The team behind Ottolenghi restaurants is to launch ROVI in Fitzrovia next week. Ottolenghi roots will be apparent in the new dining concept, but the restaurant will have a ‘different feeling and character’, according to an announcement from the group.
ROVI’s menu will be in line with current London ‘Flexitarian’ dining trends: vegetables will sit at its focal point, while an emphasis on fermentation and cooking over fire will feature heavily too.
‘Jersey Royals on top of hay’
“Think Jersey Royals smoked on top of hay, hand dived scallops with cucumber kombucha, or peaches grilled over fire,” says the Ottolenghi team. There’ll be seasonal cocktails, wine from small-batch producers, and the interior will “borrow elements from Bauhaus”.
It’s a typically up-front bold culinary move from Ottolenghi.
If sister restaurants should at all be considered, Yotam Ottolenghi’s NOPI (four stars for food) has been well received.
“The flavours in the food just leap out and astound you” say Harden’s readers, with the place “bustling and deservedly popular”. Food is cooked with “lovely fresh ingredients and wonderful combinations of flavour, colourfully presented”.
Ottolengi is largely a hit with Harden’s
His eponymous cafe (four stars for food, he’s not as good on ambience) reaps similar praise: “The salads on display as you enter get your gastric juices moving!”, with “fresh, delicious and interesting” dishes. There are drawbacks, though, such as “variable service”, “terrible acoustics”, and as ever with YO places, the price.
Here’s a sample menu from the new ROVI restaurant:
- Braised and smoked carrots with puffed black barley and pickled herbs
- Kohlrabi ‘ravioli’ with peas, broad beans and yuzu kosho
- Slow roasted cauliflower with crispy chickpeas, tahini and fermented chilli salsa
- Hasselback kaffir lime beets with lime cream
- Confit mussels with hay-smoked potatoes and cascabel oil
- Onglet skewers with beef fat mayonnaise and fermented green chillies
Ottolenghi’s team also highlighted links to suppliers and reducing waste as priorities at the latest venture. Neil Campbell, formerly head chef of Grain Store, will be head chef.
