Reservations are now open for The Pem, Chef Sally Abé’s brand-new signature restaurant at Conrad London St James. Ahead of welcoming guests later this month, Abé has today revealed more about her first menu when the restaurant opens on 20 July.
Abé (pictured centre) said, “We’ve put a lot of thought and care into each dish and I love every one of them. We really hope people will want to try everything on there.“
The sophisticated and considered menu builds on the foundations of historic British cuisine and celebrates flavours and ingredients that are familiar and much-loved which Sally interprets in her own way, like beef and oyster; pollock, cockles and peas; chocolate and cherry, and apricot and custard.
The À la Carte menu is a celebration of the best seasonal British produce:
Starters
Charred Day Boat Mackerel with raw and pickled summer vegetables, salad cream, citrus
Poached Native Lobster with shellfish cream, heritage tomato, sweet olive
Knife and Fork Bacon with Scottish girolles, marjoram, sweet and sour cream
Rabbit Ballotine with peas, broad beans, tarragon mustard
Seared Cumbrian Rose Veal, violet artichoke, nasturtium, green peppercorn, spiced cracker.
Mains
Tart Fine of Yellow Courgette and Berkswell with green herb sauce, borage
Cornish Pollock white wine cockles, English peas, samphire
Roast John Dory brassicas, bobby beans, Exmoor caviar, sauce Divine
Norfolk Poussin with charred sweetcorn, spring onion, trompette
Sirloin and Rib of Dexter Beef with oyster, turnip, horseradish.
Desserts
Black Forest Gateau with chocolate curls, English cherry, ripple ice cream
Frozen Strawberry Shortcake elderflower jelly, mint
Peach Melba Pavlova, lemon verbena, peach ice cream
Apricot Custard Tartlet with yoghurt sorbet, lemon thyme
English cheese is served with elderflower honey, gooseberry chutney and black pepper crackers.
The restaurant name is inspired by suffragette Emily Wilding Davison, whose family used the pet name ‘Pem’ for her, and celebrates generations of pioneering women leading from the front. Abé has appointed the emerging talent of Laetizia Keating as the restaurant’s Head Chef (pictured right), and Emma Underwood is the General Manager (left).
The wine list offers highly sought-after fine wines and eclectic wines from independent producers. Treasures from the list include Hambledon ‘Classic Cuvée’ an exceptional example of the quality and complexity now possible from English vines; Goisot Saint Bris - Côte d’Auxerre, a rule-bending biodynamic delight out of the Chablis end of the Bourgogne, and Cíu Cíu ‘Falero’ Oris Bianco DOP from an Organic and ethically conscious vineyard just off the Mediterranean
The Pem has been thoughtfully constructed with an art deco inspired design, with a spectacular and spacious main dining room seating 70, and The Harben private dining room seating 24 guests.
The Conrad London St James, located in one of London’s most symbolic boroughs, is within Constitutional London, and is establishing Westminster as the emerging new location for exceptional food and drink. As well as The Pem, July will see the addition of the hotel’s first cocktail bar, The Hedgerow, where diners can enjoy an aperitivo or aperitif.
Abé, who is Consultant Chef at Conrad London St James, was previously Head Chef at the Michelin-starred Harwood Arms in Fulham and has built a highly successful career, including being named as ‘Chef to Watch’ in the National Restaurant Awards 2019. She was awarded Chef of the Year in the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs 2020 and was shortlisted for the GQ Chef of the Year award this year.