Tasting Britain
TastingBritain.co.uk - Redemption Bar, Notting Hill
As guy who writes for a living, I've got to say that Notting Hill's Redemption Bar have some pretty splendid strap lines. The first? 'Spoil yourself without spoiling yourself.' The second? 'A night off, not a night in'. So, if you hadn't gathered - Redemption's 'thing' is restaurant/bar type indulgence, but without the accompanying physical damage that comes with consuming shitloads of alcohol or the 'wrong' kind of foods ('wrong' from a health perspective). The menu is made up of vegan, sugar free, gluten free, alcohol free type reinterpretations of familiar dishes/drinks. For an example, instead of 'conventional' pasta, think "raw courgette spaghetti, tossed in walnet and pumpkin seed pesto, topped with a rocket and tomato salad and brazil nut âparmesan" - which is actually very delicious (verified and confirmed). And mocktails that donât suck (because, letâs be honest - a lot of the time cocktails are just fruit juice with a little pimping)
Anyway, Redemption is the brainchild of one Catherine Salway - who, amongst other things, spent 17 years working a 6 figure, power/high stress job at Virgin (describing her background as "brand, marketing, innovation and business"). With the idea for Redemption, Catherine must have picked up some of Branson's "screw it, let's do it" spirit. She summed it up herself best in one of her blog posts: "I wanted to break into the restaurant market which has high failure rates, without the single biggest profit driver (alcohol) in the most white hot property market in the world (London)". Hard graft and some good decisions seem to be paying off however - they've developed something of a cult following and write-ups in the like of The Telegraph, The Sydney Morning Herald and Time Out. I believe theyâre calling this style of place a âdry barâ, and that thereâs more on the way (good news for everybodyâs livers!)
Catherine herself doesn't actually know how to cook, so the menu and 'creative direction' can be attributed to the equally lovely Andrea Waters, the other half of Redemotion. Andrea's a kiwi with a background in nutrition, raw and vegan foods. We had a chat with her and can verify that she is super chill and 'on the level'. As for a food recommendation? Probably my favourite of the things I tired was the aforementioned pasta .The ethos/approach Redemption takes is pretty cool, they're offering an alternative but they're not preaching. They've also got a zero waste policy and take the whole sustainability issue very seriously. It's a fine thing to see people who do things, reaping good things. They've come a long way since their first three residencies in Hackney, Portobello and Holborn - and it looks like their future is promising. I hope they go further still. Well done Andrea and Catherine :)
TastingBritain.co.uk - Redemption Bar, Notting Hill
As guy who writes for a living, I've got to say that Notting Hill's Redemption Bar have some pretty splendid strap lines. The first? 'Spoil yourself without spoiling yourself.' The second? 'A night off, not a night in'. So, if you hadn't gathered - Redemption's 'thing' is restaurant/bar type indulgence, but without the accompanying physical damage that comes with consuming shitloads of alcohol or the 'wrong' kind of foods ('wrong' from a health perspective). The menu is made up of vegan, sugar free, gluten free, alcohol free type reinterpretations of familiar dishes/drinks. For an example, instead of 'conventional' pasta, think "raw courgette spaghetti, tossed in walnet and pumpkin seed pesto, topped with a rocket and tomato salad and brazil nut âparmesan" - which is actually very delicious (verified and confirmed). And mocktails that donât suck (because, letâs be honest - a lot of the time cocktails are just fruit juice with a little pimping)
Anyway, Redemption is the brainchild of one Catherine Salway - who, amongst other things, spent 17 years working a 6 figure, power/high stress job at Virgin (describing her background as "brand, marketing, innovation and business"). With the idea for Redemption, Catherine must have picked up some of Branson's "screw it, let's do it" spirit. She summed it up herself best in one of her blog posts: "I wanted to break into the restaurant market which has high failure rates, without the single biggest profit driver (alcohol) in the most white hot property market in the world (London)". Hard graft and some good decisions seem to be paying off however - they've developed something of a cult following and write-ups in the like of The Telegraph, The Sydney Morning Herald and Time Out. I believe theyâre calling this style of place a âdry barâ, and that thereâs more on the way (good news for everybodyâs livers!)
Catherine herself doesn't actually know how to cook, so the menu and 'creative direction' can be attributed to the equally lovely Andrea Waters, the other half of Redemotion. Andrea's a kiwi with a background in nutrition, raw and vegan foods. We had a chat with her and can verify that she is super chill and 'on the level'. As for a food recommendation? Probably my favourite of the things I tired was the aforementioned pasta .The ethos/approach Redemption takes is pretty cool, they're offering an alternative but they're not preaching. They've also got a zero waste policy and take the whole sustainability issue very seriously. It's a fine thing to see people who do things, reaping good things. They've come a long way since their first three residencies in Hackney, Portobello and Holborn - and it looks like their future is promising. I hope they go further still. Well done Andrea and Catherine :)