Chez Bruce: Tip-top eating in simple surroundings

Fine French dining that's simply superb
Fay Maschler1 February 2018

When there was a flurry of media surprise in the mid-Eighties at university graduates becoming restaurant chefs, Bruce Poole (Exeter — history) was among that number. After a couple of years working front-of-house (usefully relevant) he began cooking with Simon Hopkinson at Bibendum. Poole’s premises overlooking Wandsworth Common previously housed Marco Pierre White (University of Life) at Harvey’s. For many — me included — Chez Bruce is a restaurant ideal and often wins awards pointing to that fact (currently Diners’ Choice 2017 from OpenTable). Classic technique from head chef Matt Christmas is let loose on a roll call of enticing ingredients exhibiting deep-seated understanding of the role and impact of each. Generosity of spirit conveyed by the dishes themselves plus canapés and friandises is reinforced by the warmth and capability of the staff with a strong female component including sommelier Sara Bachiorri in charge of a magnificent list. There is agreeably defiant plainness in the décor, all the better to frame tip-top eating and drinking.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in