One of the most egregious crockery misfires I have ever had the misfortune of experiencing was at a chain restaurant, serving hummus in a garden trowel. Are metal spades with wooden handles really that hygienic even after the most rigorous journey through the pass-through? The thought sometimes still keeps me up at night, and the Chelsea Flower Show still triggers flashbacks.
I say all this, but I often find myself rubbernecking the horrors to be found on the We Want Plates subreddit. Of course, higher-end restaurants are just as much to blame for this endless re-utilisation of tools and whimsical objets d'arts.
So, I'm delighted to tell you that just up the road from Borough Market, inside the Menier Chocolate Factory block, there's a new restaurant dishing up fantastically unfussy French food on white porcelain. Perhaps the curmudgeons (me) might have begun to win the war.
The Lady of the Grapes isn't new; its original Covent Garden nook has been doing a roaring trade since it was opened by Carole Bryon in 2018. It has always been deeply cosy and deeply French. Their second site, in London Bridge, is distinctly different; the cathedral-height ceilings make full use of the industrial former-factory space, there's significantly more space between tables, and the wine-bottle ceiling lamps are something I might try to pinch if they weren't wired in. Rest assured, the excellently exhaustive wine list remains.