Conran comes to Canary Wharf

16 October 2003 by
Conran comes to Canary Wharf

The chef

There's a touch of serendipity about Tim Tolley's move to Plateau, Conran Restaurants' first large-scale opening in London in six years, which opened yesterday. When Jean-Georges Vongerichten and the Berkeley hotel in Knightsbridge parted company earlier this year (and Gordon Ramsay's Boxwood Café concept moved in on the site of what was Vong), American-born Tolley, formerly head chef of Vong, was faced with a few options: not least, should he go home to the USA, or should he stay in England?

Vongerichten and business partner Dan Del Vecchio asked Tolley what he wanted to do next - he had, after all, been a loyal employee for seven-and-a-half years - but Tolley knew the timing was right to sever the tie with his long-standing mentor. "It was time to move on," Tolley says. "I knew I wanted to stay in London, though - I've built a family here, I like the city, I enjoy it."

Within minutes of the news breaking that Vong was moving out of the Berkeley, the offers were coming fast and furious for Tolley. One approach was from the then chef-director of Conran Restaurants, Chris Galvin, who was preparing for the Plateau project. (Galvin has since moved to the Wolseley Restaurant and Café in St James's)."

From day one [of my discussions with Chris], I was really excited about the design. I came to Canary Wharf straightaway and was amazed," Tolley says. "I really loved it. It's clean, bright and it reminds me of a miniature New York, like mini mid-town Manhattan." He has since relocated his home to Limehouse, so has just a five-minute bike ride to work.

On the face of it, his move seems like a strange one. He has been cooking Asian food at Vong for the past three-and-a-half years, while Plateau has hailed itself as a modern French restaurant. Would Tolley's style gel with what Terence Conran wanted?

Absolutely. The fact that Tolley is best known in England for his Asian food is misleading. First, because towards the end of his tenure at the Berkeley he was increasingly introducing modern French dishes to the menu at Vong, and second, because he spent the first four years of his career with Vong in New York cooking modern French food, a style of cuisine for which Vongerichten himself is widely lauded."

At Vong not everything was Asian. From the time I joined Vong in London [in January 1999], through the three-and-a-half years that I was there, the food evolved into something more French," Tolley says.

Indeed, the 2003 AA Restaurant Guide described Tolley's food as "a marriage of French and Thai ingredients made in heaven. Unique and quite ingenious, the myriad of flavours one gets to sample is just eye-popping."

Tolley is struck by the number of similarities between Conran and Vongerichten - they are equally committed to their businesses, he says, and share philosophies. "I'm full of admiration and respect for what he has achieved and done for food," Tolley says of Conran. "He has this amazing ability to pick up the finest detail as soon as he sees something. I like to think that as a chef I'm extremely observant, but it's good to have another perspective on things."

Stunning kitchen Aside from the spectacular views of London and constant reminders of Manhattan, a major draw for Tolley has been the stunning kitchen at Plateau, which is situated in the middle of the restaurant's 9,000sq ft space. It effectively creates a partition between the Plateau (fine-dining) restaurant and the Plateau Bar and Grill. With windows looking on to the dining public, and doors that will be left open during service so that diners can see the pass at all times, Plateau is not going to be without a little theatre.

The equipment is breathtakingly beautiful (even for stainless steel) and includes two bespoke Bonnet island ranges (servicing the Plateau restaurant) and an L-shaped range (for the bar and grill) featuring a Bonnet r"tisserie. Work surfaces around the edge of the kitchen are marble-topped.

Tolley seems thrilled by the extent to which the rôisserie can be used. "I visited Bonnet this summer [prior to taking on his role at Plateau] and was told how simply salmon could be roasted on the rôisserie - just wrap it in créinette - but I'd never seen anything like that before. Then, about three days later, I was in the market in La Rochelle and saw a side of salmon wrapped in créinette. It's that easy." The salmon now appears on the menu in various guises, such as rôisserie salmon, potato, bacon and pickled shallots (£15), and Loch Duart salmon, capers and red onion (£11).

Another dish hot off the rôtisserie is poulet noir, lemon purée, aligot potato (£13). The chicken is stuffed with spinach, roasted on the rôtisserie and served with a baked lemon purée ("acidic, bitter, seasoned very well, but not salty") and puréed potatoes and aligot cheese."

Terence wants the food to be simple," Tolley says, "but I was a little scared as to whether he would like certain things I was doing, such as the baked lemon purée. But when I cooked it for him he loved it. He thought it was wonderful."

The food at Plateau is in keeping with Conran philosophy - that is, it's unpretentious - but that doesn't mean there are any compromises. The produce has been carefully sourced to ensure maximum flavour. Vegetables are from British salad producer Richard Vine, for example, bread is from Poilâne (no bread will be made on site), and most of the meat and fish is indigenous.

Tolley plans to rotate the 22-strong brigade rather than break the team down into separate groups cooking for each part of the restaurant. "It's one unit, one team. I want a team of people excited about all the items of food, whether they're feeding diners in the bar and grill or the main dining room," he says.

With two terraces (one hosting a barbecue), a private dining room and two restaurants to serve, is Tolley not worried about the enormity of the challenge? "I'll try to have it finely balanced and although we've got one kitchen, I'll try to think of it as two different restaurants. I'll certainly have to be on my toes."

