As our dialog gravitates in direction of locations Trevor likes to eat at, he’s fast to inform me repeatedly that he doesn’t love being requested about “favourites.”
“Firstly, let me start with a disclaimer.” With his trademark directness, Trevor says, “There is no such thing, well, except for the family curry house, as a favourite restaurant and for a restaurateur it is an invidious task when asked to make such a list. It is, for me, like that question: ‘What’s your favourite wine?’ My answer is always that it depends on where, with whom, the weather and the when. Then there are my London roots; I’ll be in trouble if I didn’t stray beyond the north and south circulars.”
Dastaan, Ewell
“Let’s start with that curry house. At Dastaan, the people have more than just excellent credentials, and it’s more than simply delicious food: the busy curry house noise and bustle make for the perfect soundtrack. It’s in Ewell – where’s that, you might ask? – but that just makes it more special (it is in Surrey, incidentally). Dastaan is the family’s and many industry friends ‘go-to’ curry place. There is also a Dastaan in Leeds, but the Epsom restaurant isn’t large, so all the tables are the same, really.”
Sweetings, City of London
“Sweetings in the City has always been there, and I recently went to raise a glass to their 125th birthday. It never wavers, following its own patterns and routines set over the years. Sweetings is a happy anachronism. This has been serving grilled, fried, and poached fish to locals for over a century, and it’s a bit of a time warp amongst the skyscrapers and high-rises that have been thrown up around it in recent decades, yet many make a trip into the city just for them. This Grade II-listed building seems utterly unchanged since the restaurant opened in 1889, with wooden stools, a long bar, and low tables. Just sit where you can. A Black Velvet tastes best from a pewter mug standing at the bar before lunch with some oysters to set things going.”
Bouchon Racine, Smithfield
“We now have two standout (and true) Bouchons in London [traditional Lyonnaise restaurants]. I’m in Lyon regularly, I should add. One is just around our Smithfield corner, and it’s called Bouchon Racine; the other is Josephine in Fulham, where we can walk to from home. Anyway, back to Bouchon Racine: go online and read the classic menu, and you will not be disappointed, but you should feel pangs of hunger because this is a bouchon as it should be. I can also recommend the pub below Racine (The Three Compasses) for its counter lunch menu, too: a proper jambon beurre, anyone? Bouchon Racine hasn’t been open long, and yet, when you’re in there, it feels as though it’s existed in that space for decades. And with fans singing from the rooftops about it (Jay Rayner describes himself as a ‘huge, dribbling admirer’), it is getting harder and harder to get a table. This is classic French cooking inspired by the restaurants of Lyon and the bistros of Paris, so expect escargot and steak tartare, rabbit and confit de canard, cote de boeuf and petit pots au chocolat with an incredible and, unsurprisingly, French-led wine list.”