Crisp payoff
Crisp Pizza, The Wellington, best Margate restaurants, Le Manoir, Sway Edit, The Great British Bake Off, MORE
GETAWAYS • Margate
Give it some welly
The Skinny: Chef Billy Stock and partner Ellie Topham squeaked open food-forward pub The Wellington just in time to ring in 2026. Moments from Margate’s blustery seafront and overlooking its sheltered market square, the hospitality couple’s first brick-and-mortar venture is an ideal reason to jump on the high-speed train to the Kent coast (90 minutes from London St Pancras) for a day trip or longer.
I’ve followed Stock’s food through several iterations, from his time at bucolic country pub The Rose Inn at Wickhambreaux to Natalia Ribbe’s Sète, just up the hill in Cliftonville. He’s also known for stints at London’s St John and The Marksman, and there’s a clear throughline of deft cooking, intense flavours and solid British and French classics.
The Vibe: 17th-century Kentish coaching inn meets Parisian bistro. The atmosphere is casual, but nothing’s been left to chance with the menu. The outside of the pub (established 1849) has enjoyed a glossy glow-up in paint the colour of a fruity Gamay, while linen café curtains shroud the secrets of the customers within. It’s drinkers in the front section, diners in the back, cushioned by a long bar on one side and the gleaming pass of Stock’s open kitchen on the other.
The Food: Stripped-back bistronomy, bringing some of the Frenchification of London’s dining scene to the Kent coast, expressed in the finest British produce. I settled in with a couple of glasses of Crémant before Sunday lunch of thick slices of blushing beef with roast potatoes, puffy Yorkshires and bright veg. Puds were a fluffy chocolate mousse topped with cream and chocolate rubble and a blood orange sherbet, the lesser-seen milk-based sorbet that’s as comforting as nursery food with a grown-up citrus tang. We fought over it. I’ll be back for the truffled chicken and leek pie and the ‘Plate of Duck’ that’s fast becoming Stock’s signature.
The Drink: Homegrown beers, French cocktails, and an entente cordiale across the wine list. The Wellington’s dedication to its Anglo-French identity means ‘Le Negroni’ is made with Suze, not Campari.
The Verdict: All the buzz of a neighbourhood wine bar with a steady hand at the stove. (Be sure to make a reservation.) –Sophie Morris
→ The Wellington (Margate) • 1 Duke St • Wed-Thu 4-10p, Fri-Sat 12-10p, Sun 12-7p • Book.
GETAWAYS • Intel
KEEPING IT FRENCH: Following the news that Raymond Blanc was stepping back from his role as chef-patron of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons after more than four decades, the Oxfordshire hotel has announced a new culinary director. Arnaud Donckele, currently at the helm of La Vague d’Or in Saint-Tropez and Plénitude at Cheval Blanc Paris, will be at Le Manoir when it reopens in 2027 after major redevelopment. More.
BACK TO BASICS: In Edinburgh, Roberta Hall McCarron is closing Eleanore at the end of January and reopening it in March as a neighbourhood bistro with a more relaxed style. Say goodbye to the tasting menu and hello to modern, Scottish twists on bistro classics and comfort food, plus wine and simple cocktails. More info. –Laura Price
GETAWAYS LINKS: Guernsey launches first food festival • LHR ditches carry-on liquid rules • A new Costes hotel opens in Paris • Amsterdam’s Conservatorium Hotel becomes Mandarin Oriental • Switzerland’s Gstaad Palace gives its largest restaurant an opulent makeover • On travel and reasons to return.
GETAWAYS • The Nines
Restaurants, Margate
The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best in London and further afield. Paid subscribers have access to the entire Nines archive.
