Story

199 Tooley St, London

As far as anticipated openings go, Story’s was up there. Chef-patron Tom Sellers has worked at a clutch of high flyers, Noma and Per Se among them. Now he’s opened his own place in… a former public toilet by London Bridge. It lives up to the hype. The minimalist space is somewhere between a 70s Nordic chalet and a giant display cabinet, dominated by an open-plan kitchen. Each table is simply set, with a candle that, once lit, becomes the first course: the melted wax is beef dripping into which you dip bread. It’s clever – and tasty. Both the six and ten-course menu (there’s no à la carte) offer plentiful delights: sweet burnt onions contrast remarkably with gin and thyme broth; a fleshy scallop yields beneath the crunch of dill ash-coated cucumber spheres; polenta-like potato douses fat tips of asparagus. Different chefs, including Sellers, bring out each course, adding a personable vibe. Finishing with his Three Bears Porridge, there’s only one concern: how to snag your next table at a venue that’s booked solid for months. AM. 020 7183 2117