Primeur - restaurant review

The laid back, modish vibe at chef David Gingell's first venture is well complemented by tasty and fulfilling food
Laid-back and friendly: Primeur in Canonbury offers relaxed hospitality
Adrian Lourie
Nick Curtis @nickcurtis5 December 2017

If Primeur were my local restaurant I would be very happy indeed. It’s a friendly, airy former garage with reclaimed wooden floors, 1930s chairs from the Savoy Grill and huge rollback doors opening onto a shabby-chic avenue in Canonbury: ideally placed for those who can’t face the arduous 15-minute trek to the gastrozones of Islington or Stokie.

It’s the first independent venture of chef David Gingell and manager Jérémie Cometto-Lingenheim, whose past employers — Mark Hix, the Bistrotheque boys, the Galvin, Boxer and Wright brothers — embody the spirit of relaxed hospitality. There’s a short, simple, honest menu, an eclectic list of wines all served by the 125cl glass, some beer and fresh-blended juice and that’s about it.

Admittedly, there are irksome details: the lingering awkwardness of shared tables or side-by-side bar stools, a no-bookings policy underlined by the fact there’s no phone (a decorative Bakelite one on the wall rubs it in) and an email address that routes messages direct to a black hole. Suppose I was inquiring about a nut allergy or coeliac disease, eh?

Such concerns didn’t seem to bother the curious locals (including, woop, the glamorous actress and same-sex marriage pioneer Sophie Ward and her wife) dropping in for a carafe and a selection of come-as-they’re-cooked dishes that are bigger than starters, smaller than mains, just about perfect. But uncertainty added a nervous frisson to our trek from south London. As I say, I wish Primeur, which takes its name from the grocery shop hangouts of France’s poorer boroughs, was around the corner from my house.

Anyway, the food. At the starter-ish end of the menu were plates of salame Toscano, jamón de Teruel and asparagus with Parmesan. Pork terrine was dense, herby and satisfying but outshone by an outstanding, delicate plate of barely cooked cuttlefish given zing and zest by a dressing of soused shallot, lemon and plump capers. More main-ish, but only just, were the slender, blade-like fillets of mackerel with paper-thin pancetta fused to their crisp skin, the flesh moist and pristine white, a sharp-sweet note of interest and depth added by the accompanying stewed gooseberries.

Rump steak with snails was butch, smoky slices of meat, deeply flavoured and served medium-rare with a bright green garlic butter clinging lustily to the snails but dissipated oddly on the meat and the accompanying slice of toast. Still, a full-throated dish, filling and fulfilling.

The modish attitude that you should get what you’re given will find full expression in the private room downstairs, where a tasting menu will be offered. Upstairs, it extends to puddings: there was only one, a raspberry Bakewell tart in which the fruit burst like little, sweet bombs from the light custard and biscuity, friable pastry; plus a cheese board on which an insistent Munster was the standout.

The staff are laid-back, matey, happy to chat about the concept or the cooking: they picked out some excellent wines for us from the daily-changing selection, from a lively Jura Savagnin at £6 to a muscular, smoky Gigondas for £9.

The idea is you can eat as much or as little as you like at Primeur but linger as long as you want. Lucky Canonbury.

Open Tue-Thur 5pm-10.30pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10.30pm, Sun 11am-5pm. Three-course meal for two with wine, about £95 excluding service.

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