Highly modernised cooking and cosy venue - promoted to 2 Michelin stars as of 2021 Michelin Guide
My second visit to this venue and the headline is that based on these two visits, this is a strong 1 Michelin starred venue by Tom Sellers. There is innovation and daring in choice of aesthetics and combinations of ingredients and I was very glad to be doing the full story menu this time.
It is certainly not a short affair as the snacks alone lasted an hour and was great to have so many of them, but the bottom line is I would ensure you have time on your hands to enjoy this venue and not be under time constraints. Our lunch lasted roughly four hours, but as usual, with the creativity of dishes and in finest company, frankly it all went too quickly again. The full menu was priced at £80 for lunch and £110 at dinner with a further three courses, so again, based on the experience, the 21 courses we had in total (including snacks as separate courses) for the full menu at lunch was a sufficient enough package and I think you get more for your buck therefore over an extended luncheon.
There were really some genuinely fine moments during this meal and a very good strike rate at that. The snacks of Storeos of squid ink biscuit, smoked eel mousse and vinegar powder were marvellous as were the black pudding with compressed pineapple. Visual fanfare was provided with the razor clams which unfortunately I could not have due to intolerances but I was given a lovely flower pot of avacado puree with pickled beetroot and shallot crisps which was a delightful replacement.
The course of mashed potato was a real gem – light, fluffy, buttery but not too buttery with the interesting addition of charcoal oil was absolutely fabulous. The steak tartare within an apple was a £20 suppliment course and although quite expensive, it was exceedingly good and scraping the bottom of the apple to have with elements of it I thought was a very nice touch and added a lovely element of sweet moisture to the meat. I forgot how nice the almond and dill dessert combination was and the new pink candyfloss with custard icecram in the centre was fun and lovely as well.
All in all this was superb meal and I was not bloated on leaving at all in spite of 21 courses. There were no real low moments of food, only ones that I ovbiously enjoyed to the max in comparison to the others that all went down well regardless. The only real aspect of this meal that was a negative was within the service – the majority of those on were very good and warm but one in particular clearly wished to spend the least time explaining dishes and finish her ‘bit’ and walk away as quickly as possible (with a clear reluctance to engage). It wasn’t the end of the world, but was quite cold, came across as bordering on rude and dented the experience.
Having said that, this was a fabulous meal all round with a great collection of beers and cocktails to choose from to accompany the tasting menu with very well pitched wines as well. On second visit to Story, this confirms for me how strong a 1 Michelin starred venue in London this is with aspects being on 2 Micheln stared level and a great option to do when you have plenty of time on your hands or a day off for a food treat.
Food Grade: 89%
This had real character. The menu does not offer the traditional a’la carte or 3-course set menus which is its only real negative, however it makes up for it in sheer originality on the lengthier tasting menus it does offer. The beef dripping was genuinely pleasurable as well as being the nicest surprise (do not view photos if you want this to remain so) and was very fun to have. The highlights for me were the beautifully cooked lamb with wonderful garlic sauce (which was not too over-powering) and the lemon desert – very clever and a total treat. I left with a feeling of great satisfaction from this menu and would happily bring any friend who has not eaten here as a) I know it would go down very well as a safe bet and b) I would like to do again at some stage(!). Considering it used to be a disused public toilet which was then abandoned and then completely renovated, Tom Sellers has done an undeniably good job of making this quirky looking restaurant a definitely unique spot to go for.
Food Grade: 84%
My hobby-turned-passion began to evolve during my assignments to London where I was fortunate enough to be able to explore all the Michelin starred restaurants in my spare time and as a result, I gradually built up a catalogue of all these venues.
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