Acorn
House, 69 Swinton Street, London
WC1
Louise Elgin minds
her carbon footprint...
If you
love eating out but have a conscience
about the effects on our declining
planet and the environment then this
could be the restaurant for you to
try. Acorn House, situated in deepest
polluted Kings Cross, seems an unlikely
setting for an eco-friendly restaurant.
It has been set up as a benevolent
venture by a host of charities including
The Terrance Higgins Trust and lesser
known Shoreditch Trust, which is
committed to improving a host of
issues in the local area, and smacks
of the Fifteen Restaurant project
so successfully created by Jamie
Oliver. Indeed, Head Chef Arthur
Potts Dawson was heavily involved
there, not only as the Head Chef
but in many other aspects of its
creation.
Each
year at Acorn House, up to ten local
young chefs will be given the opportunity
to learn all aspects of how to run
a kitchen that is environmentally
aware. Undeniably, all aspects of
the venture have the environment
at the top of the agenda, from the
building’s materials, to ensuring
all produce served in the restaurant
comes from ethically sustainable
sources - mostly from farms which
practice positive animal husbandry
as well as other small independent
suppliers for its fruit and vegetables.
It pledges to buy fair trade wherever
possible whilst purified tap water
is available free of charge, thus
minimising glass and plastic waste.
Being a community venture, Acorn
House is open for breakfast, lunch
and dinner, with reasonably priced
take-aways on offer for office workers
and local residents with scruples.
The feel of the rectangular restaurant
is modern and clean, with wooden
tables and matching benches and modern
lighting. The tables are small and
its all a little cramped, but the
service is friendly and the mood
music is just the right volume so
you can still chat and not be overheard.
The
menu, which changes monthly to reflect
the changing seasons is served as
either a la carte or a five course
tasting menu. We opted for the latter
which offers a choices of dishes
throughout most of the courses and
at £38 per head includes a very refreshing
rhubarb Bellini, or at £68 a head
comes with an accompanying selection
of wines by the glass.
We began
with a bowl of magenta velvety rich
beetroot, cardamom and sour cream
soup, which had a welcome accompanying
kick of peppery spice, and a glass
of English wine, Bacchus from Kent
which was rich and flavoursome, with
a heady bouquet and a taste of honey
and greengages. Our second course
was a choice of either a winter salad
of pheasant, pomegranates and dandelion
which was a good combination of contrasting
flavours or a yellow beetroot and
waxy potato salad with a green olive
and chilli dressing, which we thought
was a bit on the bland side; with
this we drank a surprisingly fruity
and light French chardonnay. To follow
we had a stilton and walnut risotto
which was to die for, with a good
bite and a rich cheese flavour. It
was perfectly cooked comfort food,
ideal for the dark winter evening
outside. With this we drank an excellently
paired South African Chenin Blanc
which held it own well with the strong
flavours on the palate. By now we
were feeling fairly full but ploughed
on with our main course choices.
My guest
had roasted shoulder of mutton with
rosemary and quince; she said it
was very tender and enjoyable although
it could have been seasoned a little
more. To accompany this she had a
glass of Argentine Mendoza merlot
which smelt amazingly of burnt fudge
and had strong peppery overtones.
My char grilled fish came with a
wonderful horseradish and cardamom
sauce and was suitably fresh and
light after all I had already consumed.
I had an accompanying glass of organic
Chilean chardonnay with a rich sherry
taste. By now we were struggling
to find room for any more, so decided
to split the peppered flourless chocolate
cake & ginger ice cream. It was very
light, with crystallised ginger beneath
the chocolaty sponge, while the ice
cream was faultless too. A perfect
pudding to finish our meal.
Acorn
House is not your typical London
restaurant, it has an air of an apprentice
about it which is part of its charm
(one clever twist was that the regulatory
match boxes by the exit turned out
to be packets of seeds to be taken
home to be planted). I think others
will have to follow in its mould,
as we all wake up to the probability
that our planet is dying and it is
no longer acceptable for the food
on our plate to have flown thousands
of miles round the world just to
satisfy our palates.
A meal
for two with wine and water is around £40
a head.
Louise
Elgin March 2007
Acorn
House 69 Swinton Street London WC1
Tel: 020 7812 1842
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