Menuwatch: London Stock, Wandsworth

15 September 2021 by
Menuwatch: London Stock, Wandsworth

Influences from all corners of Europe flavour Nico Fitzgerald's food, from Moroccan-spiced pigeon to a vegan take on an intense onion soup. Lauren Bowes pays a visit.

If you've seen Nico Fitzgerald's precise plating, it may come as no surprise that his first job was in the army – albeit for a catering company that hosted functions for the officers, rather than as a soldier himself. His later career took a more traditional chef route, with training at Le Cordon Bleu followed by stints at Heston Blumenthal's the Hind's Head, the Fat Duck and Dinner By Heston, as well as a role at Adelina Yard in Bristol.

Nico Fitzgerald
Nico Fitzgerald

London Stock's owners, Assem Abdel Hady and Andres Bernal, met Fitzgerald at Le Cordon Bleu and later invited him to join the Wandsworth restaurant's opening team. The site launched in January 2020 – "possibly the worst time in the world to open a restaurant," Fitzgerald admits – but on reopening after the first lockdown, Fitzgerald reworked the menus. "We felt the dining scene had shifted from pre-pandemic – people were focusing on individual dining experiences more," he explains. "We really needed to make this an all-encompassing experience – we had to make it worthwhile to the people who chose to eat with us."

We had to make it worthwhile to the people who chose to eat with us

This all-encompassing experience takes the form of an eight-course tasting menu (£65), with a vegetarian version available. A set lunch is also available (three courses at £30), which offers the same dishes as the tasting menu but broken down into starter, main and dessert.

London Stock
London Stock

A take on French onion soup has become something of a signature dish for Fitzgerald. "French onion soup is a bit of an anathema, because it's a vegetable soup made with beef stock," he explains. "It's completely unfriendly to vegetarians and vegans. I wanted to be able to make a French onion soup that was still reminiscent of the classic but that everybody could have."

The chef creates a strong caramelised onion stock by cooking onions down for hours, to which Marmite and kombu is added for an extra umami hit. To replace the body provided by beef gelatine, Fitzgerald aerates the soup in a siphon gun and serves in an onion shell. Meanwhile, an alternative to the traditional cheese crouton is a crumb made from panko breadcrumbs, olive oil, chives, onion seeds and leek ash, as well as nutritional yeast for a vegan-friendly cheesiness.

"The menu is designed around nostalgia and what influenced me growing up," Fitzgerald explains. "It's a British restaurant, but I grew up in Gibraltar – which is British, but smack bang in the middle of the Mediterranean. My influences are Moroccan, Spanish, Italian, Maltese, French." For instance, ajoblanco is a dish the chef grew up eating, which at the restaurant it is served with barbecued Cornish sardines sourced from Flying Fish: "It's not British, but I've taken the best of British ingredients and adapted them to the surroundings."

‘Beef and Beer' (left), and sardine, ajoblanco, smoked almond, cucumber and Granny Smith apple salad, smoked olive oil
‘Beef and Beer' (left), and sardine, ajoblanco, smoked almond, cucumber and Granny Smith apple salad, smoked olive oil

Also inspired by the Mediterranean is a beak-to-tail pigeon course, a take on a Moroccan tagine. Fitzgerald uses the whole bird, creating an intense jus from the Anjou pigeon carcasses, heads, feet and offal. The breast encases a mousse made from the pigeon's heart and liver, which is then rolled in cabbage and feuille de brik pastry. The legs are confited for six hours in beef fat, after which they are picked down and made into a croquette, in an homage to a Spanish croqueta. This is paired with dates and a celeriac purée, which is infused with a ras el hanout spice mix, featuring coriander seeds, cumin, juniper berries and star anise. "The aromas that hit you as the spices release their oils should give you an impression of the souks of Morocco," he explains.

Pigeon breast and leg, Savoy cabbage, offal, mushroom, celeriac, Medjool date (top), and homemade brioche
Pigeon breast and leg, Savoy cabbage, offal, mushroom, celeriac, Medjool date (top), and homemade brioche

Having started at the restaurant as head pastry chef, Fitzgerald says his desserts are "very close to my heart": "I can have a fantastic first six courses, but if I mess up the dessert, then the guest will leave thinking it was an anticlimax."

One dessert on the menu is a blackberry cheesecake, which "essentially shows off what a blackberry is", with the fruit in three forms: pickled, for tartness; in a smooth gel centre inside the goats' milk cheesecake; and in a sorbet spiked with bergamot.

While the pandemic has certainly caused issues for the restaurant, Fitzgerald is optimistic. "The dream has always been to have my own place, do my own thing and have my own menu," he reveals – and it seems at London Stock he's living this dream.

Roast cod, picked mussels, shimeji, kale, sea vegetables, soy and ginger broth
Roast cod, picked mussels, shimeji, kale, sea vegetables, soy and ginger broth

2 Bubbling Well Square, Ram Quarter, London SW18 1UQ

http://londonstockrestaurant.co.uk

From the menu

  • Tomato salad: barbecued little Gem lettuce, black Ibérico tomato, feta, basil, sourdough
  • Sardine, ajoblanco, smoked almond, cucumber and Granny Smith apple salad, smoked olive oil
  • Alliums or "French onion soup": onion, wild garlic, leek Marmite, yeast flakes
  • ‘Beef and Beer': salt and vinegar potato dauphinoise, beer-braised onion, ox tongue and tail, beef jus
  • Roast cod, picked mussels, shimeji, kale, sea vegetables, soy and ginger broth
  • Pigeon breast and leg, Savoy cabbage, offal, mushroom, celeriac, Medjool date
  • Calamansi sorbet, black tahini, sesame seeds, green tea and lime jelly, ginger-infused honey
  • Blackberry cheesecake, goats' milk yogurt, picked blackberries, bergamot

Tasting menu, £65

Continue reading

You need to be a premium member to view this. Subscribe from just 99p per week.

Already subscribed?

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media Group is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking