Cornus

Cornus (another name for the plant dogwood) opened in summer 2024, and is the sister of Medlar. It is on the top floor of a building called The Ice Factory (that is what the building used to be) in Belgravia, not far from Victoria Station. The head Chef is Gary Foulkes, formerly of Angler. The menu offers a full a la carte and there is an emphasis on luxury ingredients from genuinely high-end suppliers: the caviar is from N25, the chicken is Arnaud Tauzin in the Landes, seafood from Keltic Seafare, the quail is from France rather than Norfolk etc. There was also a tasting menu at £195 per person, which is what we had. The dining room had large, well-spaced tables and was light and airy. 

The wine list had 298 labels and ranged in price from £30 to £2,500, with a median price of £100 and an average markup to the retail price of 2.49 times, which is very kind by London standards. Sample references were Eidos de Padriñán Albariño Adega dos Eidos 2023 at £52 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for £20, 'Woodlands Brook' Chardonnay from Margaret River 2020 at £70 compared to its retail price of £29, and Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas 2020 at £95 for a wine that will set you back £36 in the high street. For those with the means, there was Krug NV champagne at £320 compared to its retail price of £262, and the sublime E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque 1995 at £400 for a wine whose current market value is £586. There were twenty wines (admittedly mostly expensive ones) actually priced below their current market value, so there are bargains here tucked away if you do your research. 51% of the list was French, but there were wines from as far afield as Georgia, Slovakia and Switzerland. It was nice to see that fifty wines were available under £75 (and 24 under £50), which is a pleasant change from many London lists. Mineral water was £4.75 for a 75cl bottle.

The meal began with gougeres filled with Gruyere fondu. The choux pastry was good and there was plenty of cheese flavour, but it would have been even better if the gougeres had been served warm. I preferred tuna bluefin tuna with oscietra caviar from N25 on a warm crusty base. A delicate little tartlet was topped with 96-month-old Parmesan and onion ketchup, the onion complementing the rich Parmesan (canapes average 16/20).

Bread was a choice of focaccia, made in the kitchen and sourdough, supplied by Flourish bakery in Watford. This came with particularly good French butter “Au bon beurre”, made by Oliver Martin in Beaulencourt in northern France. This butter is made from three different breeds of cattle: Holstein, Normande and Jersey. 

Devon crab was steamed and then roasted before being chilled and the white meat presented. It was served with Hass avocado (a variety with rich taste and creamy texture), finger lime, spring onion, pear and wasabi mayonnaise made with real grated wasabi (no green coloured horseradish from a tube here), as well as green apple sorbet and apple jelly. This was a superb dish, the crab of exceptional quality, the avocado ripe and the balance of the dish spot on. The gentle bite was just enough to lift the dish without overpowering the delicate flavour of the crab (comfortably 18/20). Hand-rolled spaghetti was served with Cornish lobster, oscietra caviar (from N25) and Amalfi lemon with a shellfish bisque sauce. The pasta had very good texture, the lobster was tender and the caviar’s brininess worked well with the other dish element, the hint of lemon ensuring the dish was not too rich (16/20)

A langoustine dish was a Phil Howard recipe from his days at The Square. The large Orkney langoustine tail was roasted and served with caramelised Parmesan gnocchi, pea puree, truffle puree and a potato and gnocchi emulsion along with girolles. The langoustine tail was large and had lovely natural sweetness, with the earthiness of the potato and hint of woodland aroma of the truffle a nice contrast (17/20). Wild turbot was from a large 7kg specimen, roasted and served with Nicoise potatoes, petit pois and Alsace bacon. The fish was carefully cooked and the peas had plenty of flavour (16/20).

Roast chicken (from Arnaud Tauzin in the Landes) was served with cauliflower, truffle sweetcorn and Scottish langoustine with a jus flavoured with foie gras. The earthy cauliflower and sweetcorn were a good foil for the fine chicken, whose flavour was superb. The Tauzin chicken is pretty much the king of chickens (I prefer it to those from Bresse), its flesh firm and with deep flavour. The Tauzin family has been raising poultry since the 19^th century in the southwest of France, and these corn-fed birds, which live almost all of their lives in the open air, have plenty of fat that leads to crisp skin when properly cooked, as this one was. Tauzin chickens grace the tables of some of the top restaurant tables in France. The langoustine added an extra flavour though with chicken this good almost anything else seems superfluous (18/20). 

Belted Galloway beef is a slow-maturing Scottish cattle breed, supplied from Butcher’s Block in Banstead Surrey. The meat was served with glazed shallots, Scottish girolles, galette potatoes, spinach and a red wine sauce. The mushrooms were very good and the beef was fine, though the beef flavour seemed to me merely good rather than dazzling (16/20). A selection of cheese includes St Maure de Touraine, Yarlington, three-year-old Comte, four-year-old Gouda and Barkham Blue. The cheeses were supplied by Buchanans in Paddington and were in very good condition.

Brown sugar custard tart came with blackberry ice cream and a garnish of fig leaf. The pastry had very good texture and the custard was excellent, the ice cream bringing useful acidity as a balance to the richness of the custard (16/20). Millefeuille of roast apricot and chamomile came with crème diplomat (vanilla pastry cream with whipped cream), apricot sauce and Mexican vanilla ice cream. The puff pastry was really superb, delicate and light, the sharpness of the apricot cutting through the natural richness of the airy crème diplomat  (17/20). Coffee was from Difference Coffee, a choice of Brazil Yellow Bourbon or Jamaican Blue Mountain. There were petit fours of fig and crème fraiche macaroon, hazelnut and clotted cream fudge and chocolate and pistachio amaretti biscuit. The pastry section was headed up by Kelly Curren, formerly of Allegra. 

Service was superb, our Italian sommelier Melania being particularly impressive.  The bill came to £305 per person. If you went a la carte instead and shared a modest bottle of wine from the excellent list then a typical cost per person might be around £150. Although this is hardly cheap, you have to consider the genuinely top-of-the-line ingredients being used here, superior to those used in most of London’s multi-starred restaurants. Cornus offers a very appealing menu, skilled cooking of gorgeous ingredients and charming service – what more do you want from a restaurant?

Further reviews: 08th Nov 2024