There is a bourgeois seduction to Crouch End, home to Celtic celebrities, a charming independent cinema, and Bufala di Londra, a pizzeria so magnificent I’ve avoided talking about it for fear of TikTokers.
Yet Crouch End is lacking in pubs. There are too few and those that exist are mediocre, even perfunctory. It is a substandard situation to me that one might dine at Les 2 Garçons, with its Thienot and parfait de foie de volailles, but have nowhere bewitching to go beforehand.
The Wooden Cross is the antidote. Up the road from Floral Hall, where Peter Capaldi takes his ginger and elderflower presse, is a replacement to the Harringay Arms, closed for a year. This might have been yet another boozer consigned to the London scrapheap — recent figures suggest closures every day.
So thank God for this new pub with its Guinness and classic cocktails. The place conjures history with its name: Crouch End’s famous clocktower was once home to an old wooden cross, the sort erected when two great manors met to eat pheasant legs and drink faux Roman wine.
It is brooding and softly high-end: it conjures feelings of post-Waitrose pints, dog in tow, where old musicians and architects collide
None such were found at Paul McAstocker and Rebecca Smithson’s latest pub — they have others in the far north (of London) — which is brooding and softly high-end: it conjures feelings of post-Waitrose pints, dog in tow, where old musicians and architects collide. The vibe might be “modern medieval”.
I was a little abstemious when I went in. But a single Guinness satisfied my supposition: this is a tremendous place to drink. It has benefited kindly by a rebrand, a refresh; there is a keen selection of beers and the option to have a Reuben bagel, my second favourite sandwich (the club wins out).
Alas, Crouch End is a hike. This is a neighbourhood pub for the most part. But given Les 2 Garçons inspires pilgrimages — the ratatouille, for one thing — I suspect it will do well. I hope so. If not, I’ll be cross.
153 Crouch Hill, N8, the-wooden-cross.com
Bar snacks
Vori
Holland Park Avenue, W11, vorigreekitchen.co.uk
The superb west London Greek restaurant Vori is offering an interesting new wine flight, one that might be an introduction to Cycladic bottles. Focusing on assyrtiko, the “it” grape of the summer, on offer are three varieties from Crete and Santorini paired with dishes from the same region: grilled prawns, calamari and roast octopus. Visit, learn and — if you wish to impress — be sure to bring Greek island wine to your next barbecue.
Bar Lina
Brewer Street, W1, barlina.co.uk
Bar Lina in Soho is to launch a collection of “tiny cocktails” in collaboration with bartender and author — and sometime Standard writer — Tyler Zielinski. The menu includes a mini bloody martini — two sips being the trend — a vodka and tomato number, savoury and effecting; and Zielinski’s own “Art of Simplicity” drink, which combines Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto with grapefruit sherbet, prosecco and an olive. barlina.co.uk
