OLD SCHOOL FRENCH COOKING ABOVE A FARRINGDON PUB, AND THE BEST LUNCH IN LONDON.
THE PLACE
Upstairs at The Three Compasses, 66 Cowcross Street in Farringdon, there is a dining room doing French cooking the way it used to be done. Bouchon Racine. No tricks, no tweezers, just a kitchen that knows exactly what it is. It was named the UK's number one restaurant for 2026, and sitting there at lunch, you understand why in about ten minutes.
THE CHEF
Henry Harris runs the place, a chef's chef in the truest sense. This is the cooking he has believed in his whole career: bouchon food, Lyon in London, built on butter, time and confidence. He signed a book and a plate for me before I left. Both are staying in my kitchen.
THE LUNCH
Calf's brain in butter to start, with capers, parsley and vinegar, the kind of dish nobody cooks anymore and everybody should. Then Bayonne ham with a proper rémoulade. A pâté with cornichons and toasted bread that could end arguments. A bottle of plum eau-de-vie appeared at the end like it was nothing, and then the crème caramel, with a wobble on it that should be illegal.
WHAT STAYED WITH ME
This is the food I measure everything else against. Rich, honest, generous, and not trying to impress anyone, which is exactly why it impresses everyone. When a young cook asks me where to eat in London, this is now the first name out of my mouth.
SHOP THE STORY
Butter, time and confidence. The cookbook is built on the same three things.
Toujours Faim Cookbook: $39.95 CAD
TF Olive Oil x La Belle Excuse: $34.95 CAD
Classic Apron: $60.00 CAD
By Laurent Dagenais.
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