Delivery-only fine dining restaurant launches in London

Chef Philip Britten has launched a delivery-only – and coronavirus-friendly – fine dining restaurant based out of a so-called ‘dark kitchen’ in Battersea.

Honey glazed duck and orange salad, mixed leaves and toasted pine kernels (£8.75).

Called the Cookout Club, the concept was launched this month by Britten, who was executive chef at London’s Capital restaurant for 11 years during the 1990s. Since then, he has launched his own wholesale fruit and vegetable business called Solstice.

His new project is based in south London and aims to offer fine dining delivered straight to your door, with two courses for under £20 a head.

The website notes that because it doesn’t have a bricks and mortar site, it doesn’t spend money “on waiters, sommeliers, silverware and crockery” and the resulting savings are passed onto the customer.

Operating under the tagline ‘delivering fine dining meals at everyday prices’, the concept currently delivers to Brixton, Balham, Wandsworth, Kennington, Vauxhall, Lambeth, Battersea, Clapham and parts of Kensington and Chelsea.

Two further kitchens are projected to open this year, allowing the initiative to expand its reach. Cookout Club uses Geopost-owned courier Stuart to deliver its meals, which are transported in biodegradable boxes.

Britten is joined in the kitchen by senior sous chef Victor Lamauve, formerly of Michelin-starred Spanish restaurant Sabor, and Harriett Fieldman, a private chef and Leith’s School graduate.

Starters range in price from £6.75 to £8.75 with dishes including chicken liver parfait, dressed with olive oil and watercress salad; crab, apple and ginger salad with young leaves and a light rosemary oil; and rice noodles with butternut squash, cumin, lime leaf and coconut.

Mains start at £6.75 with the most expensive coming in at £9.25. Plates include glazed barbary duck, sauced with red wine, red cabbage and glazed onions; cannellini bean casserole, tomato, onions, roasted beets and pesto; and baked filet of seabass on puy lentils and leeks.

Desserts are all priced at £6.25 and feature lemon tart with clotted cream and chocolate terrine with mango and ginger coulis.

The menu also features a selection of veg-based sides, as well as daily specials.