Spring
TO LAUD, IN THIS GUIDE to good living in London, a restaurant so apparently untethered to the turbulent city beyond its threshold may seem counterintuitive. Within its tranquil space, it’s difficult to imagine you’re in London at all. That’s just how Spring likes it. Everything – menus, décor, service – conspires to lift one from the vulgar cares of dreary, weary reality to a higher plane of blissful contentment.
Blond wood and blush-toned fabrics, gauze hangings and cloud-like chandeliers: the overall effect is stunning in its ethereal prettiness. Even Spring’s signature art installation, of white porcelain petals fluttering down its walls, is by a female artist, Valeria Nascimento.
Although the room itself, within the majestic precincts of Somerset House, is loftily impressive, it’s far from overwhelming. The small number of tables are grouped in such a way that one feels neither crowded nor exposed. The same ethos suffuses the cooking of chef-owner Skye Gyngell and head chef Rose Ashby. Hyper-seasonal British produce is prepared and served with a simplicity that permits each separate ingredient to sing. And sing they do, like angels. The miracle is that, far from seeming precious or insubstantial, all this delicacy translates into a deeply satisfying dining experience quite unlike any other in the capital. Spring is, in my estimation, a beautiful, beautiful thing. Go.
See also: Elystan Street, Medlar, St John
