Chef Sally Abé’s Ultimate Guide to London’s Restaurant Festival
London’s Restaurant Festival Returns
Definitely one of the highlights of the London restaurant scene, the Autumn Edition of London Restaurant Festival is back. There’s over 50 culinary experiences throughout October – this is a food festival like no other! Catch London’s top chefs cooking up a storm at some of the very best food and drinks spots throughout the month.
Sally Abé’s Guide to London’s Restaurant Festival
Sally Abé, Consultant Chef at The Pem restaurant, at the Conrad London St James is in the lineup at this year’s Festival with a special dinner for American Express Centurion card holders as one of the the ‘Female Founders’ series, alongside some other boundary-breaking female chefs. Her restaurant, The Pem will be hosting on October 31st, with four spectacular courses created by Sally and her team. Multi-award winning The Pem is famous for Sally’s take on historic British dishes with a modern twist, using the best British produce she can get her hands on.
We asked Sally what she thought would be the best events to grab tickets for at this year’s London Restaurant Festival: “There’s a brilliant mix of experiences, and it’s a great way to try everything from swanky dining at Michelin-starred restaurants to more casual stuff, there’s even a street food event.
“First up, an epic night on September 30th to kick off the Festival. They’re taking over Market Halls Oxford Street, they’ve even got a line-up of DJs, and there are some amazing new street vendors there, so look out for Sexy Buns, 20ft Fried Chicken, and Budgie Montoya’s new Filipino concept Apoy.
“From this year’s restaurant line-up, I’m really keen to go along to one of the Neighbourhood dinners, they’re the sort of restaurants that everyone wants to have on their doorstep. I’ve always wanted to try Smoke & Salt in Tooting, they cook a lot of the food over fire, and they have a great value three course menu on 25th October.
“There’s also some really interesting-looking bar Master Classes, and from these, the one I fancy is the Gusbourne Wine Tasting at The Rooftop Bar at The Londoner on 5th October – Gusbourne is special, one of the best English sparking wineries there is, and you get four different wines paired with Japanese canapes.
“Next up would be one of the Restaurant Hopping Tours – you can try four different restaurants in one night, with a tasting plate and drink at each. It’s a real culinary tour! The Best of Belgravia looks particularly good. It’s on October 24th, and includes Mina’s, The Jones Family Kitchen, Morena and The Wilton Arms, a good spread of quality food in this part of central London.
“The Top Ten Cuisines experiences look really special. All the restaurants are at the top of London’s dining scene and cover cuisines from across the world. This diversity of food is what London is known for. Chef luminaries Emily and Michel Roux have curated an amazing French menu at Caractère in Notting Hill on 21st October featuring the best dishes from their restaurants Caractère and Le Gavroche. There’s also a chance to try contemporary Peruvian food with Head Chef Roberto Sihuay at Lima Fitzrovia on 26th October.”
More information and tickets are available now for all events through the London Restaurant Festival website LRF Autumn Festival – Home (londonrestaurantfestival.com)