The ethos of Native at Browns is ‘sustainable and innovative’, says chef Ivan Tisdall-Downes
It didn’t start well. The place was covered in dust sheets, and silent as a morgue. I mean, I’m all for ironically disguised pop-ups and artfully hidden speakeasies, but as I wandered through Brown’s hotel, my footsteps echoing balefully in the empty gloom, the joke began to wear a little thin.
‘Can I help you, sir?’ A smartly dressed man materialises from nowhere, his clipped, polite tone barely disguising the fact that no, the new Native, formerly of Southwark Street and Osea Island, Maldon – the place where the hyper-seasonal and freshly foraged meets the splendidly sustainable – was very much not to be found within Brown’s Hotel Mayfair and no, sir, he had no idea where it may be.
A toast to spring
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It got a little warmer this week. A few brave flowers are out and the birds are singing when they’re not buffeted by the breeze. So my thoughts have turned to springlike wines.
Suddenly I want whites with the scent of flowers – white blossom, honeysuckle, acacia – and a crisper flavour. I want them to taste of super-fresh, crunchy or tangy fruits such as apples, pears, lemons and limes, and they must be unoaked and young with vibrant acidity.
This might seem premature, but there’s nothing wrong with looking forward to more springy drinking, now March is not far away. In short, I’m sloughing off winter by means of what I pour in my glass. Picpoul de pinet appeals especially, not only because its style fits my idea of springtime wines, but also because it reminds me of summer holidays in the south of France.