The Easton, Clerkenwell
Two young Australians have left their former careers to bring a flavour of their homeland to what was previously an east London strip joint.
The Easton, on Easton Street near Exmouth Market, which reopened earlier this year, is serving what Andrew Veevers and Zim Sutton call "Australian country-style cooking".
"Many of our dishes revolve around the chargrill," says Veevers, who previously worked in business development. "We simply take good quality fish and meat and barbecue it and serve it with interesting salads or tasty vegetables. There is nothing complex about it.
"People think they are going to be served unusual meats with bush tomato chutney and waffleseed dressing. But it's nothing like that; our food is familiar to most people. We strip the food back to the basics and cook it in a way that ensures maximum flavour, rather than masking it with lots of ingredients."
Freshness - as in adding a few raw ingredients to a dish of cooked pasta and giving it a quick stir before serving it - and large portions are also key features of the dishes served at the Easton.
Veevers met Sutton, formerly a disc jockey, when they were both working in a bar in Camden, London. Both were taking time out from their former careers to think about their future and quickly discovered that they both had a passion for cooking the same kind of simple, hearty food. Together they have taken on a 20-year lease from the Unique Pub Company and transformed the former strip club into a light and airy, open-plan room, which can serve up to 80 covers with seating for an additional 50 outside. Between 60 and 100 meals are currently being served daily.
Both Veevers and Sutton write the menu, but it is Sutton who heads a team of four in the kitchen, while Veevers looks after the front of house.
The menu changes frequently - often during service - and is written on a blackboard to allow flexibility. All starters and main courses are lumped together, as some people may order a traditional three courses but many opt for just one dish as all the servings are generous.
Pasta and salad dishes constitute a hearty meal in themselves, whether it is a dish of spaghettini with charred butternut squash, feta, oregano, pine nuts, rocket, lemon and chilli (£6.95) or a chargrilled chicory, goats' cheese, pistachio, raisin and mint salad (£7.50).
Most of the fish and meat dishes are priced around the £10 mark. All fish is from sustainable sources and may include barbecued sea bream, either stuffed with garlic, dill and lemon or served with roast lemon potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, caper berries and smoked paprika a‹oli (£11.95).
Among the meats - all chargrilled - are leg of lamb steaks served with cannelloni bean pur‚e, minted yogurt and a green salad (£8.95), T-bone steaks with horseradish dauphinoise and garlic green beans (£11.95) and chilli and thyme chickens (half a bird is served per person) with a rocket and pancetta new potato salad and sorrel aïoli (£10.50).
Not all dishes see the chargrill, though. Pies, such as a rabbit, prune and pancetta pie served with roast garlic mash and parsnips (£9.95), feature on the menu, as does the occasional stew, such as an oxtail stew with blood orange, juniper berries and mash (£9.95).
Puddings include chocolate spice cake, an orange and almond cake with rosemary ice-cream and a lemon curd tart. n
The Easton, 22 Easton Street, Clerkenwell, London WC1X 0DS. Tel: 020 7278 7608
By Janet Harmer
CHEF'S CHEAT
When making the cannelloni pur‚e to serve with the leg of lamb shank, Sutton marinates the cooked beans overnight in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and fresh herbs (dill, mint, parsley and basil) before blending the beans the next day. This helps to give the pur‚e an extra flavour boost. He also stirs in some crumbled feta cheese into the finished pur‚e for added zing.
WHAT'S ON THE MENU
- Roast garlic and almond soup, £4.50
- Linguine with chorizo, thyme, spinach, breadcrumbs and preserved lemon, £6.95
- Blood orange, beetroot, green beans and goats' curd salad, £7.95
- Chargrilled skate wing with a lemon and dill pilaf and salsa romesco, £10.95
- Rack of lamb stuffed with figs, walnuts and goats' cheese, served with morcilla, tomato and butter beans, £11.95
- Merguez sausages with couscous, harissa, yogurt and lemon rocket, £8.50
- Fresh strawberries, raspberries and blueberries with mint and white chocolate sauce, £3.95
- Vanilla panna cotta with shortbread, £3.95
- Mascarpone and chocolate tart, £3.95
