Hackney, Fusion Restaurant Guide

In early summer 2019 (just as our survey was getting underway), some of the backers behind P Franco and Bright opened this: another painfully hip, East End natural wine bar (on the former site of Hackney’s now-defunct Legs – geddit?). This time Australian chef Byron Fini is at the stoves cooking up a small menu of light, “Japanese-izakaya-style” bar snacks – including ferments and pickles, and majoring in grilled skewers (lots of them chicken-related) – which are served in a bright, stylishly-neutral, small space that’s very ‘now’ (communal seating, tabletops made from recycled yoghurt pots, vinyl soundtrack, etc). Foodwise, the odd disappointment is noted (“if you want Japanese, go to a Japanese restaurant”) but most reports are in line with the rhapsodic write-ups it’s received in the press, rating the dishes very good to exceptional.