New Tom’s – Tom’s Deli Gets Revamped
After running Toms Deli for 24 years restaurateur Tom Conran has decided to revamp the place with the help of Heston Blumenthal trained chef Tom Straker. Born from the ashes of the deli New Tom’s will be serving modern avant-garde cuisine sourced from Strakers Herefordshire farm, with many components being cooked with the on-site smoker! ONIN’s very own Camilla popped down to check the place out…………….
When May finally creeps around the corner the capital emerges from its nine-month long, grey winter, and, with the first burst of sunshine, everyone runs outdoors. So I, on the first glorious day of May, like many fellow Londoners, was reluctant to spend the afternoon cooped up inside a café. But on my pilgrimage to the revamped (more accurately stripped back) New Tom’s, being cooped up inside a café was how I intended to spend the afternoon.
Westbourne Grove stalwart Tom’s has recently reopened. Currently just for breakfast and lunch, and resembles a light and airy New York brasserie.
We started with the ham and cheese croquettes (£6.50) which came pretty close to being top croquette ever tasted. The exterior was light and crispy, and where others might have slipped in thin strips of cheap ham there were meaty chunks of ham hock.
I had the Israeli cous cous with buratta and cumin-roasted broccoli (£13). This was healthy and fresh; the confit lemon and basil dressing made this spring on a plate and it was a dish I would eat time and again were I to be loitering on Westbourne Grove for a mid-week lunch.
My companion had the lemon sole goujons with pommes puree (£14.50): their accompanying herb and caper yoghurt sung of summer. I needn’t have worried about missing out on the one promise of summer: summer had very much been cooked up in the kitchen and served at our table.
New Toms calls itself a café/ restaurant, but these are not café prices; then again, this is certainly not café food. Do make the journey, rain or shine.
Reporter: Camilla Norton
New Tom’s
226 Westbourne Grove
London
W11 2RH
Website, @NewTomsLondon, Facebook, Instagram
