Smoke & Salt
Tooting, London
Born and raised in one of POP Brixton’s shipping containers, Smoke & Salt now has a permanent home on the streets of Tooting – thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign (the donors’ names are inscribed on fermentation jars along one side of the restaurant). Stripped-back slate walls and exposed brickwork are standard-issue for an on-trend neighbourhood eatery, but all eyes are on the open kitchen – a ‘constant rush of energy, heat, flames and smoke’. Snacks set the tone for a menu that takes its cue from the restaurant’s name: sweetcorn is grilled ‘to within an inch of its life’ and served with salty miso dip, while just-cooked cauliflower nuggets come smothered in smoked chilli salt and aïoli. Bigger dishes show the kitchen’s flair with seasonal ingredients – perhaps English heirloom tomatoes (seemingly picked ‘at their perfect ripeness’) intertwined with smoked egg yolk, plus a sharp elderflower vinaigrette and a few smoked almonds tossed in for good measure. Or how about a flavour-packed, 12-hour smoked pork chop topped with an utterly mouthwatering apple, sweetcorn and seaweed jam – ‘the best savoury condiment I have possibly ever experienced’. If you’re sweet of tooth, don’t miss the English plums with hazelnut frangipane to finish. The wine list is short and accessible, but don’t ignore the bespoke classic cocktails ‘touched by smoke and salt’.
Dining Information:
Family friendly, Dog friendly
115 Tooting High Street, Tooting SW17 0SY
07421 327556
