Upgrade your fish and chips at Corenucopia by Clare Smyth

Clare Smyth has a busy year ahead. Summer will see the first female British chef to win three Michelin stars launch the fine-dining Coreus within the new Waldorf Astoria London Admiralty Arch hotel. First, though, she has opened Corenucopia, a more casual follow-up to three-star Core by Clare Smyth, the Notting Hill restaurant beloved by everyone. With the Royal Court in one direction and the furniture boutiques of Pimlico Road in the other, Smyth’s new restaurant is perfectly located for post-shopping, pre-theatre – or whenever you want to enjoy some masterful British cooking.

Wallpaper* dines at Corenucopia by Clare Smyth, London

The mood: comfortable abundance

While Smyth designed every aspect of Core herself, design duties at Corencopia have fallen to her goddaughter, Natasha Marler. ‘Once the decision was made to call the restaurant Corenucopia,’ Marler says, ‘references to the celebration of abundance became a touchstone for the design.’

Natalie Fisher, creative director at Augury London, hand-embroidered the curtains with a vine motif, while plaster wall flowers, inspired by English gardens, were made by DKT Artworks on site. Tapestries from August+Co amplify the heritage feel of the antique oil paintings, while the rich tones of the gold and green velvet seating were influenced by still lifes of the Dutch Golden Age.

The wall lights from Visual Comfort, meanwhile, were chosen to impart a residential atmosphere. ‘The restaurant was designed to feel like a warm welcome into Clare’s home, where the food would be comforting British classics with a luxury touch,’ Marler says.

The food: gilt-edged classics

Those luxury touches include a seafood vol-au-vent spooned with a Champagne velouté, buttered crumpets spread with smoked salmon pâté, and toad-in-the-hole pimped up with a charcuterie sauce. The signature dish of fish and chips is beer-battered Dover sole filled with a layer of lobster mousse, with a choice of six vinegars presented on a mirrored tray for guests to anoint their triple-cooked chips with.

Want more potatoes? A dedicated menu, presented in a gold gilt frame, proposes 10 different preparations of spud, from pommes Anna to mash with a rich gravy. The frame, Marler notes, ‘is a playful reflection of the surrounding antique oil paintings with their depictions of fruit or flowers as shown in traditional imagery of cornucopias.’

But the greatest luxury of all comes in the shape of the caviar-topped chicken nuggets served as a snack, inspired by the fried chicken dish Smyth created for the afterparty of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. At Corenucopia, a royal feast is guaranteed for whoever you are.

Corenucopia by Clare Smyth is located at 18-22 Holbein Pl, London SW1W 8NL, UK