Rowley Leigh at Laylow.
If you think that’s a mouthful, just wait until you eat there.
For anyone who’s not immediately scrolling for the booking link at the mention of his name, Rowley Leigh is, simply put, one of the country’s culinary national treasures. He’s the man who launched the much-loved Kensington Place, a restaurant that marked a new wave of dining in London around the same time The River Café and Bibendum opened their doors. Having him cooking in the capital again is a serious boon, and he’s here right up until Christmas with his pop-up restaurant, Chez Rowley.
It’s made its temporary nest at Laylow, a members’ club in Notting Hill with a sleek, Bella Freud-designed restaurant space on the ground floor that’s open to everyone. And though the name is French, the menu’s more broadly European, inspired by nostalgic meals on family holidays. You can tuck into dishes like raw seabass with orange & lamb’s lettuce; Catalonian escalivada with girolles (a flavourful melange of smoky grilled vegetables); and John Dory with purple sprouting broccoli, girolles and a buerre blanc.
The pièce de résistance however is the poulet antiboise: a whole roast chicken stewing in anchovies, black olives, garlic and lashings of white wine, and you can cap it all off with a little grilled pineapple and coconut ice cream, or a quince rice pudding. The drinks list, meanwhile, is pretty spirit-heavy, including a range of tequilas and mezcals…
Which might remind you of some of your early European holidays, too.
NOTE: Chez Rowley is at Laylow from 13th September – 22nd December 2023. You can find out more, and book, HERE.
Chez Rowley | 10 Golborne Road, London, W10 5PE
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