A sweet little spot

Here is another location that has seen a few different guises: Pukkabar, Black Truffle, Okra. And who knows why they didn't work: this is a dream of a location, right in the thick of monied North London, handy for gilded Primrose Hillbillies, on a particularly pretty street.

Now it's having another stab at longevity with Chalcot, a cool, clean little space on two levels, simply painted in neutral colours and decorated only by huge black and white prints of millionaires' playground, Portofino.

The food is kind of Modern Med with touches of Americana (brunch offerings of organic burgers and eggs benedict). We ate pretty well: close-but-no-cigar sort of standard. Crab salad with baby spinach was short on crabmeat and flavour;wafer-thin beef carpaccio was too fridge-chilly.

Main courses pepped up: properly al dente linguine with crayfish (although the billed chilli wasn't making its presence felt) and an excellent, creamy and toothsome lemon and chicken risotto made, as it should be, to order. A trembly pannacotta was rather deliciously undersweetened.

Staff are touchingly eager to please and this is a sweet spot. I hope it lasts longer than its predecessors.

A three-course meal for two with wine, water and service costs about £75. 40 Chalcot Road NW1. Tel: 020 7483 0077. Tube: Chalk Farm

Chalcot
40 Chalcot Road, NW1