The quartet behind Borough Market high-flyer Camille open its follow-up next week in Smithfield Market – a restaurant rather enigmatically named B Penhale that celebrates regional dishes from across Britain and Ireland.
Taking over the former premises of Club Gascon, the 66-cover venue is named after chef Elliot Hashtroudi’s grandmother Betty Penhale, an accomplished home cook who had links to the market; his great-grandmother was also a butcher there.
Elliot’s menu is designed to evoke a sense of nostalgia for regional traditions, while also making reference to cuisines brought by waves of immigration in the past century. Dishes trailed include Stout-Battered Oysters with Bone Marrow and Horseradish, Smoked Jellied Eel, Cumberland Sausage, Pigeon Pie, and something called Skuets & Bread Sauce. Larger plates for sharing include Saddleback Pork Chop with Black Pudding and Trotter, Turbot with Shrimp Sauce and Laverbread, and Angus X Shorthorn Steak with Scottish Whisky and Girolles, followed by puds like Dandelion & Burdock Jelly, Yorkshire Parkin and Ecclefechan Tart.
Elliot comments: “It’s certainly an education and a history lesson. One might immediately think, ‘I’ve never heard of any of these dishes’ and leave with an admiration of British and Irish heritage.”
Camille’s head of wine, Max Hancock, has drawn up a drinks list inspired by the drinking habits of the Victorian era and structured around six key European wine-producing countries, with a strong showing of vintage Champagne as well as a choice of Madeira, Port and Sherry to complement the dessert menu.
Camille has established itself as a proponent of classic French bistro cuisine since opening two years ago, and wins exceptional ratings in the new 2027 Harden’s guide for food that is “playful, delicious and generous“.
Elliot is chef-patron at both restaurants, alongside a co-founding team of restaurateur Clare Lattin and chef Tom Hill, who have worked together since founding Ducksoup in 2011, and finance whizz Ratnesh Bagdai of Brindisa among other projects.
Clare says of the interior at B Penhale, “We want it to offer a sense of occasion with understated spirit that is anything but formal. A place with a little theatre and a disarming charm that makes everyone feel immediately at home.”
Pascal Aussignac, who ran Club Gascon on the site from 1998 until March of this year, has offered a warm welcome to his successors, saying: “I wish the Camille team and their opening of Penhale’s the same success that Club Gascon had over a generation.”
