‘Stay-up’ seems to be this year’s ‘Pop-up’ as restaurants that began as guests, have turned into squatters. I had heard good things about ‘Upstairs at The Ten Bells’ which opened last November intended as a three month stay, but whose success meant that they have taken up residence.
A group of guys, aka ‘The Young Turks’, who made their names in pop-ups and dining clubs, as well as stints at The Ledbury and St John, have created a jolly atmosphere, backed by good-value, well-sourced food (£39 for 4 courses) and a short, interesting wine list – 40 wines, sourced from half a dozen suppliers. The chestnut and truffle soup was my stand-out dish, partnered with a glass of rich, white Anjou.
Upstairs at The Ten Bells - Menu de Nuit
This part of town, Commercial Road, still has an edge, even if skinny jeans and facial hair are slowly giving way to suits and side-partings. I was dining with an old mate who is training to be a counsellor, so he gets to test his latest theories, I get free therapy and we split the bill. Everyone’s a winner.
If you go, as I would urge you to do, you can get a cheap thrill by asking the downstairs barman (which is a separate establishment), how to find the restaurant. If Heston did a guest turn here it could be ‘Dinner upstairs at the Ten Bells’ which would save a lot of texting re times, how to find it, etc.
It’s obviously going well as this team is about to open a second restaurant in Shoreditch Town Hall called The Clove Club and Jamie Oliver was dining at the next table. Bish, bash, bosh.
Shoreditch chic
A couple of weeks ago during that hot time we fondly remember as ‘summer’ a new phenomenon hit the streets of Frome. Londoners will shake their World-weary heads when I mention the phrase ‘pop-up’ but for us Fromeys it was a real treat.
Terry and Paula
Architect Terry Pinto (www.pa-ad.co.uk) is a Frome resident of Goan extraction (via Kenya via Leicester) who is also an accomplished cook. He and his partner Paula Hammond worked together to great effect producing a delicious feast in an empty shop on Paul Street in Frome.
The one-off nature of the enterprise and the stripped back interior of the shop lent a funky edge to the proceedings. All guests paid £20, and were seated at two long tables set end-to-end. We brought along a bottle of Tavel: La Foracdière 2011 – a full-throttle Southern Rhône rosé that is ideal with spicy dishes - and some home made elderflower cordial and soon made the acquaintances of our neighbouring diners. Jason & I took the boys along and we were sat between four twenty-somethings new to Frome and three older long-term Frome residents of a bohemian bent. As it was nobody’s regular hang-out there was an egalitarian air to the proceedings.
First course was scrumptious meat and vegetarian samosas – far lighter and daintier than I’ve tasted anywhere else. Next up were giant, chilli-marinated, shell-on prawns which Paula had sourced down in Poole where she works. The main course was a selection of subtly flavoured (pork, aubergine & bean) curries served with rice and lastly desert was a deliciously cooling mango puree with yoghurt – light & refreshing.
Along the way Terry told us family anecdotes and showed us photos of his parents in their 1950s heyday (perfect quiff, circle skirts and general elan in Nairobi). It gave us the back story to the food we were tasting – recipes that had travelled around the World and adapted to each location.
We wandered off into the night contented and full and looking forward to the next pop-up treat on Paul Street.
