If you consult social media to find the best spots for a weeknight dinner reservation, you might think that having a viral account or influencer chef is the only way to run a successful restaurant. However, the operators of the newly crowned top UK restaurant are not just unbothered about competing in the algorithm olympics; they are actively seeking ways to be more analogue, even considering taking bookings only by phone.
Winners of the National Restaurant Awards
Henry Harris, 62, and Dave Strauss, 61, co-own Bouchon Racine, a restaurant above a pub in Farringdon, London. The bijou space has become a hit since it opened in 2023 and is one of the most coveted tables in the capital. Strauss said: "The goal is eventually to never take online bookings, and it’s just all done over the phone because I do all the bookings between 9am and 11, or you text me, and it’s just a lovely organic way to do it." He noted issues with people block booking four tables and only turning up to one, which jammed up those tables.
Harris and Strauss were shocked to win the National Restaurant Awards’ UK restaurant of the year prize this week. "No! We thought we’d be lucky to be in the top 20," said Strauss. The judges commented: "The downstairs pub, Three Compasses, remains just that, a boozer for the after-work crowd, while the upstairs restaurant feels like a secret dining room that whisks you away from London to the back streets of France. You might never want to leave."
A French Bistro with a Personal Touch
Harris, who has worked in Michelin-starred kitchens, previously ran Racine in Knightsbridge from 2002 to 2015 before helming a pub group. Strauss spent a decade as operations director at the premium restaurant group Goodman and then operated Rockfish restaurants in Devon and Cornwall. They set up shop in what was a Thai restaurant above the pub. The cosy room is painted a very pale red, with bottles of amber armagnac and other digestifs lining the room, making it feel like the end of a party. On a bright June morning, sunbeams hit the liquid in the bottles and cast golden shadows on the walls.
"We raided our savings and had to take on four investors who were enthusiastic industry friends," said Harris. Strauss added: "Literally everything we opened with was donated by friends." Harris noted that the only items they bought were teaspoons, wine glasses, water glasses, a stove, and a dishwasher; everything else was donated, including chairs and tables left by the Thai restaurant. "It was all mismatched because we just didn’t have the money to buy stuff," Strauss added.
Menu and House Rules
Today’s menu, being scrawled on a chalkboard, includes calf brains and tête de veau, alongside crowd-pleasers like oysters, steak frites, and pork chops. Desserts include Harris’s crème caramel with a prune and a cherry and almond tart. "We change the menu daily depending on my ideas, what I see, what produce our suppliers have to offer," Harris said. "But some things are always on the menu: steak and chips, crème caramel, rabbit with mustard, and chicken liver pâté from my mother’s recipe."
The move to phone-only bookings is one example of restaurateurs reasserting control. Chef Hugh Corcoran did similar at the Yellow Bittern in King’s Cross, which proved divisive. Harris has also banned customers from bringing birthday cakes. He recounted a young man bringing a sub-£5 Marks & Spencer’s cake for his girlfriend. "It had been bashed around and didn’t look pristine. I wanted to say to her: you need an upgrade." He finds it irritating when people bring their own desserts. "I am at the point now that if people phone up and ask to bring a cake, we say no."
Strauss added that the menu is a "very personal thing" for Harris: "It’s full of things he would want to eat. If you went to Henry’s house for dinner, you wouldn’t bring a cake."
Reviving the Long Lunch
Another old-fashioned tradition they are reviving is the long workers’ lunch, which declined during Covid. "Especially the financial places have called everybody back in every day," said Strauss. "We do a leisurely lunch, a seating at 2.30pm where the kitchen is happy to cook all afternoon, a long three-hour lunch, which has become more popular." In his opinion, "lunch is always better than dinner. A long lunch in London, and then pubs afterwards, is what we’re good at."
Challenges and Brexit Impact
Many restaurateurs complain about rising tax and food inflation eating away at margins. Strauss said: "The irony is that although we’re much busier than when we started, we probably make the same profit. Everything’s been chipped away, so you can see why people in the industry are upset." Harris said the government could help by smoothing trade with the EU. "My poultry and lentils come from France, my tomatoes from Italy. Brexit has made it harder, slowed things down, and created more food waste when lorries get stuck at customs."
