Craft

0pe, 1 Green Pl, London

Greenwich Peninsula was once known only for its white elephant cultural installations and tourist-friendly restaurant chains, but the launch of Craft has officially put SE10 on the gourmet map. Designer Tom Dixon’s futuristic colossus towers above the surrounding music venue and merchandise vendors; when you consider that it houses curing rooms, wood- fired ovens, an on-site butchery, coffee roastery and fermenting cellar it’s a wonder no restaurant owner has seen the potential of the area before. You’ll struggle to find a more theatrical menu in London. Clay-baked duck is the dish that everyone’s talking about. At £75, the price alone is enough to pique curiosity; but when it arrives in a bower of pine boughs supported by two waiters with truncheons, you know that chef Stevie Parle is out to impress. Crack the river clay, peel away the smoked straw and cabbage leaves and you’re left with an astounding dish that is liver-like in its tenderness. The hasselback-style potatoes, smothered in butter then roasted in the ashes of a wood fire, are worth the journey alone. IL. 020 8465 5910, craftlondon.co.uk