<a target="_blank" href="https://www.foodbyjohnlawson.com/">Food by John
Lawson</a>

92 Leigh Road

Leigh-on-Sea

SS9 1BU

01702 840 904

BY NEAL MARTIN | JULY 05, 2019 The Food:

Gluten-free
bread served with cultured cashew and wild garlic flower butter

Gem
lettuce cup with broad beans, radish, mint, elderflower and chive flower, homemade
elderflower syrup and lemon

Courgette Vichyssoise with cashew cream and
spinach

New potatoes
served with broad beans, wood sorrel cream and spring onion

Hake with
sea beets and fennel fronds

Wild boar
with Doris plum, wild garlic, nettle purée, Jack-by-the-hedge and a red wine jus

Gingerbread
and meringue with yuzu curd and Mata
powder

Nettle
cupcakes

The Wines:<table>
 <tbody><tr>
 <td>2015
 Domaine Marcel et Blanche&nbsp;Fèvre&nbsp;Chablis Fourchaume 1er Cru&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td>
 <td>90</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2015 Neudorf Tom's Block Pinot Noir</td>
 <td>88?</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2017 Jean Foillard Morgon
 Côte du Py</td>
 <td>94</td>
 </tr></tbody></table>

A
consequence of growing up in the gastronomic wasteland of Leigh-on-Sea is that my
culinary horizons extended no further than fish and chips, meat and vegetables,
and Sunday roast. Granted, my hometown has its local delicacies, though the
mere thought of jellied eel makes my stomach churn. Come to think of it, there was the Old Vienna, a rather imposing restaurant
that specialized in Austrian cuisine. Had Michelin inspectors accounted for
live oompah bands, then I have little doubt it would have been hailed as the
“El Bulli of Essex” instead of being reduced to a pile of rubble and mangled
trombone. Haute cuisine for this
teenager was overcooked steak and chips. That’s no joke; that’s how it was. Only
when I escaped Leigh-on-Sea did a vista of foreign cuisine open up before my inexperienced
taste buds. I learned that Indian curry would not kill me and that steak cooked
medium-rare instead of well-done actually tasted of something.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1562333014568-lawson+chef.jpg"> 

Chef John Lawson at work Nowadays my
peripatetic vocation allows me to relish all kinds of cuisines. I still return
to Leigh-on-Sea, and thankfully, the restaurant scene has vastly improved since
my childhood. Nevertheless, I never envisaged a day when a restaurant of the caliber
of Food by John Lawson would lie but a five-minute walk from the house I grew
up in. Its opening prompted rumors of an experienced chef creating food worth
talking about: meticulously sourced ingredients, sublime combinations, dishes
fit for gastronomes. So last December I booked a table to celebrate my
forthcoming birthday and discover just how good it was, and maybe pen a Vinous
Table.

The
birthday celebration never happened. Days later, I discovered my heart
condition. Dinner was cancelled. But I promised myself that John Lawson would
mark my comeback from whatever lay ahead. Three weeks and a day after surgery, together
with three of my oldest friends, I finally entered the restaurant four months
later than planned. Being here at all felt like a personal triumph.

A parallel
exists between my story and John Lawson’s. Lawson was a talented chef in his
twenties with a stellar career beckoning. He already had an impressive CV,
having trained with Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, then with Daniel
Boulud and Gordon Ramsay before being awarded a “Chef’s Hat” for his own
restaurant, No. 8 by John Lawson, in Melbourne. What could go wrong?<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1562333100133-lawson+gem+lettuce.jpg"> 

Gem lettuce cup with broad beans, radish, mint, elderflower and chive flower, homemade elderflower syrup and lemon In May
2015 Lawson suffered a seizure and was diagnosed with a grade-two brain tumor. Subsequent
complications resulted in brain damage and loss of speech. His whites would not
be worn again for a long time – or maybe never. In October 2016 he was finally given
the all-clear. Rather than re-entering the pressure-cooker environment of a
large kitchen, he chose to open his own restaurant, which would give him
autonomy and allow him to set his own pace and relearn/refine his skills. In
June 2017, with little fanfare, Food by John Lawson opened in Leigh-on-Sea, and
word of mouth was that this place was unlike any other in town. There is an
enormous difference between opening a restaurant in a large city teeming with open-minded
epicures and launching one in a provincial seaside town unaccustomed to fine dining,
its denizens inured to ordinary fare. Will there be an audience for fine dining?
Can you build repeat business? Are locals willing to pay London prices when
they could nip over the road and order a chicken balti? Will you be perceived
as a game-changer or a bit of a food snob? Is jellied eel on the menu?

