Young Turks at the Ten Bells

84 Commercial Street  London E1 6LY      Tel: 020 7366 1721

If you had stepped into the Ten Bells for a pint over the last six months you could be forgiven for missing the scribble of neon lights in the far corner of the room. It’s the only indication of the temporary residents, who have turned the want for affordable yet inventive food into a coveted reality. I was lucky enough to sample the trio’s resourceful food at a perfect London summer's night at Frank's last year, despite the drizzle they injected the essence of July in their food; meats straight off the grills and foraged seasonal veg. Since October they swapped the view of the city’s skyline with the lights of Shoreditch's glittering strip, but kept the set up relaxed choosing the East end boozer's weathered oak dining tables and shabby embossed brocade wallpaper to house their next venture.

Pigeon sausage and Chutney

Between them they have and continue to cover some of the most important culinary bases in the business, now they're doing it their own way. It's a match made in heaven with the cooking covered and the Clove Club boys taking care of the guests with unwavering charm and gusto. The final night as with all the previous was brimming with industry aficionado’s and food lovers alike all anticipating the kingly five course feast. Admirably the line up of dishes are rotated weekly in accordance to season and availability which at a humble thirty eight pounds seems like a steal considering the extra care and thought applied each week.

Butterhead Lettuce, Goat's Curd and Toasted Almonds

Chicken and Pine Salt

It was the grand finale of a half year stint and having been before the menu read like a best of compilation. Some  with the same base flavours taking on a new form from before, such as swapping of ox tongue for beef in a dish still accompanied with beetroot now in raw slithers rather than of jam, or completely reworked to be future classics. Plainly speaking we kicked off the evening with sausages, fried chicken and cheese on a leaf. Perhaps not sounding that out of the ordinary but when sausages are filled with intense pigeon meat, the chicken aromatic with pine and the cheese is pillowy goats curd, that puts it in a Young Turks context.

Pheasant Egg, Venison Broth and Peas

The starter was a plump pheasant egg island which oozed out molten yolk into the pool of crystal clear consommé, a delicious meeting of pure savouriness and dense richness. The dotting of golden crouton craters provided a crunch against the smooth sweet peas.  Lamb hearts seem to be a favourable meat for the Young Turks from the ockabasi wraps at Franks and now to an unusual surf and turf dish of diced duck hearts and anchovies. It is another delightful looking dish with singed moons of onion, shimmery backs of the little fish  slinked over the pink hearts, offsetting the flavour ping pong of salty, pickled and rich.

Lamb's Heart, Grilled Onion and Anchovy

The final savoury dish was an all round favourite, simply seared quality meat on a bed of tricolour freshness. You could say that the Dexter breed is about quality not quantity since it is known for being a small beast but with excellent marbling. This was a perfect example, with a buttery nuttiness resonating in each piece. The folds of white and pink beetroot added sweet crunch whilst the Twekesbury mustard sharpened everything up.

Dexter Rib, Beetroot and Twekesbury Mustard

The final flourishes again at face value were pleasing, touching on a nostalgic feel. If I had a Scottish grandmother she would have definitely favoured cranachan as a fail safe desert and serve up bulging foil wrapped tea cakes to those dropping by for a cuppa. But these were the last paragraphs of the Ten Bells chapter, were family favourites going to cut it as show stoppers? Of course they would, the cranachan was dreamy; fluffy sweetened cream, tart rhubarb, toasted ground oatmeal offset the oaky notes in the geniusly drizzled whiskey. The tea cake was of heightened greatness incomparable to the memories any of us would have consumed as a sweet toothed child, the mallow was ultra mellow, the biscuit had enough bite but gave in to crumbling and all was thinly cased in dark chocolate. A wonderful accompaniment to a little Square Mile coffee pick me up.
I have spoken a lot previously of honesty in restaurants. A sense of genuine good food intention spread across the edible offer and service, pardon my gushing but I would say that the Young Turks exemplify this approach. There is a certain admirable understatement about what they do, with a chameleonic approach to their surroundings they pare down everything else allowing their food to speak for them. As we and the rest of the room toasted our last delectable mouthful, we were already yearning for the next instalment, which by the sounds of the whisperings will be soon and permanent.

