Put simply, a meal can be too much: too much pressure both on digestion and on the person you’re with. Europeans understand this, which is why they have such an exquisite pre-dinner offering – aperitivi that can extend late into the night, where non-committal drink follows non-committal drink and a lovely slew of small bites keep the hunger at bay. Aperitivi is also an opportunity to try some of the nicest drinks on offer, at least if you like quirky fizzy local wines, delicate roses, and homegrown cocktails. Can the bliss of aperitivi hour – or hours – be replicated in London, somewhere between pubs and restaurant meals? The answer is yes, and the capital offers varying degrees of decadence both of food and small plates. And because we don’t have a drinks and small plates culture per se, as they do in Italy, Spain and France, we aren’t limited either, and so the range of available options is far superior.
High Timber – City
This City favourite features the very best South African wine and meat, including home-made droewors and biltong, and some of the best steak in London. This alone is an intoxicating combination but the High Timber aperitivi experience comes together courtesy of proud Johannesburg-born owner Neleen Strauss, a splendid character, crackling wit and restaurateur with a preternatural sense both for what is delicious and for what people want – for this, plus her daily uniform of jeans and her daring zingers, she has become something of a cult figure amongst otherwise stiff bankers. There’s a magical balcony overlooking the Thames towards St Paul’s, which is an ideal spot for that first glass of wine – perhaps a glass of South African Grant Beck blanc de blanc. For an aperitivi hour both merry and refined, nibble on home-made biltong, biltong croquettes or a charcuterie plate, fried squid and mushroom and chestnut pate.
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