Acclaimed Welsh chef Bryn Williams recently opened a new vegetable-centric restaurant in Somerset House, with the stunning central London location chosen as the location for his third restaurant.
Williams cut his teeth working with Marco Pierre White at the Criterion before spending another three years as sous-chef for the renowned Michel Roux Jnr at Le Gavroche. The next step was a move to France to work at popular locations in Paris and then Nice, the latter being Hotel Negresco, a two Michelin-starred restaurant.
The Welsh chef then rose to fame when he won the opportunity to cook for the Queen's 80th Birthday on TV show, The Great British Menu. His first head appointment was at Odette's in Primrose Hill where he soon became sole chef-proprietor, and the path was set for the opening of now his third restaurant at Somerset House - Bryn Williams at Somerset House, which opened 1st March.
Williams' Somerset House menu has a strong focus on sustainability, seasonality and provenance. Fruits and vegetables will be the main focus, with small plates including Rainbow carrots, hand-dived scallop, sauterne, and Pickled mooli, black garlic, raw apple, sage, Cumbrian beef.
Seasonal mains are to include roast young broccoli, olive tapenade, sage beignet, scorched Cornish mackerel, and Char-grilled leeks, Burke Brown egg, morel mushroom. Dishes will also be available 'from the grill', such as Grilled cauliflower, golden raisin, capers, soft polenta. In a continuation of the veg-centric theme, a range of salads will also be on offer, such as Charred chicory, sour onions, smoked ricotta, rapeseed oil dressing. Signature, fruit-heavy desserts include Bay leaf panna cotta, blackberry, lime curd and Poached rhubarb and blood orange trifle.
Speaking of the opening, Williams said: "I'm a firm believer that a piece of fruit or veg should be treated with the same amount of care and respect as a cut of meat or fillet of fish – if not more. I'm thrilled to be opening a new restaurant that's not only in a stunning location, but where fresh, locally sourced produce is the focus and fruit and veg take centre stage."
Find out more about the new venue on the website bryn-somersethouse.co.uk
We identified vegetarian as one of our main food & beverage trends for the 2017-18 year in last year's trend predictions, marking it as a key area that would develop in the industry. You can see all of our trend predictions from last year over on our trendhub.