St John, 26 St John Street, London

There are more things to eat between the nose and the tail of a pig than are dreamt of in St John's philosophy. I ventured to Smithfield to expand my culinary vocabulary. Pig time.

Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver opened St. JOHN in October 1994. The former smokehouse, situated around the corner from London's Smithfield Market had fallen in to serious disrepair since ham and bacon smoking ceased in 1967.




Critical acclaim for Fergus's brand of simple, paired down cooking set in an architecturally though simple setting followed and St. John has won more that it's fair share of awards and high rankings in national and international listings.

Fergus is now a published chef: Nose to Tail Eating - A Kind of British Cooking, first published in 1999 and re-published both in the UK and the U.S. (as The Whole Beast) gained much acclaim and won the Andre Simon award for food writing.


When dining here, we ended up having four courses. The Roasted Bone Marrow, Caper and Parsley Salad is worldclass. The staff are proud of what they offer and, like Bread and Wine, showcase what can be done to create old fashioned recipes.

Bread - Good, solid and wholesome.
Staff - Passionate, proud and hold plenty of personality.
Overall - Great experience - like no other in London.
St John - 020 7553 9842