St. JOHN: A Living Legend
British cuisine now has a sterling reputation. But it wasn’t always like this. When people traveled to London or England, it wasn’t for the food. In fact, it was quite frowned upon. Fish and chips, meat pies and jellied eels. That is what they were known for and not in a positive light. But that has all changed. London is now officially a food city with tons of global food choices available. Indian food in London is known to be one of the best. Chinatown in London is bustling with Chinese and Vietnamese and even Filipino options. British produce is great and their seafood is pristine. Brits have begun to look inward for ingredients instead of coveting produce from Italy or France.
Approaching history: the simple exterior St. John Smithfield Restaurant.
One of the biggest reasons why British cuisine is in its current state is because of chef Fergus Henderson. When he started St. John restaurant in Smithfield, it slowly garnered attention until it became the icon it is today. Chef Fergus looked back to classic British recipes and served them simply. A pillar of St. John is to respect the animal by serving all parts of it, head to tail. That includes hearts, kidneys, brains and everything in between. And when chef Fergus released his first book “Nose to Tail Eating,” it sparked a culinary revival among both local and global chefs. That is why St. John is an essential restaurant for anyone that travels to London.
The sun-drenched hallway entrance to St. John Smithfield. Don’t forget to use hand sanitiser!
The St. John Smithfield location has an unassuming storefront. Both the outside and inside of the restaurant are bathed in white and the words “St. John Bar and Restaurant” and their phone phone number is in simple black text. Skylights in the long entranceway allow for generous amounts of sunlight to permeate into the foyer and the bakery section of the restaurant. After walking past the bar and up the stairs, the main dining room is also predominantly adorned in white. The only color comes from the dark chairs and chalkboards with the menu written in white chalk. There’s nothing pretentious about this place. It’s simple yet very elegant.
White paper tablecloths and dark brown wooded chairs in the simple, no-nonsense dining room at St. John Smithfield.
The most iconic dish at St. John is the bone marrow and grilled bread with parsley salad. It is a must order when dining here. If anyone has ordered a bone marrow dish with bread in the last 25 years, the influence is most likely traced back to this very spot in the Smithfield district in London. As it arrives on the table, the eyes fixate on the four chubby round discs of roasted bones. In the middle of each two inch tall veal bone lies the treasure, the fatty marrow. A gray, amorphous blob that doesn’t look appealing at all. But beauty doesn’t exactly correlate to flavor. With a bit of picking and prying with seafood picks, those gray blobs can be coaxed out of those boney abodes and onto the perfectly grilled piece of bread. Topped with a little bit of sea salt and parsley salad, it’s ready to go.
The ground-breaking, iconic dish of roasted bone marrow, for diners to pick out and spread on toast.
First, the tender marrow coats the mouth with a layer of rich fat. The flavor is fatty but meaty and beefy at the same time, like beef butter. Crunchy salt only enhances the beefy intensity while the crispy bread tempers the richness and provides a lovely textural bite. The parsley salad is important because it cleans the oiliness from the palate with its green herbal bite and the capers’ burst of acidity. After the mouthful is finished, the body yearns for another. That intensely rich, beefy fat is addicting. This iconic dish has stayed on the menu for decades and for good reason. To be eating this dish is to be going back in time to a pivotal moment in history.
There is nothing more British than Welsh Rabbit, or Rarebit. It can be argued that it belongs up there with meat pies and fish and chips. But contrary to its name, it contains no rabbit and it did not come from Wales. What Welsh Rarebit actually is, simply put, is toast. Not the trendy, green avocado stuff all over Instagram, but a very humble melty cheesy toast. There are various versions of Welsh Rarebit all over the UK and St. John’s is one of the most famous. They turn the cheese into a bechamel like sauce by combining melted cheese with ale and mustard. That nutty brown (the color comes from the dark ale) cheese mixture is then slathered all over the grilled toast. It doesn’t look like the most appealing but it is incredibly tasty.
Cheese, Ale, and Mustard Sauce spread over Grilled Toast at St. John, aka a Welsh Rarebit.
