Since opening in 2017, Lorne has fast become one of the hottest restaurants in London. Featuring a modern British menu, itâs a collaboration between sommelier Katie Exton, formerly of The River CafĂŠ, and chef Peter Hall, who spent time at three Michelin star Benu in San Francisco.
Where did the idea for Lorne come from?
Pete and I wanted to do something together. We both love hospitality, and we wanted to take everything weâd learnt from our mentors, people like Phil Howard and Ruthie Rogers, and put our own stamp on it all â to offer a little bit of us to the London restaurant scene.
Itâs an equal focus on the food, the wine, and a really good sense of hospitality. We give care and attention to every detail but we do all of the work behind the scenes, so for the customer it all seems seamless. We donât make a big deal about the way in which we serve stuff, or the way itâs prepared, itâs just what we do, but thereâs a lot of time and hard work getting it to be what it is.
How are your menus and wine list put together?
Pete [Hall, co-owner] and Graham [Brown, chef] work very closely to the seasons, and have very good relationships with our suppliers. Each morning theyâre on the phone speaking with the fish supplier, or the butcher, talking about ideas from books, or places theyâve eaten, and theyâll find out whatâs in season, whatâs tasting good. Then theyâll sit down together and taste things and formulate until the dish is created.
Then for the wine weâll taste a sauce or an ingredient weâre not familiar with, like oyster leaf, and taste from some bottles that we have open and discuss what we think works. Once the dish is complete weâll have a good idea of what will suit. Itâs a lot of sampling and tasting!
Can you describe the best meal youâve ever had?
One meal that was important in really making me change my direction was the set lunch menu at Alain Passardâs LâArpege in Paris. Itâs a three-star restaurant and every course was made from vegetables from the garden. I went in not understanding how a restaurant can charge these kinds of prices just for vegetables, but it completely blew me away. The cooking and the experience had a fundamental impact on how I looked at ingredients, and what it meant to be a Michelin-starred restaurant.
Whatâs always in your kitchen cupboards at home?
Thereâs always a bottle of sherry in my fridge, and in my larder I always have anchovies and good olive oil. At the moment Iâve got the olive oil we use in the restaurant; one of our staff is Sicilian, and itâs a really peppery extra virgin cold-pressed oil. To dress a salad you donât need any other seasoning, itâs absolutely delicious.
Whatâs your guilty pleasure?
KFC, I donât have it very often. Itâs probably left over from being a child, but that special secret blend of spices is so addictive.
Whatâs your favourite dish on the menu?
I love Peteâs sweetbreads. You donât see many chefs preparing them, and it highlights what Pete as a chef does really well, which is taking very classic dishes that he learnt from places like the Square, then putting his more modern, slightly lighter, fresher twist on it. It changes seasonally, but weâve had it with borlotti beans, broad beans, cauliflower puree and roasted shallot, served with the meat jus. Itâs fundamentally just a very delicious plate of food.
76 Wilton Road, lornerestaurant.co.uk