<a target="_blank" href="http://www.clothrestaurants.com/">Cloth</a>

44 Cloth Fair

London EC1A 7JQ

BY NEAL MARTIN |&nbsp;AUGUST 09, 2024The
Food:

Pea purée,
whipped ricotta on toasted sourdough bread

Grilled
leeks with hens’ eggs and potted shrimp vinaigrette 

Cornish
Monkfish with squid and Scottish langoustine bisque 

Tagliatelle
with girolles, Parmesan and lemon

Fries with
Espelette pepper

Tiramisu

The
Wine:

2010 Dönnhoff
Riesling Niederhäuser Hermannshölle Spätlese 94

Word on
the street? There’s a new ‘wine-led bistro’ in town that’s the place to be and
be seen. You hear that every week these days. Is that the same old media hype?
The question is answered immediately upon entering its doors. No less than Egon
Müller sits at the next table, dabbing his chin with a napkin, looking
satisfied. 

Now, if
that’s not a sign that an oenophile is in the right place, tell me what is? 

Cloth
is packed and noisy. This is no surprise because the previous weekend, a couple
of influential restaurant critics in national newspapers had sung its praises,
thus prompting a tsunami of requests for reservations. Consequently, we could
only obtain a two o’clock sitting, which was no problem because I enjoy a late
lunch when the restaurant empties out, and you can relax.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1723215287368-cloth+frontage.JPG">The Cloth facade 

Cloth
is located next to Smithfield Market in Farringdon, the hottest place in London
right now. The cuisine of Brutto, <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/vinous-table-bouchon-racine-london-uk-apr-2024">Bouchon
Racine</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/vinous-table-st-john-lodon-united-kingdom-oct-2020">St.
John</a> is within sniffing distance. The Grade-II listed building nestles in a
side street intriguingly named “Cloth Fair”, one that you would normally walk
straight past. But as its name implies, it has a storied history... <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1723215335813-cloth+peas.JPG">Pea purée, whipped ricotta on toasted sourdough bread In
medieval times, this was the location where fabrics were traded during the Bartholomew
Fair each August. Part of the street survived the Great Fire of London in 1666.
Hence, you will find two of the city’s oldest residences. Look up upon the wall
above the entrance, and you’ll spot a blue plaque informing that poet laureate&nbsp;Sir John Betjeman&nbsp;once lived here. The frontage is painted black and dominated by
large, mullioned windows. It looks old, almost Dickensian, so it fits in with
the site’s historical backstory. The restaurant occupies the ground floor, divided
into two parts with a bar at the rear. The décor is “smart rustic” with wooden
floors, wood paneling, de rigueur dark olive hues, round marble tables and walls
tastefully festooned with old paintings, maps and sketches. There’s an oddly
rural ambiance. Perhaps being tucked down a side street, you feel as if you
could be in the countryside rather than within earshot of St. Paul’s cathedral
bells. It looks tasteful, and despite its nascency, it is lived in. The tagline
on their website reads: “A modern take of the old, trusted classics”. It’s
about sourcing the best ingredients, simplicity and bold flavors. Co-founders
Joe Haynes and Ben Butterworth hail from the wine trade, while chef Tom Hurst previously
worked at Marksman and Brawn, among others.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1723215370678-cloth+leeks.JPG">Grilled leeks with hens’ eggs and potted shrimp vinaigrette 

My
dining partner and I shared dishes. For starters, a pea purée, whipped ricotta
on toasted sourdough bread. Simple but deadly effective. Purée is not quite
accurate – more roughly mashed peas. You don’t want to mess with this
underrated vegetable – I adore the purity of taste, and here at Cloth, they
shone on the plate. The whipped ricotta imparted a little sweetness, and the
sourdough added a bit of crunch to the texture. I preferred this to the leeks that
came with potted shrimp and vinaigrette. I like my leeks slightly more charred,
as Tomos Parry does at Brat. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1723215402541-cloth+fish.JPG">Cornish Monkfish with squid and Scottish langoustine bisque 

