The ground floor bar at Fergus Henderson's Smithfield landmark, all whitewashed walls, French wine, and famous madeleines.
St. John opened in a converted Smithfield smokehouse in 1994, when Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver set out to cook the whole animal and waste nothing. Thirty years on it is a London institution, a former World's 50 Best name with a Michelin star earned in 2009. Most people come for the restaurant. The ground floor bar is the quiet secret, and it is one of the best places in the city for a glass of wine and a snack.
The room is famously plain. Whitewashed walls, bare floorboards, and coat hooks set the tone, and the bar serves the same uncompromising British food in smaller form. The Infatuation calls St. John a London legend for good reason. Come to the bar for the all French wine list, the seasonal snacks, and the madeleines, without needing a table in the dining room.
St. John sits on St John Street near Smithfield and Farringdon. The ground floor bar is walk-in, so arrive for a glass and a snack before the restaurant fills.
The bar sits to the right as you enter, under high white walls and good light. There are no soft furnishings and no music, which is the point. Henderson built a room that puts the food and the wine first and strips away everything else.
It works equally for a standing glass on the way somewhere and for a long, unhurried bar lunch. The mezzanine dining room runs above, but the bar holds its own.
The wine list is all French and deliberately so, built to drink rather than to collect, with plenty available by the glass. Ask the bar for a steer and they will pour something honest and well chosen. The kitchen sends seasonal snacks and bar plates, and the famous madeleines come warm, baked to order in roughly fifteen minutes, so order them when you sit.
The signature Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad and a wedge of Welsh rarebit both travel to the bar. Pricing is upper middle for the city, and the value is real given the kitchen and the wine. This is a wine and snack destination, not a cocktail bar.
What to order
- 01
A glass from the all French list
- 02
Madeleines
- 03
Welsh rarebit
- 04
Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad
