Cooks in bowler hats searing blood pudding to the pulsing backbeat of punk? Chef Brendan Collins has injected the merry gluttony of a gastropub into Culver City. Collins sweetbread terrine with salsa verde is a pugnacious update of the ploughman's lunch. Fried zucchini blossoms burst with sweet baby shrimp. The steamed toffee cake could only be improved by a view of the Thames.
Best Pâté, August 2011
A spreadable blend of butcher bits such as liver, pâtés and terrines are the carnivore's version of making lemons out of lemonade. At
Waterloo & City chef Brendan Collins lovingly assembles whimsical house-made varieties. Alternating strips of ruby-striped salmon and thinly sliced potato are topped with a fried egg. A country duck version is studded with walnuts. Green pistachios dot the center of a piece of rabbit pâté. The King Charcuterie Platter (there's also a Prince and a Queen) features a slab of each of the above and half a dozen more meaty creations worthy of royalty or, at the very least, you.