Review: July restaurant
Review: July restaurant
By Helen Down
Alsatian-inspired July is a relative newcomer to Fitzrovia’s hotspot of sleek intimate restaurants on Charlotte Street. During the festive season, thanks to its W1 location, it’s positioning itself as a restaurant in which to end a hectic day of Christmas shopping. But July is so much better than that. With former 40 Maltby sous chef Holly Hayes heading the kitchen, you don’t need a flimsy excuse like shopping to eat such exquisite food.
‘Alsatian-inspired’ does not mean serving German Shepherd steaks, but a menu influenced by the Alsace region of France that borders Germany. And this helps explain why the dishes are all so superb – it’s an excuse to marry the robustness of German food with the precision of French cuisine. Hence July offers contrasting gems such as bratwurst with beetroot ketchup and crumbed lemon sole with sauce gribiche, both of which formed our starters. And incredibly delicious they were too, like the world’s most sophisticated bangers and fish fingers.
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But before all that, our palettes were entertained with ‘light bites’ of rye bread, dill butter and pickled radish, alongside cod’s roe with linseed crackers. The freshly baked rye bread was even better than the chia rye from my favourite Nordic bakery. And the cod’s roe – which wasn’t my choice – proved to be an utter revelation: smoky silkiness in a pool of the finest olive oil with crackers that were lighter than air. I’m a convert.
For mains, we opted for quail schnitzel, which came with a creamy yet light salad of fennel, apple and tarragon; and plump mussels bursting with sweet and salty flavours thanks to samphire fennel cream and parsley oil. For pudding, we were spoiled with straight-out-the-oven madeleines in citrus curd (a July speciality, baked to order) and 82% chocolate sorbet in a puddle of that aforementioned oh-so-fine olive oil – deceptively light, but definitely not light on taste.
Every dish was an utter sensation and showed that July, which only opened seven months ago, is at the top of its game. Passion runs through every detail, and this was embodied ably by our waiter, Paul, whose cracking smile and knowledge of wine, food, geography and science bowled us over. The menu changes every Tuesday and they take immense pride in their ingredients, which includes a whole pig used nose to tail over the week, and an impressive list of low-intervention European wines designed in partnership with natural wine champion, Honey Spencer. From the cheeky photo in the toilet to the unpretentious napkins (no starched white linen here) and eclectic music, everything is expertly curated. I’m already dreaming of my next visit.
Address: 10 Charlotte Street, W1T 2LT
Instagram: @julyldn
Website: www.july.london
Opening times: Monday & Tuesday: 6pm – 10pm / Wednesday – Saturday: 12pm – 11pm