The
restaurant itself is small: 26 covers occupying a single room with an open
kitchen at the far end, where you will find Lawson and a couple of budding
sous-chefs. The decor is nothing fancy, but tastefully furnished and cozy (I
particularly admire the cockle-shell-decorated lavatory). Cleverly, the smoked
front window seals off the outside world, so that you forget you are in “the
coastal town that they forgot to close down,” to quote Morrissey. There is one
front-of-house, and her service was exemplary: welcoming, attentive, ready to
answer questions and adroitly dealing with any dissatisfied feedback. The restaurant’s
diminutive size obliges a set menu with a vegan option, so that essentially diners
are served whatever is being prepared that day. That said, I was asked if there
were any other dietary requirements, which there were, and they were catered
for extremely well.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1562333128784-lawson+courgette+vichy_copy.jpg"> Courgette&nbsp;Vichyssoise&nbsp;with cashew cream and spinach

So what of
the food by John Lawson?

It could
be considered part of a trend for chefs to offer delicious, flavorsome dishes
with one eye on customers’ well-being. Worried about your calorie intake? Fed
up with feeling bloated and still struggling to digest your meal 48 hours
later? Don’t worry; the chef will make sure you depart feeling good about
yourself. Of the five main courses, only one featured red meat and three were
vegetarian, incorporating vegetables from Sarah Green Organics in Tillingham.
Given Lawson’s background, the healthy mantra is understandable, though it is
not in-your-face or dictatorial. The freshness and meticulous sourcing of
ingredients, subtle combinations and understated seasoning actually reminded me
of Japanese kaiseki: natural,
unimposing flavors in harmony with the season.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1562333156459-lawson+new+potato.jpg"> 

New potatoes served with broad beans, wood sorrel cream and spring onion

We began
with gem lettuce cups, each filled with broad beans, radish, mint, elderflower
and chive flower and lemon, dressed in a homemade elderflower syrup. It sounds
so simple, and yet the key was that elderflower syrup, which lent a soothing
honeyed note to the sharp radish and citrus flavors. Plus, it probably
constitutes the healthiest opening dish I have ever eaten. My doctors would be
pleased.

Hot on its
heels came one of the standouts of the evening, a courgette (zucchini) Vichyssoise with cashew cream and
spinach. As a finicky eater not partial to courgettes, I was surprised to find
myself resisting the temptation to lick the bowl clean. The cashew cream
combined brilliantly with the Parisian-sourced courgettes and displayed perfect
consistency. It’s the detail that elevated this outstanding dish.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1562333295083-lawson+hake.jpg"> Hake with sea beets and fennel fronds

We
maintained the healthy vegetable theme with new potatoes served with broad
beans, wood sorrel cream and spring onion. The sorrel married perfectly with
the earthy new potatoes. Here I might think about adding another ingredient
into the mix, something that would not detract from the purity of the cream – maybe
char-grilled asparagus? This came with gluten-free bread served with cultured
cashew and wild garlic flower butter. Post-surgery, I now eschew bread as much
as possible, but I made an exception.

Since we
were in a coastal town with its own bijou
fishing port down in Old Leigh (where you will find the jellied eel, just in
case your interest is piqued), I expected a lot from this course. The hake with
sea beets and fennel fronds did not disappoint. The hake had a fabulous crispy
skin and the flesh was mouthwateringly moist and flaky. I might have just toned
down the fennel, which threatened to overwhelm this subtly flavored fish.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1562333203851-lawson+wild+boar.jpg"> 

Wild boar with Doris plum, wild garlic, nettle purée, Jack-by-the-hedge and a red wine&nbsp;jus

The most divisive
dish was the wild boar with Doris plum, wild garlic, nettle purée, Jack-by-the-hedge
(garlic mustard) and a red wine jus.
The boar had been slaughtered on the other side of the estuary in Kent. Cooked
perfectly with just the right amount of cracked black pepper, it combined
beautifully with the tangy sweetness of the Doris plum. Mine was to die for,
though my fellow diners found theirs to be excessively chewy. Perhaps this is
because it came from the neck, which can be more sinewy. Our front-of-house
dealt with the complaint calmly, thanked us for the feedback and returned five
minutes later with a replacement. Apparently these were better, although some
slices remained too chewy. It’s a shame. I’ll blame the boar rather than the
chef.

