‘A long lunch is what we’re good at’: London bistro above a pub wins UK restaurant of the year
Bouchon Racine, a French bistro above a London pub, won UK restaurant of the year while rejecting online-booking culture.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
The article spotlights a restaurant that has thrived by staying old-school: phone bookings, a changing chalkboard menu, and a focus on leisurely lunches. It also ties the business to wider industry pressures, including food inflation, taxes and Brexit-related supply friction.
A small French restaurant above a pub won a big prize because it does things its own way, like taking bookings by phone and serving long lunches. It’s like a favorite neighborhood shop that wins by being warm and special, not flashy.
Analysis
A deliberate throwback
Bouchon Racine, run by Henry Harris and Dave Strauss in Farringdon, won the National Restaurant Awards’ UK restaurant of the year prize. The restaurant has become popular since opening in 2023, despite taking a stance that runs against digital-first hospitality: Strauss said the aim is to move toward phone-only reservations rather than online booking systems.
The owners say that approach is partly about control. They described problems with customers reserving multiple tables and then only turning up to one, which created empty seats and blocked demand. Their answer is to keep the process more personal and less automated.
Old-school food, old-school business
The menu is framed around traditional French cooking and a mix of higher-end and straightforward dishes. The article says offerings can include calf brains, tête de veau, oysters, steak frites and pork chops, while some dishes remain constant, including steak and chips, crème caramel, rabbit with mustard and a chicken liver pâté linked to Harris’s family.
The restaurant’s interior also reflects its scrappy origins. Harris and Strauss said they relied on savings, four investors and a large amount of donated equipment and furniture from friends and the former tenant. That makes the award a story not just about taste, but about resourcefulness.
The wider pressure point
The piece also places the restaurant in a broader industry context. Strauss says long lunches are returning as workers spend more time back in offices, but Harris notes that rising food inflation and taxes are squeezing profits even when trade is strong. Harris also argues that smoother trade with the EU would help by reducing delays and food waste on ingredients that arrive from France and Italy.
Key points
- Bouchon Racine won the National Restaurant Awards’ UK restaurant of the year prize.
- The owners want to move away from online reservations and rely more on phone bookings.
- The menu mixes classic French dishes with daily changes based on ideas and available produce.
- Harris says inflation and taxes are eating into restaurant profits.
- Harris also says smoother trade with the EU would help reduce delays and waste.
If the restaurant keeps attracting diners with its traditional menu and long lunch format, it can stay a strong draw without chasing online trends. A smoother supply chain with Europe could also reduce waste and make it easier to keep serving the ingredients it relies on.
The article says higher taxes and food inflation are already squeezing profits, even as the restaurant gets busier. It also warns that Brexit-related customs delays can slow deliveries and increase food waste, which could keep margins under pressure.