Plateau

Canada Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 4QS
Plateau restaurant: 80 seats
Plateau Bar and Grill: 60 seats
Terraces: 30 seats each
Private dining room: 12
Area: 9,000sq ft
Front-of-house staff: 35
Brigade: 22
Average projected spend: £55 for fine dining; £30 for brasserie, without wine and service

Opening times
Plateau restaurant:
Monday to Friday 12pm to 3pm and 6pm to 10.30pm; Saturdays: 6pm to 10.30pm
Plateau Bar and Grill: Monday to Friday 12pm to 11pm; Saturday 11am to 11pm; Sunday from 11am to 4pm

Conran's tips…

If you're thinking of running your own restaurant, here are Terence Conran's top six tips:

  • The most important thing of all is to get the food right, and you will only achieve this if you use the best-quality ingredients.
  • Use classic, modern design styles and comfortable, durable materials that grow old gracefully, gaining a pleasant patina over time.
  • Keep it simple: you don't need to over-complicate things.
  • Do your research - an informed restaurateur who is offering something different and doing it with confidence is far more likely to succeed.
  • Pay even more attention to the back-of-house design than the front-of-house.
  • Don't try to be fashionable - do what you really believe in. Don't copy somebody who appears to be successful.

The General manager

Joining chef Tim Tolley from Vong is Bertrand Pierson. The French-born general manager was at Jean-Georges Vongerichten's London outpost, at the Berkeley hotel, for three years, and at Vongerichten's Market in Paris as operations director, before being recruited by Conran.

He has worked closely with Tolley and Conran to create the right style of service - leather place mats on the Italian marble surfaces in the fine-dining restaurant, David Mellor modern classic cutlery range from 1957, waiting uniforms to reflect the style and flowers by London-based McQueens."

I've been able to have an input into everything you see on the table, to create a feel of quality without distracting from the food," he says. "Conran has allowed Tim and me to make our print here, which is great - it has been a two-way exercise in discovering how we can work in harmony."

Pierson says the style at Plateau will be similar to that of Vong - the modernity and quality - but admits the two restaurants have very different atmospheres."

At Vong we were in the basement, here we are on the top floor. The building feels very dynamic and with the glass you've got the elements and luminosity all around you. It's very inspiring," he says.

Service at Plateau will be "focused but friendly" as Tolley's menu is expected to arouse curiosity. "Tim's menu is going to prompt the diner to ask questions," Pierson says. "The style of service I want here will be interactive, so staff must have good knowledge of the menu and the wine list," he says. "It's not a mysterious menu but it's about triggering interest."

Recruitment has been a challenge. Pierson says the location has been a problem, even though it's only a 20-minute tube ride from Green Park station. Of the 35 front-of-house staff, some are from Vong, some from elsewhere and some from the local area.

Pierson has no doubts about the location, though. There has been a predictable interest in the restaurant from businesses in the area. Canary Wharf has changed from boasting a handful of buildings 10 years ago, to being the richest borough in London so Plateau will fill a much-needed gap."

When I first moved to London in 1988 to learn English, I lived on the Isle of Dogs and there was nothing here," Pierson says. "Now it's the wealthiest borough in London where this sort of restaurant hasn't previously existed. I can't see why the two can't meet."

The Architect

Plateau is almost dominated by its view. Through the floor-to-ceiling glass frontage, the Manhattan-style skyline of Canary Wharf laid out before you is mesmerising stuff.

Which is a shame, laughs Tina Norden, project architect for Conran Design Associates, who plaintively asks if anyone is going to want to look at the design of the restaurant when they've got that view in front of them.

She needn't worry. Norden, who with Terence Conran has spent most of the past year working on the design of the restaurant, has created an elegant and stimulating environment which mixes 1950s classic design with warm and serene colours, quirky textures and bold splashes of modern art."

It was basically a clean slate," Norden says, of the 9,000sq ft space on the top floor of the year-old building. "It was due to be two restaurants but we took over the whole space. Terence wanted an open kitchen as the focal point of the restaurants, but we also wanted both sides to have a different identity."

Diners enter the restaurant through the bar and grill, an area of fumed oak walls and block flooring, blue and brown leather seating, a zinc bar, and funky raised spotty carpets. Floor-standing lamps add to the understated lighting.

It should create a "hustle, bustle" atmosphere, says Norden, to contrast and complement the fine-dining restaurant on the other side of the central open kitchen and central leather holding bar."

Terence wanted the fine-dining restaurant to be serene and calm while the brasserie should be more gutsy and dynamic," Norden says. "The leather bar forms a border between the two."

Walk through the leather bar that separates the two restaurants and you come across a different animal altogether. The space here is an oasis of calm, muted greens and whites and classic 1950s lines. White tulip Eero Saarinen chairs and Italian marble-top tables are placed against swirling olive green banquettes decorated with McQueens' flowers. Huge glass doors lead to the private 12-seat dining room.

The humidor, or "den" as Norden calls it, is "our bit of modern art". It was the lift foyer previously, now converted with richly coloured leather sofas, resin lamps and a Neil Gilks abstract mural along one wall."Colours are restrained and subtle everywhere else, but we wanted the den to be a riot of colour. It will be a perfect smoking and cocktail room."

Menus

What's on the bar and grill menu Frogs' legs beignets, £7
Rôtisserie quail, lentil and Granny Smith salad, £8.50
Rillette of duck, foie gras, red onion marmalade, £9.50
Suckling pig with candied yams, £12
Billingsgate fish pie, £9.75
Icelandic cod à la placha, fennel, olive tapenade, £14
Lemon tart, basil chantilly, £4.50
Butterscotch flan, £4.50
Selection of macaroons, £4.50

What's on the à la carte menu
Seared scallops, pea shoot sauce, mustard oil, £12.50
Seared foie gras, green apple, £9.50
Lobster with pumpkin seed broth, £29
Venison, braised endive, cranberry onion compote, £18
Lamb loin, braised belly, choucroute, £20
Poached pear and sable cake, £5.50
Apple tart tatin with vanilla ice-cream, £5.50
Chocolate fondant, fromage blanc sorbet, £5.50

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