Lorne

it’s a restaurant that’s worth braving the area to visit. You wouldn’t know it just by walking past, but between them, the people who opened Lorne have worked at some big ticket restaurants like The River Cafe and Benu in San Francisco.

I get the distinct impression that, with Lorne, its owners have created the kind of restaurant they’d like to go to themselves; there’s a refreshing lack of concept or spreadsheet-driven mentality.

This food was fussy, not to say wussy, lacking in guts, not the accompaniment needed by the singing wine list.

I have to admit that what we ate left us both feeling underwhelmed. Nothing surprised or amazed us; nothing left us hoping for more.

This is the neighbourhood restaurant of Pimlico’s dreams. Elegant enough for its mature Sloanes, stylish enough for the yuppies. And with food and wine as swish as the decor.

The menu is modern British, with small dishes like quail with butternut squash and mountain yam, or cuttlefish with violet potatoes preceding larger numbers like beef short rib with pears & cavolo nero, or a sea bream with monks beard and a dashi broth.