Thankfully,
we finished on a high. My gluten-free friend was offered a quite stunning plate
of fromage courtesy of the Saddleworth
Cheese Company, established by Sean Wilson, the actor who played Martin Platt on
Coronation Street for 21 years. (My American
cousins will not understand the significance of this fact, but for fans of the
world’s longest-running soap, it’s a big deal.) The pungently named Smelly
Ha’peth blue cheese was outrageously good – creamy and nutty, powerful but not
overpowering. The rest of us enjoyed a gingerbread meringue with yuzu curd and Mata powder, the latter
ostensibly Japanese matcha tea. This was
an intriguing, delicious combination of flavors that worked far better than
expected. A round of nettle cupcakes followed (I would have liked just a tad
more moistness here), and then we were finished.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1562333227855-lawson+desert.jpg"> 

Gingerbread and meringue with&nbsp;yuzu&nbsp;curd and Mata powder

The wine
list does not offer a huge array of options. The absence of a cellar and lack
of space no doubt curtails how much the restaurant can list. That said, they
source their wines from the excellent Vino Vero, an independent retailer
located just a couple of doors down the street. The list leans toward the
organic/biodynamic side of things, and the wines are mainly commendable choices,
with a small handwritten book of higher-end bottles for those willing to splash
out. I ordered the 2015 Chablis Fourchaume
1er Cru from Domaine Marcel et
Blanche Fèvre. I believe this label belongs to Nathalie and
Gilles Fèvre, whose wines I have reviewed on Vinous. It might not have been a
benchmark vintage like 2014, but this 2015 delivered an engaging Granny Smith
apple and oyster shell nose, while the honeyed element often imparted by this
vineyard was neatly contained. The palate was not as complex as the aromatics
suggested, although the wine was well-balanced and offered crisp acidity,
plenty of malic fruit and judicious bitterness on the finish.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1562333283199-lawson+wine+bottles1.jpg"> 

I matched
this with one of my favorite wines from Nelson in New Zealand, the 2015 Tom’s Block Pinot Noir from Neudorf. This 4.32-hectare vineyard was
planted in 1999, so we are looking at some decent vine age now. I reviewed this
wine last year and I must admit to being a wee bit disappointed by this bottle,
finding the meaty, savory element stronger than a few months ago, erasing some
of the nuance and detail. Perhaps it just requires more time. I would hold
bottles back another couple of years, as it might be enduring an awkward phase.
We finished with a 2017 Morgon Côte du
Py from Jean Foillard, which
showed up the Kiwi Pinot. The color was iridescent, the bouquet pure Gamay in full
flight: copious blueberries, cassis, crushed violets and blood oranges, all
delivered with superb delineation and brightness. The palate harnessed the
vivacity and unpretentiousness of Gamay with fine tannins, pure, tart black and
red fruit and veins of blueberry. There was a gentle but insistent grip on a finish
of supreme length. An outstanding Beaujolais wine, but frankly, I expected
nothing less from this producer.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1562333273221-lawson+morgon.jpg"> 

Food by
John Lawson lived up to my expectations. As someone who wishes to continue
enjoying fine food but is now far more vigilant about health, I found it the
ideal restaurant to mark my return. The fact that it is located in my hometown
is remarkable, and indicative of how an appreciation of food has seeped into
this area. Hopefully it will erode the prejudice against paying more for great
food and a skilled chef. Too many people in the UK overpay for ordinary food, especially
outside major cities where there can be far less choice. Want a nice tandoori?
There’s a perfectly fine Indian over the road. Want a meal you will remember? At
least now there is that option. I would
like a slightly more expanded wine list, though. This standard of cooking
deserves commensurate wine, and I would love to match some of Lawson’s dishes
with a mature Burgundy or Bordeaux.

Of course,
this particular dinner represents something far more than just another Vinous
Table. It was this writer tentatively getting back in the saddle. Indeed, it marked
the first time I had tasted wine in many weeks, just taking small sips to
reacclimate a palate that was getting used to an abstemious life. Catching a taxi
home, I felt the warm glow of having eaten well, and yet I had a nagging
feeling that something was missing: something that could take Lawson to an even
higher level, something that would really put it on the map. Then it hit me. John
Lawson needs a live oompah band.

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