Brawn
My favourite restaurants tend to follow a pattern: clean white plates, simple food exhibiting vibrant colours, wood furniture, plentiful natural light, and usually a good selection of wine by the glass. Brawn includes all of them.
It is a quaint Friday lunch. Starting with some green asparagus in brown crab sauce, with a few little white flowers scattered across, just to bring that buoyant feeling that spring is starting all over again. The taste, as expected, is tender with a slight crispness.
‘Ricotta spoja lorda, Romana courgettes and basil’ – the name itself sounds alluring and refreshing, and the dish does not disappoint. Spooning up the little ravioli-like fresh pasta from the clear golden broth, and allowing the rich creaminess of the ricotta to mingle with the scents of basil leaves, I feel wondrously satisfied. I will have to confess that I like to stick to pasta when it comes to ordering mains, but Brawn makes some of the best pasta I’ve had across London.
And the rum baba as dessert? Delicious.
Cake soaked in syrup, berry juice and rum; red Gariguette strawberries hiding between the gaps of the fluffy pastry; a cloud of dainty crème fraiche elegantly perched on top. Everything is so well balanced, melting into pure delight in my mouth. The cream, in particular, is worth some praise: I am quite particular when it comes to cream in desserts, but the crème fraiche here gives the right amount of sweetness without being overwhelming, it has a certain weight yet offers a bridging softness between the aromatic strawberries and cake.
The only ‘problem’ I have with Brawn is that it does not open on Sundays, when the Columbia Road flower market is in full swing. Imagine holding a bunch of peonies and stepping into the sunlit rooms at Brawn just a few metres away from the stalls… However, I also appreciate the quietness when sitting in a corner, looking out the windows and contemplating the empty street, letting jazzy rhythms instead of weekend chaos fill my ears as I decide what to pick on the daily-changing menu.