A trick to increase its flavor potential is to use a knife and to make a crosshatch pattern on the cheese sauce. Then take the bottle of Worcestershire sauce that comes with the dish and dash its contents all over the Welsh Rarebit. The crosshatch pattern will catch the sauce so each bite will be packed with savory goodness. The flavor is incredibly complex for something seemingly so simple. Rich, gooey cheesy notes first emerge when biting through the soft sauce and crunchy bread. It isn’t overpowering because the ale tempers the cheese. Instead, dark nutty notes from the ale perfume through the palate dotted with zesty, savory zings from the Worcestershire sauce littered throughout the toast. In the background of this intersection of flavor lies a mustardy note from beginning to end. It isn’t too prominent or strong, but is ever present in the background, adding a contrasting flavor to balance all the richness, like a chaperone watching over a middle school dance, making sure that it doesn’t get out of hand.
The Welsh Rarebit at St. John, now scored and topped with Worcestershire sauce.
Another item that is often on the menu is the whole crab and mayonnaise. A gigantic whole crab is steamed, allowed to cool, then presented on a plate with a large bowl of creamy mayonnaise and a half of a lemon. It does not get any more minimalistic than that. The beautiful, bright red-orange color of the crab shell draws the eye in. It looks so pristine and perfect that it is hard to start eating. A flip of the large head shell reveals the tomalley hidden inside. It is brown with a tinge of green. Not the most attractive of things but there’s a pattern with the food here. St. John’s focus is on the full expression of food and flavor. The tomalley is a perfect example of that: sweet, oceany and not bitter at all – lots of flavor but it just kinda looks questionable. But again, St. John’s preparation of the crab ensures its flavor is expressed to the fullest and highest extent possible. Too bad that there is only so much tomalley in one crab, because another spoonful or six would be greatly appreciated.
A whole steamed crab is presented simply with olive oil mayonnaise and lemon at St. John Smithfield. Seafood crackers and picks are provided to remove the tender and sweet crab meat.
The rest of the crab requires some work. Crab crackers and seafood picks are provided for extraction of the delicate flesh. It takes time to remove all the meat (zero waste!) but it is time well spent. The milky white crab meat is super sweet and meaty. It has a slight hint of the ocean and is extremely tender to the bite. The olive oil mayonnaise, albeit super tasty, is not needed because it can overpower the gentle flavors of the crab. A squeeze of lemon, however, brings out more of the crab flavor and intensifies its sweetness. The plainly served crab is a beautiful expression of the bounty of the seas.
On the other side of the flavor spectrum are the devilled kidneys. Super hearty kidneys are pan fried in butter with flour to create a roux based sauce along with dry mustard and served on top of sourdough toast. This largely brown mono colored dish is stacked high with seared kidneys. The sauce is poured all over the kidneys and softens the toast just enough for a knife to easily cut through. Each kidney is cooked to perfection and the result is an extremely tender texture. St. John is the expert in cooking offal because this dish is divine. The flavor of the caramelized rich sauce hits first. Then the mineral-y flavor of the kidney sets in but because it is so fresh, it isn’t overpowering. The slightly crunchy and soft sourdough toast releases more sauce and a hint of tang to tip the balance. Overall, this is a heavy dish but it has a lot of delicious components happening at the same time. Definitely a dish to share because it would be extremely difficult for one person to eat the entire thing
Rich, savory, perfectly cooked devilled kidneys on toast, served with a gravy at St. John.
To finish off an incredible historic meal… St. John has a plethora of choices. A lot of them are seasonal and rotate from day to day. There are a few that are mainstays of the menu. The Eccles cake with Lancaster cheese is the most famous of their desserts but after a heavy meal, something lighter is desired. Another option is their madeleines that come in an order of six or twelve. These beauties are made fresh to order and require the diner to wait a excruciating 15 minutes before they are rewarded for their patience. When the madeleines arrive, they are neatly arranged in a circle. Warm to the touch, these golden brown sponge cakes have a crisp crust that yield gently to the teeth. Inside, the madeleines are tender with a bouncy texture. Subtle hints of vanilla and almond mingle inside the mouth as each mouthful of madeleine disappears with each bite. The flavor is spot on and the sweetness level is perfect. An absolutely delightful way to end the meal.
A plate of 6 golden brown, warm, freshly baked Madeleines for dessert at St. John.
St. John is legendary for good reason. It is a great restaurant that started a movement to celebrate British cuisine and produce that had been absent previously. St. John has inspired young chefs locally and abroad with their philosophy to respect the animal by using delicious parts that normally would be discarded and wasted. London’s food scene is up there with Paris and New York because of Chef Fergus Henderson and his good work at St. John. Good, honest cooking will endure much longer than trends and avocado toast. Classics stay classic for a reason. So please, add St. John as a must-go to any list that includes fish and chips, the London Eye or Buckingham palace.
