Review at a glance
Vesper
8-10 Exmouth Market, EC1
Meal for two about £240
The question of whether or not London needs more restaurants, particularly those that might be loosely termed “modern British”, is beside the point. Our desire for seasonal plates, peppered with zeitgeist and a side order of vibes, obviates questions of necessity. This is the business of wanting, not needing.
Anyway, nowhere is all of this more true, I suspect, than in the area around Exmouth Market, home to restaurants that range from iconic (Moro, The Eagle) to influential (Caravan, Shawarma Bar) to unabashedly zhuzhy (Morchella, Passione Vino). So after a flicker of surprise, concern even, that Jackson Boxer was opening Vesper, his new, keenly anticipated restaurant, on Exmouth Market, I settled down. London wanted, wants, this.
Boxer — something of a wunderkind in the capital’s dining scene and grandson of the cookery writer Arabella Boxer to boot — named Vesper after the “evening star” that Venus becomes by night.
When I visit, it does seem to positively glow; punters are drawn to designer Jermaine Gallacher’s hard lines and soft furnishings, to gooseberry margaritas and gently flickering candles, like moths to a literal flame. It is peak heatwave and the sky is pink and hazy, rather like my mood after a clammy day fuelled only by cottage cheese and a Cornetto: I am starving.
The interiors of Vesper restaurant VesperWe begin with all the snacks. My companion is never not thrilled by cherries, especially in a savoury context, and devours the sorpresa dei castelli salami dotted with vignola cherries and marcona almonds while I start on the salt and vinegar crisps.
The crisps are hardly Salt & Lineker, instead darkly fried in-house and served with a heavenly gunge of onion and hay-smoked sour cream, trout roe and cubes of pepper jelly that bring jolts of joy to each mouthful. Quickly they are gone — the snack I wanted (but perhaps didn’t know I needed).
Boxer no longer drinks but, with wine director Arthur Astier at the helm, he is dedicated to wine lists that I’ve come to recognise as quietly agenda-setting; Vesper’s runs the gamut of excellent house wines in keg for £6.50 a pop to rarefied special pours. I have never seen Hundred Hills Oxfordshire sparkling rosé listed by the glass, 2019 vintage no less, which makes for easy decision making. Less easy is what to order next because, meat aside, I want it all.
rout Roe with Salt & Vinegar CrispsVesperJake, our server, says the Atlantic prawn starter with fenugreek and black lime butter is unmissable —he’s not wrong — and also suggests an intriguing tangle of green beans dressed with gooseberry tahini and hazelnuts on top of soft robiola cheese. This is not a sensible choice for someone with a main course to come and a commitment to pudding. For my main, I opt for a neat ronde de Nice courgette, baked and piled on top of hazelnut romesco, vadouvan cream, piattone beans and an explosion of green herbs; I am, admittedly, slowing down now, having gone in hard on the snacks and starters.
Other Boxer hallmarks you’d be well-advised to keep in mind at Vesper are the generosity of his portions and polarising approach to sides. In all his restaurants, I have always felt seen in my insistence on good salad and Boxer’s are invariably exquisite: at Vesper, a bountiful plate of leaves arrives dressed with champagne vinegar and strewn with chives and Spenwood cheese.
On the other hand, I don’t eat meat, and am always irked by his duck fat fries. They preclude the possibility of visiting solo for a martini and chips, which is more an aspiration than a thing I do, but I like the idea.
Dusk is descending and the restaurant has filled up with guests hoping to snag one of just 10 house burgers available each day. I see one go to a table with a £29 glass of sought-after Ganevat Jura chardonnay, a clue to the kind of high-low worshipping clientele Vesper attracts. We go outside to finish up; it’s 9pm and Exmouth Market is still balmy, still thirsty — I can’t say that we’re still hungry, but I won’t be leaving without a toasted canelé with rum caramel and goat’s milk, chewy, charred and lovely. Do I want it? Yes. Do I need it? Stop asking!
What you say
Gourmet Guy
“Trust me, this new restaurant from Jackson Boxer is worth a visit.”
Madeleine’s Place
“Immaculate vespers, an excellent wine list and possibly the best fries I’ve ever eaten. Congratulations Jackson Boxer on a beautiful new opening!”
Ekumayu
“Town’s hottest! Vesper from Jackson Boxer.”