Having become a local fave with Fink’s, Mat Appleton and Jess Blackstone have expanded beyond their cafes (but remained in North London) with new restaurant Saltine
The simple exterior – only the menus tacked up in the window let you know it’s the place – leads into an impressive space. It’s all angular and modern up front, dominated by a statement counter, with a beautiful back dining room flooded with light from the huge glass roof. There’s really interesting and thoughtful design on show, with Jess flexing her arty muscles (she boasts a Hackney Design Award and a RIBA House of the Year nomination) in the contrasting of textured walls, exposed brick and plaster with 1970s dining chairs and fun artwork by London artist Paul Kindersley.
Phil Wood (ex-Spring and St. JOHN Marylebone) heads up the kitchen at Saltine and he’s knocking out some very smart seasonal dishes. The menu changes often – we went by for lunch on the second week of the restaurant being open and it was almost all new plates when compared to the previous week – but a crisp glass of Folk orange wine is a great start to the Saltine experience, regardless of what dishes are on offer.
White crab meat spiked with chilli and layered with fennel and pomelo, and the fruity, creamy and crunchy combo of persimmon and stracciatella with a gingery rye crumb, were two great examples of autumnal salads, fresh but with body. We were also fans of the fish stew, here served slightly deconstructed (on a plate with sauce rather than a bowl of soup, so certainly easier to share) with a flaky fillet of white fish, deshelled mussels, roasted fennel and soft potatoes that soaked up all the bisque flavour, finished with a dollop of rouille. The Saltine chips have been getting a lot of plaudits and rightly so. They’re proper chunky boys, golden and crunchy and salty, and excellent for mopping up the last remnants of the stew sauce.
The sticky toffee apple cake has also been popular and again, it’s not hard to see why. Apples and toffee are made for each other, so, of course, a molasses-rich sponge topped with caramelised apple and served with a gorgeous toffee sauce is going to be an absolute delight. Its polar opposite dessert – a zingy and refreshing mandarin granita and citrus jelly – also deserves a shout-out, and in fact, more jellies on menus please.
Saltine is a superb neighbourhood spot and with the promise of new dishes on the regs, it’s one to keep coming back to.
11 Highbury Park, London N5 1QJ
saltine.co.uk