Angela’s (The Parade), daily changing seafood feat. excellent bisques, intimate dining room, book
Bottega Caruso (Broad St), cosy, family-run Italian restaurant and shop, small plates, fresh pasta made daily, book
Colina (Fort Rd), restaurant w/ a view inside historic Fort Road Hotel, European small & large plates, all day menu, book
Dory’s (High St), unbeatable seafront small plates feat. fresh local seafood, pickled veg, excellent crudos, torched mackerel, seafood tarts, book
Fort’s Café (Cliff Terrace), popular coffee & brunch spot, eggs, pastries, no bookings, arrive early to avoid queue, visit
Pomus (The Centre, above), spacious modern restaurant, wine bar, bottle shop showcasing local producers like Whitstable oysters, Kent cheese, book
Sargasso (Harbour Arm), wine bar and restaurant on the sea wall w/ counter seats, high tables, seafood and veg small plates; sister to East London’s acclaimed Brawn, book
Sète (Cliftonville), French-leaning neighbourhood wine bar, bottle shop, restaurant from Natalia Ribbe, Mon-Tue evenings 2 courses £22 or 3 courses £25, book
The Good Egg (Northdown Rd), casual all-day dining off the tourist track, Middle Eastern comfort food, excellent brunch w/ shakshuka, babka French toast, book
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Three for-sale properties in St. John’s Wood that recently came to market:
→ Queens Grove (St. John’s Wood) • 2BR/2BA/1R, 183 m2 attached home • Asking price: £3.25mn • 4 floors w/southeast-facing graden • Ownership type: freehold • Agent: Phillips Harrod.
→ Lords View One (St. John’s Wood, above) • 3BR/3BA/2R, 216 m2 flat • Guide price: £7.95mn • duplex penthouse w/ roof terrace, panoramic views • Ownership type: share of freehold • Agents: Natalie Pawelek & Stephen Lindsay, Savills.
→ St. Edmunds Terr (St. John’s Wood) • 5BR/5BA/1R, 406 m2 flat • Asking price: £12.85mn • duplex penthouse with floor-to-ceiling windows, wraparound terrace • Ownership type: leasehold • Agent: Declan Selbo, Knight Frank.
WORK & PLAY LINKS: Touring Bazalgette Embankment, London’s newest open space • Forthcoming lido/sauna Sea Lanes Canary Wharf sets summer opening • Shakespeare’s Globe announces summer season • Nigella replacing Dame Prue Leith as Great British Bake Off judge • CEOs think AI is saving lots of time; workers aren’t sure • Related: the chatbot sycophant trap.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Without Me
Miles Kane • Roundhouse (Chalk Farm) • Fri @ 7p • level 2 seated, £38 per
Jason Derulo • The O2 (Greenwich Peninsula) • Sat @ 7p • stalls standing, £50 per
Halsey • O2 Academy (Brixton) • Sun @ 7p • stalls, £116 per
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop
Pickup sticks
No one understands how objects shape daily life and ritual better than Japanese designers, as evidenced at lifestyle store Sway Edit. You’ll need a good amount of time to browse homewares, incense, textiles, stationery, crafts and chef-quality knives, each selected with a collector’s eye for proportion, material and use.
Although the stationery section brought me in, it was the kitchenware that really got me excited. There are bento boxes with clever compartments, delicate sake cups next to thick-walled mugs, teapots, chopsticks and glassware, and contemporary and cute designs sit next to the more traditional and minimal in a gorgeous, cohesive range.
Then there are the chopstick holders. I’ve seen a few in my time, usually nothing more than a plain, white, porcelain stand to separate our chopsticks from the table. Here, the extensive collection feels almost like a private obsession, spanning ceramic miniatures, carved wood, animals, abstract shapes, and, my personal favourite, the chocolate rye bread loaf. Truly, a mini museum within a shop.
It’s this fixation on the overlooked, the pleasure in a minor thing made beautiful, that defines Sway’s sensibility. –Amy-Rose Holland
→ Shop: Sway Edit (Shoreditch) • 73 Curtain Rd • Mon-Thu 11a-7p, Fri-Sat 11a-9p, Sun 11a-5p.
ASK FOUND
Three subscriber PROMPTS for which we request your immediate attention:
Which restaurant opening are you most looking forward to in 2026?
What Pilates instructor do you recommend to your friends?
What colourist are you relying on to refresh your highlights?
Got answers or more questions? Hit reply or email found@foundldn.com.
LONDON RESTAURANT LINKS: Victor Garvey opens Materia Prima in Notting Hill • Welsh-influenced café Bara coming to Peckham • Thai dining returns to old Singburi spot in Leytonstone • How restaurant critics review a bad restaurant.
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Upper crust
The Skinny: For the past few years, Crisp Pizza has been luring diners to Hammersmith with the promise of perfectly cooked, New York-style pizza. It created quite a fervour in its former home, The Chancellors, but soon outgrew the pub. Late last year, Crisp relocated to The Marlborough, a Mayfair pub opposite Selfridges. Given that it requires extreme persistence to get a reservation or to go as a walk-in, it begs the question: is the payoff still there?
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to FOUND LDN to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.