The Fox & Grapes

The kitchen at this high-flying gastro-pub on the edge of Wimbledon Common is fortunate to have its larder stocked by the top-notch network of suppliers built up by owner Claude Bosi of Mayfair restaurant Hibiscus fame (see entry). Following the vogue for top chefs to convert old-fashioned boozers into dining destinations, Bosi has opened up the Fox & Grapes' interior into a capacious open-plan space focused on a central island bar; the parquet floor and wood panelling have survived, and there are the chunky bare wooden tables and mismatched chairs you'd expect to see in a contemporary food-oriented pub. The short, regularly changing menu trumpets no-frills, seasonal dishes from Cornish razor clams in white wine sauce with broad beans, peas and chorizo, to mains taking in brown ale-battered pollock and chips with mushy peas, and prime slabs of beef from the charcoal-fired Josper grill. For pudding, generous satisfaction might come in the shape of Granny Smith apple crumble with custard, or you could go for fine artisan English cheeses.