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The husband and wife team behind The Jones Family Project wanted to cater to all occasions in one space – no mean feat – and they’ve achieved it. It’s the sort of place that you can visit by day without feeling like you’re in a bar (bare-brick walls, laptop-friendly booths and lively foliage tend to that), and slip into come nightfall for a few cocktails or even three courses with wine. This versatility is partly due the immensity of the space – it has two floors, split into bar and dining areas – and partly thanks to nifty details like a swivelling bar top that changes from day-time tea case to drinks cabinet in one quick twist.
Downstairs, glass panels separate a second, more intimate bar from the lavish and dimly lit restaurant. The menu is large and decidedly European, with a focus on Josper-cooked meats from The Ginger Pig. We started with beef tartare. It was intense, doused with a heady, spicy-sweet tomato sauce and finished with a subtle truffle sabayon, but would match well with the menu’s lighter fish dishes. The crab starter was a hit, the portion was generous and came prettily presented inside a kitchen jar.
To follow, we looked to the grill menu and, after much deliberation, decided on the rib-eye and the hogget. The former was impressively sized, and though perhaps a touch under seasoned, was cooked beautifully and came with an intense topping of Belper Knolle cheese that really enhanced the flavour. The latter was artfully presented and the hogget – rarely found on menus – was soft and pink, with crispy, fried-off edges.
The wine selection matches the extensivity of the menu, with an impressive, global selection including Kung Fu Girl – a new-wave Riesling from Washington State. White wines aren’t typically paired with red meats, but the sweet, fizzy taste of this drink made it a complementary bedfellow. Perhaps with eyes a little bigger than our stomachs, we ordered a side dish of truffle-infused macaroni cheese too. Much like the dishes that came before it, it was comfort food for the discerning palate, and it went down very well.
After such a hearty dinner, dessert seemed an unfathomable notion, but we couldn’t resist sharing the chocolate brownie with coconut sorbet and salted caramel sauce. The brownie itself was just as it should be – with an oven-crisp top layer and a soft, dark-chocolate interior. The sorbet was light, but still discernible as coconut flavoured, and worked quite well with the rest of the dish.
The Jones Family Project is the sort of place that should be on your radar – sheer scope of possibility (freelance-friendly tea shop, cocktail bar, restaurant, private party venue) makes it a very good place to know.
by Becky Zanker
The Jones Family Project 78 Great Eastern Street
, London
EC2A 3JL
Tel: +44 (0)207 739 1740