When Yotam Ottolenghi opened Rovi in 2018, it bore all the hallmarks of his other restaurants: it was veg-forward and seasonal, and gave the chef another outlet to show how he can cleverly wield ingredients from multiple cuisines. Fire and fermentation drove the menu and dishes like the celeriac shawarma – celeriac cooked low and slow until juicy and tender, then stuffed in pitta – became staples. Now, in its seventh year, its interiors have had a makeover and the menu is more refined than ever.
Most noticeably, the lipstick-red banquettes have been reupholstered in sleek black. Artists Gilles and Cecilie have turned the space into a large-scale artwork, daubing the walls and ceiling with charcoal in flowing, abstract shapes with pops of red paint. Similar charcoal smudges decorate the menu and new staff uniforms. The restaurant’s sturdy wooden tables and the curved bar that greets diners as they enter remain.
While the menu continues to highlight vegetables and fermentation, fire plays a larger role in the renewed Rovi. “One of the things we have decided to focus a bit more on is the grill,” the Ottolenghi Group’s executive chef Neil Campbell tells Broadsheet. “I’ve tried stripping a few things back and really focusing on the flavour that comes from the grill.”
More than 70 per cent of dishes are now cooked over the flames, including aubergine tops, which are coal roasted and studded with seeds, and served with amba, a condiment of mangoes, chilli and turmeric. Rovi’s signature charred corn ribs with smoked apricot ketchup has stayed on the menu, while the yellow kernels also feature in a comforting corn and feta mash levelled out with a smoky aubergine berbere stew. Meat also gets the flame-cooked treatment, including a grilled chicken made aromatic with ras el hanout. For dessert, Rovi’s standout miso fudge has retained its place on the menu, while Campbell nods to his Scottish background with a take on cranachan: oats and honey cooked into a sort of toffee, layered with crowdie (a Scottish soft cheese), berries and whisky.
Seasonality is key to the menu. Much of the produce is grown in Wolves Lane, the North London kitchen garden the group has had for five years. Each day Rovi’s chefs receive a Whatsapp to inform them of the most recent spoils, around which they build a menu – or a future menu, thanks to its fermentation program. When Broadsheet visits, Campbell is plotting how to use umeboshi (Japanese plums) that were picked and pickled earlier this year.
Cutting back on waste is also central to the kitchen’s philosophy; along with the aubergine tops, which are byproducts of Ottolenghi deli products, chocolate doughnuts are filled with crème pâtissier that uses the offcuts from the miso fudge, while crème fraiche – served with potatoes – is also used in a Penicillin-style cocktail. Kitchen ingredients pop up throughout the cocktail menu, including dashi from the tomato salad, which appears in the Wolves Lane Martini. Wines lean biodynamic and organic, with drops from across Europe.
Ultimately, Rovi’s commitment to fire, reimagining waste and good produce is meaningless if the food is too complex to take comfort in. “It’s about doing cooking that is clever, but doesn’t [force you] to think too much about it,” says Campbell. “Food should be yummy; it should be enjoyable.”
Rovi
59-65 Wells Street, W1A 3AE
02039638270
Hours:
Mon to Thu midday–2.30pm, 5pm–9.30pm
Fri & Sat midday–10.15pm
Sun 11.30am–3.30pm