Frank's feat. Young Turks

Down in Peckham, red means summer. If you look up when turning into Peckham Rye station and see the pillar box red awning you know that there are good times ahead. After six storeys of gentle climbing and a winding through a scattering of sculptures you will be greeted with a smile, a damn good negroni and a head spinning view of they city. This is the magic of Frank's, three summers on of good booze, honest food and out of the box ideas. 



Fennel, nasturtium, cucumber and dressed mackerel.

This summer Frank's has collaborated with some of Londons most exciting chefs behind many of our muchloved haunts. Last week it was turn of Simon Wadham of Shoreditch's Rivington Grill, the week before I visited the guys from the Anchor and Hope took over the kitchen but on the last week of August the Young Turks were ruling the roost for two nights. A trio brought together on the basis of sharing ideas and pooling together their experiences from their various stints at some of the worlds most outstanding restaurants, from Noma to the Ledbury, all in the aim of catapulting British food forward in a new focused direction.

The message resonating from the twelve course spread was clear: to nurture what our fair isles provide us and flaunt it. The outcome was a spot on medley of familiar, foraged and at the foremost delicious. From the off set the table was littered with stand out dishes; the radish dish set the tone for what edible delights beckoned, an unassuming plate of leafy topped magenta bulbs knocked our socks off, as their freshness richocheted off the nutty black sesame and velvety mayo dip followed by translucent slithers of creamy cured pork fat and cobnuts.

Radishes with black sesame and an anonymous  yet delish mayo consistency dip
One of many Negroni's and the London skyline

Cured Pork Fat and Cobnuts

Everything else was either new to me or a novel twist on well known dish. Such as nasturtium, a water cress type leaf found in most back gardens, mixed in with fennel, cucumber and dressed mackerel. Or a fried favourite, chicken but battered in buttermilk and sesoned with pine salt. Presented on a pretty bed of pine needles and cones, the heat of the nuggets released the fragrant woody oils from the decorative pine, triple sensory bliss.

Grilled Onion, Pickled Elderberries and Redcurrants
Fried chicken and Pine Salt

One of the most memorable bites of the meal were the two in which I demolished the grouse sausage. Not in my wildest meat dreams could i have conjured up such as taste sensation; the meat was rich enough so the generous grinding of pepper was all it needed even with simple seasoning the crisp casing was packed to the brim with the succulent meat flavours it was practically bursting out trying to reach the damsons and mellow bread sauce. 

Gimme another grouse sausage, now. Please.

Since this is an Ocakbasi the open fire was raging and the meat on top was soaking up all the charred goodness of the rising smoke all night. So each meat and grilled dish had this added dimension and caramelised depth, which particularly enhanced the tenderness of the bbq pork and lent a hand into bringing out the sweetness in the leeks for the grilled leek and XO dish.

BBQ Pork and fennel blossoms

As well as letting the grilled goodness stand alone, I really liked the lamb heart wrap. Delicate morsels of meat with a full bodied flavour were married with silken sheep's yoghurt and roughed up with anchovy punches, all blanketed up in a warm flatbread.



Lamb heart, sheeps yoghurt and anchovy flat bread

After all that savoury we had one more course left, and it was incredible. The desert was a hazelnut mousse with mulberry jelly and  raspberries, each mouthful was like a nutty cloud rippled with a condensed muddle of berry pang and sweetness, but the smoothness of the hazelnut levelled everything out into pure dreams. I continuously hark back to taking the PB & J combination to the next level, and this folks I think may be it.

Hazelnut Cloud and Mulberry Ripple

The take over was truly a good sign of things to come, collaborations with this new breed of inventive food lovers seems to becoming a London event staple. Which is more than fine with me, as long as you are quick enough to nab the golden tickets. With us now at the very tail end of summer and Frank's annual occupancy, take it in at the roof top with a strong cocktail and start plotting your next feasting destination.

Just a little shout out to Thomas Whitehead, a few of the above pics are stills of his video of the event - an infill due to my unsteady excited hands and a combination of being surrounded by too  many hungry mouths and a tardy snap shotting finger!