Greenhouse , The Clove Club and The Ledbury

Best Sourcing and Ingredients : Hedone

Best Restaurant Wine Lists : Pollen St Social , Chez Bruce  , The Greenhouse , Noble Rot , Bonhams ,  Hedone and Taillvent 110

Best New Openings : Luca , Anzu and Daarbar

Best Argentinian : Zoilo

Best Italian Restaurant (Southern) :  Quattro Passi

Best Italian Restaurant (Northern) :  Novikov , Locanda Locatelli

Best Pan Italian :  , River Café  ,  Enoteca Turi , (Francesco Mazzei 's) Sartoria and L'Amorosa

Best Trattoria : Mele e Pere  and Artusi

Best Casual Indian :  Chai Ki

Best Indian (Modern) : Roti Chai and Gymkhana

Best Pakistani :  Saloos 

Best Chinese : Hunan , Kai , HKK, Silk Road and A Wong

Best Dim Sum :  A Wong  and Royal China (Baker St)

Best Thai :  Heron and Som Sa

Best Fusion : Novikov 

Best Japanese : The Araki

Best Vietnamese : head to Paris or Vietnam

Best Lebanese/Syrian : Ishbilia  Knightsbridge and Meza Tooting

Best Greek : The Greek Larder

Best "Politiki Kouzina " Peckham Bazaar 

Best Turkish : Mangal Ocakbasi (Stoke Newington)

Best Sushi : Sushi Tetsu , Yashin Sushi

Best French :  Gauthier Soho , Club Gascon and The Greenhouse

Best Modern British/European : The Ledbury , Kitchen Table and The Clove Club

Best Spanish : Cambio de Tercio  and  Pizarro 

Best Tapas : Tendido Cedro , Barrafina and José

Best English : St John's , Gillrays , The Guinea Grill

Best Fish/Seafood : One - O - One , Knightsbridge 

Best Gastro Pub : Harwood Arms , Anchor and Hope , Great Queen St

Best Service : Galvin's Windows and Cambio de Tercio

Best Sandwich : Kappacaseins Cheese Toastie

Best Pub : The Hourglass

Best Selection of Craft Beer :  The Rake , Drafhouse ( various)

Best Wine Bar : 40 Maltby St , Antidote Wine Bar and Noble Rot

Best Brasserie : Bob Bob Ricard

Best Neighbourhood Restaurants : L'Amorosa , Peckham Baazar and Artusi

Best Mavericks : Brunswick House Café , Dock Kitchen , Moro , and 40 Maltby St

Best French Bistro/Bourgeois Cooking :  Casse Croûte  

Best Burger :  Little Social 

Best "joint" Burger :  Tommi's , Meat Market , Meat Liquor and Patty& Bun

Best Chain Burger : Patty & Bun

Best Steak : Gillrays  , Guinea Grill , Zelman Meats and Goodman

Best Steak Restaurants : Gillrays, Hawksmoor , Sophie's and Goodman

Best Pizza :  Santa Maria and Pizzicotto

Best Pizza Chain : Franco Manca

Best Street Food : Mr Falafel ( Shepherds Bush )

Best Value for money Wine List : Noble Rot, Bonhams and Andrew Edmunds

Best Value for Money Restaurants : Koya Bar , Sophie's ,   and Mangal Ocakbasi

Best Breakfast : Koya Bar and The Ritz

My best meal in London 2016 . Hedone .

My best meals outside London in 2016 : The Sportsman (Kent) and The Crown Burchetts Green .

My best meals outside the UK in 2016 : Chez L'Ami Jean, Paris , Pierre Gagnaire , Paris ,  Le Calandre , Rubano , Trattoria Ai Due Platini , Parma

Best Bakery/Bread :  Hedone

Best  Chocolatier : William Curley

Best Patisserie : La Pâtisserie des Rêves , Orée

Best Coffee : Prufrock Coffee

Best Coffee Roaster : Square Mile , Monmouth and Caravan

Best Croissants : Little Bread Pedlar, Orée and Hedone

Best Gelato :  Oddono's 

Best Fishmonger : The Chelsea Fishmonger (Rex Goldsmith), Chelsea Green

Best Greengrocer : Andreas Veg , Chelsea . John and Elena @Spa Terminus

Best Greek food and wine supplier : Maltby & Greek

Best Cheese Shops : La Fromagerie , Androuet , Buchanans and Neal's Yard 

Best Purveyor of French Charcuterie  : The Ham and Cheese Company

Best Purveyors of Italian Salumi : The Ham and Cheese Company and L'Emporio Fine Foods

Best Purveyor of British Chacuterie : Cannon and Cannon

Best Wine Merchants Retail : Lea and Sandeman, Philglas and Swiggot , Market Row Wines , Bottle Apostle , Hansen Hayes and Clark and Handford

Best Wine Merchants Wholesale : Liberty , Fortyfive 10 , Aubert and Mascoli and Fields , Morris and Verdin

Best of London Food and Beverage 2015

Here is my list of best of London food shops , restaurants and wine establishments for 2015.

Best Restaurant(s) in London : Hedone , Dinner , Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road , The Greenhouse and The Ledbury

Best Sourcing and Ingredients : Hedone

Best Restaurant Wine Lists : Pollen St Social , Chez Bruce  , The Greenhouse , Hedone and Taillvent 110

Best New Openings : Bonhams , Noble Rot , Lyles , Hoppers , L'Amorosa and Sartoria ( Francesco Mazzei)

Best Argentinian : Zoilo

Best Italian Restaurant (Southern) :  Quattro Passi

Best Italian Restaurant (Northern) :  Novikov , Locanda Locatelli

Best Pan Italian :  , River Café , Tinello  ,  Enoteca Turi , (Francesco Mazzei 's) Sartoria and L'Amorosa

Best Trattoria : Mele e Pere  Antico and Artusi

Best Casual Indian :  Chai Ki

Best Indian (Modern) : Roti Chai and Gymkhana

Best Pakistani :  Saloos 

Best Chinese : Hunan , Kai , HKK and A Wong

Best Dim Sum :  A Wong  and Royal China (Baker St)

Best Thai :  Heron and Som Sa

Best Fusion : Novikov 

Best Japanese : The Araki

Best Vietnamese : head to Paris or Vietnam

Best Lebanese/Syrian : Ishbilia  Knightsbridge and Meza , Tooting

Best Greek : The Greek Larder

Best "Politiki Kouzina " Peckham Bazaar 

Best Turkish : Mangal Ocakbasi (Stoke Newington)

Best Sushi : Sushi Tetsu , Yashin Sushi

Best French : Hibiscus , Gauthier Soho , Club Gascon and The Greenhouse

Best Modern British/European : The Ledbury , Kitchen Table and The Clove Club

Best Spanish : Cambio de Tercio  and  Pizarro 

Best Tapas : Tendido Cedro , Barrafina and José

Best English : St John's , Gillrays

Best Fish/Seafood : One - O - One , Knightsbridge 

Best Gastro Pub : Harwood Arms , Anchor and Hope , Great Queen St

Best Service : Galvin's Windows and Cambio de Tercio

Best Sandwich : Kappacaseins Cheese Toastie

Best Pub : The Hourglass

Best Selection of Craft Beer :  The Rake , Drafhouse ( various)

Best Wine Bar : 40 Maltby St , Antidote Wine Bar and Noble Rot

Best Brasserie : Bob Bob Ricard , Brasserie Chavot

Best Neighbourhood Restaurants : L'Amorosa , Peckham Baazar and 

Best Mavericks : Brunswick House Café , Dock Kitchen , Moro , and 40 Maltby St

Best French Bistro/Bourgeois Cooking : Brasserie Chavot , Casse Croûte  and Koffmann's

Best Burger :  Little Social 

Best "joint" Burger :  Tommi's , Meat Market , Meat Liquor , Bleecker St  and Patty Bun

Best Chain Burger : Byron and  Honest Burgers

Best Steak : Gillrays and Goodman

Best Steak Restaurants : Gillrays, Hawksmoor , Sophie's and Goodman

Best Pizza :  Santa Maria and Pizzicotto

Best Pizza Chain : Franco Manca

Best Street Food : Mr Falafel ( Shepherds Bush )

Best Value for money Wine List : Noble Rot and Andrew Edmunds

Best Value for Money Restaurants : Koya Bar , Sophie's ,   and Mangal Ocakbasi

Best Breakfast : Koya Bar and The Ritz

My best meal in London 2015 . Hedone .