I chose
the Cornish monkfish, which came with grilled squid in a langoustine bisque.
The fish's meat looked iridescent on the plate, always a good omen. This was
fabulous: perfectly cooked, not one second too long or short, gently flaking
away with the fork. The bisque was beautifully seasoned but did not overpower
the fish, and the squid flavored and enhanced the bisque. Superb! <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1723215435396-cloth+taglietelle.JPG">Tagliatelle with girolles, Parmesan and lemon 

Perhaps
the Cornish monkfish slightly outshone the tagliatelle with girolles, Parmesan
and lemon. The girolles were very well cooked and flavorful, another simple yet
effective dish. Our waiter suggested we order a bowl of fries that arrived generously
coated in Espelette pepper. These were indeed excellent with just the right
amount of crunch, although, to be honest, they were surplus to requirements, a
bit of an awkward match with our mains. It did offer a chance to mop up the
remaining bisque. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1723215466399-cloth+tiramisu.JPG">Tiramisu 

Now, I
am going to make a bold and probably foolish statement… 

The tiramisu
was the best I’ve ever eaten. It was off the charts. Sometimes, I find tiramisu
too sweet, but miraculously, this combination of decadence with a sense of
restraint was perfect. We were given such a huge slab that I just couldn’t
finish it. I looked at it longingly and apologized before admitting defeat. As you
would expect, Cloth has a stonking wine list with a tempting selection of wines
by the glass. Monday, there’s a bargain five quid corkage. Many come from
Haynes and Butterworth’s own wine import company, which is augmented by mature
bottles bought from auctions. It’s not a heavyweight tome of blue-chip names,
but there’s a bottle of La Tâche if you want to drop a few quid. We are in the
financial district, after all. Within its soft leather-bound pages is a
well-considered selection that I feared might veer too far towards natural
wines. While there are a number of names that will appeal to those allergic to
SO2, they intermingle with classics, leaning more towards the Old World than the
New World. There is certainly a fine selection from Burgundy and Italy and,
refreshingly, a decent selection from Bordeaux that increasingly looks like
great value for money these days. Prices are reasonable, considering this is
London, with a refreshing selection of mature bottles such as single-vineyard
2007s from Produttorri del Barbaresco or a 2000 Beaumont. <img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1723215502886-cloth+donnhoff.JPG">But it
was an obvious choice, and Butterworth’s face seemed to light up when we made
our choice. The 2010 Riesling Niederhäuser Hermannshölle Spätlese from
Dönnhoff was a snip at £75. Glistening burnished gold in color, the bouquet
encapsulates everything great about Riesling with a modicum of age: Satsuma,
linseed oil, a hint of lychee and white peach, all delivering with scintillating
precision and intensity. The palate is exquisitely balanced, quite powerful yet
paradoxically elegant, with a precise bead of acidity that keeps this Spätlese
on its toes. The residual sugar is such that it accompanied the fish and
tagliatelle with style, just a hint of sweetness that complemented rather than
distracted. This is drinking perfectly now and will cruise at high altitude for
another decade. 

Cloth
is doing nearly everything right. Clearly, it has hit the ground running. Despite
its central location, it has a cozy ambiance, and Butterworth, gadding about
the restaurant, is a lively and pleasing presence. Its wine list will be a
strong draw for oenophiles, while the food is not a secondary consideration.
There’s no pretension, and everything is refreshingly straightforward in the
best way. Even the opening hours are unfussy, Monday to Friday. Yes…a
restaurant that opens on Monday! With that aforementioned corkage! The restaurant
is closed at weekends, although it is open throughout the day, with bar snacks
available in the morning and afternoon. Lunch for two with wine came in at
around £100 per person. And here’s the real clincher… Set 3-course lunch is a
trifling £24 for two courses and £29 for three. That possibly represents the
best deal in London at this moment. With a constantly rotating menu, it’s
one of those places that will keep tempting you back. 

I have
no doubt I will be returning soon. © 2024, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

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