trinity

the trinity in clapham has a fantastic reputation. michelin starred, it takes its name from the nearby church in clapham old town and from the fact that it is adam byatt’s third restaurant. i’ve been dying toeatthere for ages! this is the restaurant where my daughter and her husband had their first date. so impressed was she, that she married him. when he then brought me a large box of outrageously fabulous pierre hermé macaroons the first time i met him, the deal was as good as sealed. this was serious son-in-law material! not only did he know how to treat my little girl but he also showed the appropriate appreciation for her mother. on top of all that, he is bright, charming, polite and very handsome. what’s not to grab immediately and hold on to for a lifetime?! nearly three years on, a baby later and endless vats of super yummy mackerel pate, lovingly made for me especially by his own fair hands, and i’m still swept off my feet by this exceptional young man. with all that romance associated with the trinity, it absolutely had to be visited.

our fabulous local, trinity has had a rather fabulous re-vamp and now us lucky locals have the opportunity of eating at two restaurants within the same building. what was a store cupboard now houses an excuse toeathere more regularly and also, as it happens rather reasonably! . we arrived to wondrous hello's from familiar staff faces and were zoomed upstairs past the now gorgeous open kitchened, white table cloths and into a gorgeous stripped back-to-basics dining room upstairs.

ur fabulous local, trinity has had a rather fabulous re-vamp and now us lucky locals have the opportunity of eating at two restaurants within the same building. what was a store cupboard now houses an excuse toeathere more regularly and also, as it happens rather reasonably!

we arrived to wondrous hello's from familiar staff faces and were zoomed upstairs past the now gorgeous open kitchened, white table cloths and into a gorgeous stripped back-to-basics dining room upstairs.

the small kitchen has a couple of chefs whom dish up the whole room. the menu changes daily and dishes come as and when they're ready and are made for sharing. think of it as english tapas, if you will and suggest getting as many of the delicious dishes into your feast as possible. we were a foursome this evening so, did just that and went for the whole savoury menu... perfect!

a night at trinity cannot go amiss without sampling some of their decent wine. however, on this occasion we had been rightfully informed that their house is rather drinkable (correct!) and at £19 a bottle it's a bit of a steal!

a couple of menu winners...
firstly,  what can only be described as deep.fried.heaven...

veal bolognese fritter covered in parmesan - what's not to love?! order two of these (if anything similar is on the menu) and enjoy every mouthful... i can promise you, you won't regret it.

the overall table winner of the whole evening was the saddle of hare, chestnut, truffle and drizzled in a gorgeous chestnut honey. the hare being only slightly touched on the griddle so's not to mess with the delicate meat and keeping it incredibly tender each mouthful had us all in complete silence through enjoyment.

trinity upstairs will fast become one of my 'go to' locals for when cooking seems a chore... it seats 18 so, be sure to book as this will some become a hot spot. adam - it's brilliant!

it’s the unfairness of it that rankles. and it’s not like i haven’t dragged myself across the river to clapham twice already in the last six months, both times to visit the epicentre of current culinary derring-do that is the dairy. it doesn’t seem entirely fair that the good burghers of clapham have not one, but three restaurants i’d be happy toeatat any day of the week. i really shouldn’t have to cross the river to get the sort of neighbourhood restaurant that i want, but until either trinity, the dairy or the manor decide to open a branch in paddington,  that’s how it is.

a return to clapham common for another leisurely lunch with my parents. last time out, the dairy swept us off our feet. how would adam byatt's trinity do?



we arrived hungry at 12.30 and found, for a while at least, that we had a dining room all to ourselves, with windows opening out on to a sunny clapham pavement. yes, that is starbucks, not a delightful independent coffee shop. give clapham a few months.



we went straight for the lunch menu. 2 courses for £22 or 3 for £27 (tuesday-saturday). a la carte is of course available, or you can go for the £50 tasting menu. we ordered a trio of greengage bellinis (one boozy, one water, one lemonade) which were accompanied by a complimentary snack box of radishes, cheese sticks with olive tapenade and roe mayonnaise.