My best meals outside London in 2015 : The Sportsman (Kent) , The Fat Duck , The Crown Burchetts Green and The Pipe and Glass  (Beverley)

My best meals outside the UK in 2015 : Mavrikos Lindos , Rhodes. Chez L'Ami Jean, Paris . Maison Troisgros Roanne. Le Calandre , Rubano. Restaurant de L'Hotel de Ville , Crissier .

Best Bakery/Bread :  Hedone

Best  Chocolatier : William Curley

Best Patisserie : La Pâtisserie des Rêves

Best Coffee : Prufrock Coffee

Best Coffee Roaster : Square Mile , Monmouth and Caravan

Best Croissants : Little Bread Pedlar and Hedone 

Best Gelato :  Oddono's 

Best Fishmonger : The Chelsea Fishmonger (Rex Goldsmith), Chelsea Green

Best Greengrocer : Andreas Veg , Chelsea

Best Cheese Shops : La Fromagerie , Androuet , Buchanans and Neal's Yard 

Best Purveyor of French Charcuterie  : The Ham and Cheese Company

Best Purveyors of Italian Salumi : The Ham and Cheese Company and L'Emporio Fine Foods

Best Purveyor of British Chacuterie : Cannon and Cannon

Best Wine Merchants Retail : Lea and Sandeman, Philglas and Swiggot , Market Row Wines , Bottle Apostle , Hansen Hayes and Clark and Handford

Best Wine Merchants Wholesale : Liberty , Fortyfive 10 , Aubert and Mascoli and Fields , Morris and Verdin

Franco Manca , London

Franco Manca opened on the a site that serious Pizza lovers will may remember was once occupied by a Pizzeria called Franco that begat both Eco here and in Clapham as well as Casale Franco in Islington. (Hence Franco Manca).

Franco Manca is co owned by Neapolitan expatriate Giuseppe Mascoli and the the Brixton based artist Bridget Hugo . Mascoli is the owner of Black's the Soho Private Members Club.

Giuseppe Mascoli and his Pizza "consultant" Marco Parente have created a neo Neapolitan Pizzeria with a twist. Whilst largely adhering to the basic rules of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana they source their Fior di Latte Mozzarella from Alham Wood Farm of Somerset which is rather good and certainly better than the majority of Italian industrial versions - however some argue that not using or providing a (higher priced) option of DOP Mozzarella di Buffala is the one weakness of this establishment. Others point out that top DOP Mozzarella is too good to be used for Pizza and should be enjoyed with some good olive oil uncooked or as part of a fresh tomato based salad.

The philosophy of Franco Manca is the creation of a genuine Neapolitan Pizza with the best available locally sourced ingredients. This explains the cheeses from Shepton Mallet and Spanish Olive Oil and selected cured meats from Brindisa. The perfect dough produced with to 00 flour forms the base of a Pizza that is light and airy and cooked in a genuine Neapolitan brick wood fired ovens for less than a minute.

Mascoli like Francesco Mazzei at L'Anima represent a new generation of proud Italians who are not only perfectionists but also have a tremendous pride in the cooking of their motherland! This is great news for a city and country where regrettably many of their compatriots be they recent migrants or first and second generation have shown in Deli’s, Cafes and Restaurants a total disrespect for authentic good quality regional Italian fare.

The menu offers six Pizzas served regular or as calzone, a side salad and beverages (Organic Sicilian Lemonade, Beer and Wine ) as well as a decent Monmouth Espresso.

My routine is usually to have a Pizza and then either split another with my companion or sometimes even have two. I prefer to drink the excellent lemonade and have an espresso with il conto.

