Rockin’ around the Christmas tree: The Duke of Cambridge
(Picture: Press handout)From the age of about 14 to 32, I was vegetarian — apart from at my grandma’s, because I loved her gravy. And when I was a few wines down at a barbecue, because I love sausages. And at Christmas, because being vegetarian when all the best things are wrapped in sizzling bacon is utterly bleak.
At least it used to be, when a vegetarian Christmas dinner was confined to nut roast or tofurkey. These days, however, plant-based dinners can be as decadent as meat ones — particularly in the hands of chefs who source quality fruit and vegetables, and consider vegetarians of at least equal import as their more carnivorous guests. Some of these restaurants offer festive menus for potential patrons to ponder in advance of booking; others are so seasonal, their menu changes weekly. If they’re on this list, though, it’s because they consistently offer starters and main courses that are creative, clever, carefully sourced and — almost incidentally — plant based.
Apricity
At Chantelle Nicholson’s calm, charming restaurant in Mayfair, everything from the cordials in the cocktails to the staff’s eye-catching clothes has been reused, reclaimed or recycled. Such worthiness could feel wearing, particularly in December — a month not famed for moderation — but Nicholson has the charisma and, crucially, cheffing ability to pull it off. As such, her approach to sustainability engages rather than grates. A Manhattan made with pickled blackberries packs a punch, even if you neither know nor care that the winery behind its vermouth is solar powered. A salad of London red butterhead lettuce is so decadently dressed, one stops to wonder if Apricity is the matrix, and the lettuce is in fact duck liver parfait. Set menus for large groups offer a choice of two veggie options for mains: miso roasted cabbage with smoked emulsion or roasted cauliflower with caramelised cauliflower pureÌe and cobnuts. The starter is a doughnut stuffed with caramelised onion. Apricity is living, enlivening proof that being green doesn’t have to be a grind.
68 Duke Street, W1, apricityrestaurant.com
Café Deco
Not so long ago, vegetarians were lucky if they had even one viable option on a menu. Now one is standard, any more than three is probably a vegetarian restaurant, and restaurants offering two plant-based mains as well as omnivorous options are the new holy grail for veggies with meaty friends. Hello, Café Deco. The menu changes weekly, but at the time of writing there are three starters and two mains drawn from the delightful marriage of Anna Tobias (P . Franco, Rochelle Canteen, Quo Vadis) and the team behind Bermondsey darling, 40 Maltby Street. As such as the food is vibrant, heart-warming and jubilantly seasonal: leeks gribiche, a sweetly sharp apple, walnut, celery and blue cheese salad, and a huggable root vegetable and Lancashire cheese pie sing out from this week’s offering. This will change again with next week’s influx of fresh, seasonal produce, but Christmas cake and mince pies will be at Café Deco throughout December, as will their commitment to offering everyone great food in a great space.
43 Store Street, WC1, cafe-deco.co.uk
Camberwell Arms
Historically, pubs have not been great friends of vegetarians — not when it comes food, and certainly not when it comes to Christmas. Many pubs still aren’t. The Camberwell Arms, however, is a 21st century pub tastefully concealed between a 19th century pub building. The floors aren’t sticky. The wines aren’t rubbish. One can just rock up for a drink at the bar — so it’s still a pub — but that drink can be a cold-brew negroni. Most importantly, if you’re a vegetarian looking for a Christmas meal, there is an entire menu here, featuring generously piled portions of celeriac puree, sauerkraut and hazelnuts topped with crispy charged sprouting broccoli, followed by buttery roast cauliflower, radicchio agrodolce and chestnut braised chickpeas. This is vegetables as first thought, not afterthought; testament to head chef Mike Davies skill and commitment to the Camberwell, which he’s been running for eight years, and to the quality to of the produce. The fact those booking between Monday and Wednesday get a complimentary glass of sparkling wine is worth bearing in mind.
65 Camberwell Church Street, SE5, camberwellarms.co.uk
The Duke of Cambridge
Another pub with a strong claim to loving plants almost as much as pints is The Duke of Cambridge, which has been certified by organic by the Soil Association since 1998. This makes it Britain’s first organic pub, but it doesn’t make it any less of a pub. The sign is faded, the site — on a leafy street corner — is vintage pub and you can just come for a pint. For a Christmas meal though, guests must get a group of at least six, and book in advance. They’ll be rewarded with a merry and bright radicchio salad and orange gremolata, a main of richly savoury confit celeriac with hazelnut and black garlic, and sides of dauphinoise potato which I think goes better with vegetarian mains than roasties ever can.
30 St Peter's Street, N1, dukeorganic.co.uk
Tendril
Tendril describes itself as “mostly vegan”, and it is, in the same way that I am “mostly” averse to staying out past 1am; it takes something special to persuade me. In my case, that is usually a seventh margarita; for Tendril, it is grilled casatica — a buffalo milk cheese — with smoked honey and cranberry chutney. It’s an understandable exception. So too is the Calvados cream that come with Tendril’s apple and cherry crumble, rendering this otherwise humble dessert delectably Christmassy. Beyond this, their festive menu is indeed vegan, and very good too. A chargrilled squash with peanut sage crumble and braised red cabbage makes up the main, accompanied by trimmings of roast potatoes, chargrilled parsnips and pomegranate molasses. The pulled mushroom tart as joyful to savour as it is to see. All of it is served with Coombeshead sourdough in a townhouse that is mostly posh — but not so posh as to put anyone off relaxing with some olives and glass of sparkling Black Chalk Wild Rose.
