Smoke & Salt, Brixton: small plates pack big, bright flavours

Two chefs at their peak as they settle down in a shipping container
Smoke & Salt has succumbed to small plates as it settles in a shipping container
Ben Norum5 December 2017

Chefs Aaron Webster and Remi Williams have big boots to fill.

The pair have taken over the Pop Brixton shipping container which saw Kricket grow from an Indian startup which did a good bhel puri into one of London’s hottest restaurants.

Whether they can replicate the fortunes of the previous inhabitants, who have moved out to a bigger site in Soho, remains to be seen. But the forecast is good: their cooking is match fit and up to the challenge.

It’s progressed significantly since Smoke & Salt was last spotted serving at a residency within Islington’s Chapel Bar a year ago, which itself followed a series of pop-ups across town from the two chefs, who met in the kitchens of Notting Hill’s The Shed.

Chefs: Remi Williams (left) and Aaron Webster who met at The Shed

The biggest change is that the pair have done away with the rather restrictive (though delicious) tasting menu format they previously ran with, and succumbed to the allure of small plates.

Among the pick ‘n’ mix highlights are ripe and well-flavoured tomatoes (of the sort you might more associate with Bilbao than Brixton) which come with fresh, creamy ricotta and a slightly nutty-tasting whey vinaigrette.

Equally simple but effective are grilled runner beans, slightly blackened and seductively smoky, served with a punchy aioli.

Also from the grill comes pork belly, layered with sumptuous melting fat and served with chunks of tangy broccoli that has been cured and spiced so as to resemble kimchi.

Sort of sausage: merguez tartare

It’s clever stuff, but perhaps best of all is a merguez tartare: a clever riff on the classic spiced sausage, made with chopped raw lamb mixed with a fiery harissa and served with contrastingly cool labneh and warm flatbread.

On a nice day its container-top terrace is a wonderful suntrap and a perfect setting for the bright-flavoured food, but there are enough enthralling flavours going on to draw you into the small shipping container itself.

You can wash down the dishes with craft beer or choose from a short selection of cocktails that includes a Bloody Mary laced with kimchi and a whisky sour with sorrel.

30 must-try dishes in London restaurants

1/31

There’s just one red and one white wine at the moment, which will hopefully change once it beds in. Perhaps they could team up with Franzina Tarttoria in the container opposite, which serves an excellent range of Sicilian wines.

From Franco Manca to Honest to Kricket, Brixton has a strong track record of fostering restaurant talent. Smoke & Salt is looking like it’s next on the list.

Smoke & Salt: The lowdown

Final Flavour: Small plates pack big, bright flavours at this smoking hot reincarnation.

At what cost? Small plates cost between £4 and £9.

Visit if you like: Salon, Neo Bistro, The Dairy.

Find it: Pop Brixton, 49 Brixton Station Road, SW9 8PQ; smokeandsalt.com.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in