Hand-crafted furniture, wall-mounted candles and carefully framed views of London’s oldest surviving church lend Restaurant St Barts a distinctive atmosphere.

Located in Smithfield, the London restaurant is just around the corner from Cloth Fair – once a critical destination for medieval merchants to buy and sell fabric. Restaurant St Barts has embraced this local history and incorporated it into its interiors, dividing them with long, linen curtains.

The focus is very much on the restaurant’s materiality, with tables carved from fallen London plane trees and handmade ceramics. Sofas are strewn with sheepskins, and the building’s weathered concrete walls are illuminated by flickering candles sitting on metal wall mounts.

To further emphasise the history surrounding Restaurant St Barts, diners can gaze out onto the nearby medieval church of St Bartholomew the Great, which was founded in 1123. Before they get that far, however, they’ll enjoy the first of 15 epic courses.

Diners start at the bar and stop off at the chef’s counter before they make it to the dining room for a round of dishes cooked over fire. Expect poached cod, red mullet and Cornish lobster finished off with a cheeseboard, oatcakes and prunes – all washed down with wine and brandy. Yum.

63 Bartholomew Cl, London, EC1A 7BG

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