Final Meal of The Year

Saturday, January 01st , 2022

 

I managed to fit in one last visit to The Ritz before the end of the year, and enjoyed a lovely tasting menu. Highlights were superb langoustines (pictured), gorgeous turbot and venison Wellington, as well as a dazzling truffle and Parmesan chawanmushi. Nowhere in London is serving better food at present. 

We all hope that 2022 is better than the pandemic-ridden 2021, but the omens are not good, with the omicron variant of Covid running riot in London: at least one in twenty Londoners have active Covid as I write this. It is unclear what implications this has for hospitality, since although The Netherlands and Denmark have gone back into full lockdown mode and other European countries have tightened restrictions, the UK government has not. Whether or not it transpires that we will be back to dining via takeaways and shivering outdoors, there will be a freezing effect on the restaurant trade. If there are just 30 diners and 10 staff in the London restaurant in which you are eating, statistically two of them probably have Covid, a data point that is likely to cause many to hesitate before eating out. My sympathies to all people working in restaurants at this time, as this is not the start to the year that anyone was hoping for. There is preliminary indication that Omicron is milder in its effects than Delta, and we all hope that is borne out, but it may be a while before I can head back to review a restaurant. In the meantime, thanks for reading this and have a very happy New Year.