When you think about a restaurant, what’s the first thing that pops into mind? Tables? Menus? Waiting staff?
Well, Counter 71 has none of these. In fact it just has a counter. It’s a beautiful, L-shaped belt of mottled green marble curving itself around a small kitchen, in which a trio of chefs busy themselves slicing, grilling, steaming, scorching, dusting, piping, and plating up a seemingly endless parade of delicate little dishes.
You’ll find it at 71 Nile Street (hence the name) over in Shoreditch, where it’s helmed by the highly personable and extremely talented chef Joe Laker. Here, he’s created a space for just 16 people a night, with a single sitting in which he serves up a 10-course, all-British tasting menu. Laker truly invites you into his world for the night, and it almost feels more like a dinner party than a restaurant.
As the seasons shift different ingredients literally begin to crop up, and they’re going into that new Autumn menu. Some of the highlights include:
- Cheese tart with truffle & Jerusalem artichoke (a cheese tart case filled with tunworth cheese custard, jerusalem artichoke puree, and black truffle)
- Cornish Lobster with onion squash puree, smoked Onion, lobster sabayon
- Confit Pollock with mushroom sauce, winter chanterelles, cobnut oil
- Apple with marigold & fig leaf (apple gel with apple shaved ice, apple juice, fig leaf oil, marigold gastrique, and marigold flowers)
- Custard tart with quince & honey (a custard tart with honeycomb brûlée, honey crumb, quince purée, and honey ice cream)
The booze is quite varied, with everything from a wine pairing, to a simple cocktail, and just a beer if that’s what you fancy. In fact, the venue has its own bar downstairs in the form of Lowcountry, a cocktail joint that draws from US mid-coast areas like Georgia and North Carolina (Laker actually grew up in Alabama and South Carolina). The drinks here, besides sharing American influences, are created using science-y techniques like fat-washing and infusions. One drink, an old-fashioned riff named the ‘Fat-Fashioned’ features bacon-washed bourbon, maple syrup and creole bitters, and another, a Manhattan, is made with blueberry-infused whisky.
Sounds very Counter-intuitive.
NOTE: Counter 71 is open now, with one sitting each day at 7.15pm. You can find out more, and book, on the Counter 71 website.
PREVIOUS PERK: Nudge Members (+1) got 35% off the tasting menu and wine from 25th October – 8th November 2024. Don’t miss the next one – sign up for a free 7 day trial.
Counter 71 | 71 Nile Street, N1 7RD
Making a night of it? Take a peek at our favourite Shoreditch bars