After a year or so of regular visits I am pleased to see Franco Manca has not only maintained standards but also continued to improve.

I'd love to see the option of a more expensive DOP Mozzarella di Buffalo topped Pizza for those who are prepared to pay. But despite this little quibble along with Metro on Battersea Rise I have not had better Neapolitan Pizza in the UK.

Update Monday , July 27, 2009

I took my kids for lunch today and after another sublime pizza I ran into Giuseppe Mascoli . Apart from discussing the deconstruction of a certain classic Italian dish and Jacques Derrida I told im the pizza seemed even lighter and more enjoyable than ususal. Giuseppe informed me that this was because the fermentation of the dough on Mondays has been 38 hours (from Saturday evening) unlike most days when it's 24 ! Anyway I can report that at 12.15 only 15 minutes after oeneing there was not a free seat in the casa !

L'Anima my new favourite Italian in London

I have been recommending this place to people since the summer simply on the basis of word of mouth from people I respect and specifically from people who know and understand Italian cuisine. The theme here is southern Italian especially Calabria as well as the Islands Scicily and Sardinia.
Today is the day I went and had a perfect, faultless lunch.

I can already say I prefer L'Anima ( Italian for Soul ) to Locanda Locatelli ( great food but portion control gone mad) and Enoteca Tui (where the wine list is the star) - by the way for those who think the River Cafe is a serious Italian Restaurant I suggest you click to another review !

The Pappardelle with Wild Boar Sauce, a great winter dish was perfect as was a stunning Sicilian Rabbit a dish that captured everything that is good about food from that Island.

The contorni were perfect - thin , light and crispy fried Zucchini and perfect lime and chilli infused sauted spinach.

The olives and bread were excellent as was my cheese with hazelnut honey - a superb Pecorino Sardo !

Deserts looked amazing too and the wine list is very well selected not just with the great , Barolos , Brunellos and Super Tuscans but some great value wines from the very serious wine makers like , Haas , Felluga , etc. There are also top class wines from France and Spain.

Esspresso ? well perfeto !

I'm really happy for Fracesco Mazzei who left the clutches of Corbin and King those once great restaurateurs who are unfortunateley ruining their good reputations with poor excuses for restaurants like The Wolsey.

Anyway I shall return to try the Black Pig Pork Belly , Safron and Quail Risotto not to mention the top class grilled meats and fish ! As well as deserts of course.

On the left there are raised tables and stools for a quick lunch/dinner and the restaurant also opens for breakfast - apparently excellent too for the local italian Merchant Bankers who miss their Mamas !

Update June 1st 2009

I have tried to eat in L'Anima at least once a month since it opened and am happy to say that standards remain high and attention to detail is second to none.

Had a wonderful meal here today.

Douglas Blyde had tipped me off that Fracesco Mazzei was away but the kitchen was on top form under head chef Luca Tarraneo.

My objective today was to debrief a very good friend who was not so keen on Italian food and wine . This of course is a challenge in London where good Italian restaurants can be counted on one hand.

I started with Paccheri Amatriciana which was delicious as usual my only quibble is all the pasta starter portions are too small if youhave not had an antipasti.
My Black Pig Slow Roasted Belly with Cantarata sauce was simply sensational.

Steve had the wonderful Papardelle with Duck Ragu and toasted Pistachios followed by Spit Roasted Spring Leg of lamb with Grilled Zucchinni and Roasted Potatoes.

We shared the wonderful sauteed Spinach (with a hint of chilli and lemon rind) and London's best Deep Fried Zucchini.

For desert I had the light and subtle Gianduia cake and Steve opted for the stunning Chocolate Truffle.

Wines ( we went for it - had to be done)

Frans Haas Mana Cru 2007 - Alto Adige
Barolo ‘Le Cinque Vigne’, Damilano 2002 , Piedmont
Ben Rye , Passito Di Pantelleria , Donna Fugata , 2007

The espresso was perfect as usual and it was great to meet and discuss wines with French Sommelier Nicolas Verhoye.

The long trek to West London was a sobering experience !