5 Princes Street, W1, tendrilkitchen.co.uk
Fallow
Award-winning restaurant Fallow has two famous signature dishes. The first, the smoked cod’s head, is decidedly not vegetarian. The second however — the crispy corn ribs with kombu — is the sort of vegetarian dish which makes even bloodthirsty meat lovers weak at the knees. This is on their festive menu (there’d be anarchy if it wasn’t) but so are an array of veggie small plates, from mushroom parfait to flatbread stuffed with caramelised onion. Each one is testimony to Fallow’s philosophy of celebrating noses, tails, roots, fruits and everything in between. The veggie main consists of confit January king cabbage, smoked chestnut and black truffle. It is hearty, multi-textured, deeply savoury — almost too much, which is just what’s wanted at Christmas. And because Fallow is a good restaurant that has vegetarian food, not a vegetarian restaurant, there’s no compromising on anything else here. The frozen margs and espresso Martinis are excellently done, the atmosphere hums with relaxed, happy people and the imaginatively modern design is sustainably minded, not in your face.
52 Haymarket, SW1, fallowrestaurant.com
Colony Grill Room at The Beaumont
True, New York-style grill rooms are rarely renowned for their pacifist, plant-eating ways — but then, head chef Ben Boeynaems is no New Yorker. As such, the Colony Grill Rooms boasts one of the finest veggie spreads going, in a menu which draws upon the flourishing network of small-scale farms and producers Boeynaems has built up over the years. His food is “transatlantic”: London in essence and execution, but with cheerful accents of American and American-Italian. For the festive menu, vegetarian guests are as indulged as their carnivorous companions, with salt baked celeriac and truffle ice cream, cep and tarragon dumplings and chestnut velouté, followed by a beetroot wellington with horseradish creamed potato. The dining room of red banquettes, wood panels, reading lamps and art deco walls is classic British hotel meets American grill— as is the service which positively dances the line between special-occasion formal and cheerfully friendly.
8 Balderton Street, W1, colonygrillroom.com
The Laundry
Christmas is traditionally a time to eat, drink, drink some more, then air one’s dirty laundry with friends and family. Where better to do this than an actual Edwardian laundry—cum—modern bistro, with its British-antipodean small plates, punchy cocktails, and extensive list of wine. Laundry’s founder Melanie Brown is Kiwi, a fact that shines through in the Laundry’s chill culture and light, airy setting. It almost would be a shame to muddy these calm waters with emotional baggage, however cleansing it might feel at the time. Brown is also an acclaimed sommelier; accordingly, the wine menu offers plenty by the glass as well as the bottle, and there is a curated selection of special vintages for the wine buffs called The Cleaner’s Diary. Over Christmas, vegetarians can tuck into the likes of a rouille based vegetable stew, pumpkin sage linguini with hazelnuts, and a roasted squash with whipped stilton and caramelised spicy walnuts that sounds as festive as any turkey (and is 10 times more flavoursome).
374 Coldharbour Lane, SW9, thelaundrybrixton.com
Bubala
There’s an oft-repeated line than jackfruit makes a decent substitute for chicken and pork, but this is a lie; it doesn’t taste like either. If anything, the wanton use of the plant to substitute meat on a menu only underlines the absence of that meat. Bubala does not pretend jackfruit is pork, nor does it make any other attempt to make meat-esque meals out of vegetables. Quite simply, it is a restaurant serving vegetarian food so fun, filling and flavoursome that even Hannibal might forget about fleshy beings. The hummus with burned butter is transportive. The confit potato latkes — think chips, but a billion times better — are renowned. The fat, squidgy halloumi, drenched with chamomile and fennel honey, is so good that calls for more go out before the first plate is finished. The centrepiece of their vegetarian feast is whole roasted celeriac, served with ginger, tomato and peanut tahini. All of it comes with lafah for essential moppage and dippage, and a wine list that is natural but not farmy.
65 Commercial Street, E1, bubala.co.uk
Turnips
You don’t get much more plant-based than being based in a greengrocers, and Turnips the restaurant is exactly that. Turnips the greengrocers has been in Borough Market for more than 30 years under the careful, creative stewardship of the Foster family. Their produce, sourced locally and further afield, is almost painterly in quality, thanks both to its perfect condition and the artful way the Fosters display it each day. Come nightfall, the produce disappears and is replaced by fur blankets, fairy lights and Tomas Lidakevicius: formerly of City Social, now the chef-patron responsible for transforming Turnip’s produce into extraordinary plates. Meat and fish feature, but rarely; the menu is a masterclass in creative veg-lead cooking, and fully vegan and vegetarian options are available. Come Christmas this takes the form of white alba truffle with orzo, Cévennes onion with waffle and parmesan and Kent sprouts with Delica squash and coconut curry.
43 Borough Market, SE1, turnipsboroughmarket.com
The Junction Tavern
It’s a brave sort who takes on the job of refurbishing a local boozer, employing a decent chef and teaching the bar staff how to shake a decent marg. It’s a braver person still who does all that and insists that a generous portion of the menu cater to veggies. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what the Chapter Collection have done at a small handful of characterful pubs across London, including the beloved Junction Tavern in Tufnell Park. Their festive menu is no exception, kicking off with a wild mushroom and celeriac soup or goats cheese mousse with golden honeycomb and sea salt crackers, before swinging into a tumble of roasted squash, chestnut, apple, sage and giant couscous. The vibe is cosy, the pints are plenty, and the cocktails surprisingly good.