more treats turned up before the starters - a bowl of sourdough that was the product of 14 years of fermentation (!) and triple whipped butter. this threatened to steal the show, and seconds were ordered. funnily enough, the only other place i have been served butter on a rock since starting this blog was at the dairy round the corner. clapham knows how to serve its bread. i shall be triple whipping my butter from now on, but i'm not waiting 14 years for the perfect sourdough.


the starters soon made their grand entrance. staff were balletic in their approach to serving, with plates going down in unison as details of the dish were almost whispered to the relevant diner. a quail's egg sat atop a fort of potted smoked trout whilst watercress soup was poured all around - great presentation with flavours to match. my mother meanwhile had a generous portion of vitello tonnato (a piedmontese dish of cold, sliced veal covered with a tuna-flavoured mayonnaise) which was wrapped around bobby beans, with crackling and ravigote (a lightly acidic, classic french sauce). could trinity keep up this high level throughout?



there was no sign of a dip in quality (or quantity) in the mains. that second portion of bread might have been a mistake (i said might). beautifully cooked warm roast salmon with bonus crispy skin, leaning on a spaghetti of vegetables, was surrounded by al dente agnolotti (another import from piedmont, beef and vegetable stuffed pasta) and a crab vinaigrette. wow. i might have to rush back for more before the menu changes with those pesky seasons.



my dad's plate of lamb offal was an impressive sight - not something that i would order, but right up his street. it firmly got the thumbs up, an empty plate telling most of the story. if you've got lunch plans toeatat heston's dinner (£39 for 3 courses, 2 michelin stars), it might be time to change the booking.




(make sure you look at the attached photos!)

after a brief discussion about sharing desserts, we greedily ordered three separate bowls, spurred on by the superb staff's enthusiasm for their favourite pudding making it back on to the menu.



that enticing, inverted fried egg looking thing you can see is a valrhona chocolate hot pot with salt caramel ice cream. granted, the salted caramel struggled to compete with the gooey, rich valrhona chocolate, but who cares? i was ultimately defeated, but i ate way more of it than i should have.



and then they went and brought us some macaroons on a bed of cocoa nibs. i managed to fit one in - only polite, right?



as you might have noticed, we were rather happy with our lunch. not just the food and drink though as the service was second to none. i shouldn't think it will be too long before we are back for the tasting menu. well done trinity, you (and the dairy) are doing clapham and south london proud.



n.b. trinity has some unexpected opening times: lunch is served tue-fri 12.30-2.30pm, sat midday-2pm, sun midday- 3.30pm. dinner is served mon-sat: 6:00-10pm. on monday bank holidays trinity is also open for lunch.



p.s. adam byatt has another restaurant, bistro union, on the charming abbeville road. i might go along for a sunday supper club evening when corkage is free.

i had a wonderful meal, though the quality of the company guaranteed that, with some great wines at a restaurant i'deatat regularly if it was on the doorstep. there are flashes of brilliance from the kitchen, and the staff are close enough to where they need to be. but only one dish out of five will trouble my best of the year list, and that's just not enough for the price.

one of the joys of living in london is that it's so multi-faceted - it's like a bundle of mini-cities wrapped into one. while west london (where i live, and which i'm particularly fond of) boasts many of the iconic sights that tourists seek, like portobello market and hyde park, east londoners insist that you haven't seen the real london if you've not trawled brick lane for vintage gear or cocktailed it up at a trendy shoreditch watering hole. i'm a true creature of habit, only occasionally straying from the w-postcodes and when i do, it's usually toeat- be it at a cosy supper club or hip molecular restaurant . even with the lure of food, i need much prodding, which is why it has taken me literally years to set foot in trinity . i've heard a great deal about adam byatt's cooking and it has long featured in my lengthy 'to do' list. so when our friends suggested it for sunday lunch, we jumped at the chance. and once there i kicked myself for not having made it sooner - the car journey