When Gourmand Gunno sat down for his first restaurant meal of 2020 on 7 January, little could he imagine how the remainder of the year might pan out. During four months of the past twelve (April through to June, and November), restaurants around the country were shuttered. Although there were far more pressing concerns with which to contend, in the absence of being able to eat out, we all had to manage with some combination of cooking, take-aways and deliveries (see here (opens in a new tab) for more details). Sadly also many restaurants closed their doors forever as a result of the pandemic, including ones much loved by this reviewer such as The Ledbury (opens in a new tab) and Freak Scene (opens in a new tab).
Despite the topsy-turvy nature of the year, Gourmand Gunno managed to add 21 new reviews to his restaurant Blog, 11 of which were for restaurants visited for the first time. Although the absolute number of reviews is markedly down on previous year’s levels (50 in 2019 and 37 in 2018), it is still pleasing to have dined out on so many occasions. It is also worth noting that Gourmand Gunno spent 30 of the first 70 days of the year (i.e. pre-lockdown) not in England, but new venues in locations as far afield as Johannesburg and Tel Aviv were added to his ‘Global Gunno’ (opens in a new tab) page, which provides key dining highlights for selected cities.
The main message from my dining year is that in uncertain times we all want comfort. Put another way, it has, arguably, been more pleasing to return to familiar venues than to try boundary-pushing new openings. Over the course of the year, I have been lucky enough to return to many favourites including Bocca di Lupo (opens in a new tab), Core (opens in a new tab), La Petite Maison (opens in a new tab), Scott’s (opens in a new tab) and The Palomar (opens in a new tab). No new venue really stood out for me, but high praise is certainly deserved for Kolamba (opens in a new tab) (Sri Lankan in Soho), Maison Francois (opens in a new tab) (a French brasserie in St James) and Tokyo Pizza (opens in a new tab) (self-explanatory, in Maida Vale).