St John: 30 Ways This Restaurant Revolutionised British Food
In 1994, a restaurant named St John opened its doors on St John Street in east London, serving up a menu that would change the way British people thought about food. This was no ordinary establishment. While other chefs chased the latest trends, obsessing over prime cuts and extravagant ingredients, Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver boldly offered a "fuck you" to culinary elitism, serving up the unfashionable and forgotten: jellied tripe, pea and pig's ear soup, grilled lamb heart, and other "squidgy ingredients".
Their philosophy was simple, yet revolutionary: "nose to tail eating." Henderson, in his 1999 cookbook of the same name, argued that it was "disingenuous" not to utilise the whole animal, embracing all its "delights, textural and flavoursome, beyond the fillet."
A Legacy of Influence
St John's impact on the culinary landscape is undeniable. It inspired a generation of chefs to explore the potential of overlooked cuts and ingredients. Restaurants across the country, from Mýse in Yorkshire to Manteca in London, proudly feature dishes like duck neck sausage, beef offal ragu, and lamb belly and heart skewers.
Beyond Offal: St John's Lasting Influence
The restaurant's influence extended far beyond just offal. Here are some of the ways St John changed the way we eat:
Things on Toast: Long before toast became a trendy bar snack, St John was topping it with interesting ingredients like beef mince, grouse offal, and cod's roe, inspired by the smørrebrød served at a Copenhagen restaurant called Tivolihallen.
Pared-Back Dish Design: In a world obsessed with elaborate plating and nouvelle cuisine's tiny portions, St John embraced simplicity, serving food in the unpretentious style of peasant cooking or a 1950s British canteen. This stripped-back approach, focused on flavour and integrity rather than excessive presentation, resonated with chefs like Alastair Little, Shaun Hill, and Rowley Leigh.
The Bone Marrow Pie Funnel: St John's innovative approach to cooking extended to techniques like using a bone as a structural support and vent for pies. This method, passed down through the restaurant's alumni, inspired other chefs to create similar, ingenious solutions.
Provenance Praxis: St John rarely boasted about its high-quality suppliers, but its commitment to using locally sourced, seasonal produce was evident in its menu. The restaurant relied on vegetables from Linley Estate and meat from Swaledaleâs, showcasing the importance of quality ingredients and supporting local farmers.
The Alumni Effect: Chefs who worked at St John often left with a newfound appreciation for offal, like Elliot Hashtroudi, who opened Camille in London. Others, like Lee Tiernan, embraced the confidence to create restaurants that, like St John, were bold and distinctive, like his boisterous restaurant FKABAM.
Looking After Its People: St John was renowned for its supportive and nurturing work environment. Chefs described it as a place where there was no shouting, sensible hours, and delicious staff meals, creating a positive and enjoyable experience for its employees.
An Artisan Skill Set: St John championed traditional skills like salting cod, curing beef, and baking bread. These techniques were often considered menial in the culinary world, but Henderson saw them as essential to creating truly delicious and authentic food.
Soft Power: St John's influence extended beyond Britain, with American chefs like Anthony Bourdain and David Chang singing its praises. The restaurant even planned to open a location in Los Angeles, showcasing the global appeal of its unique culinary philosophy.
Modern British, But Not as We Know It: While Henderson is often hailed as the father of modern British cooking, he rejected the idea of being confined to any specific culinary identity. He believed in utilising native ingredients with a Mediterranean simplicity, creating a timeless and enduring approach to food.
Pigging Out: St John helped overcome the prejudice against pork in fine dining by using cheaper, fatty cuts like pork belly in innovative and delicious ways.
Boosting Rare Breeds: The restaurant's commitment to using rare breed pork helped raise awareness and demand for these heritage breeds, highlighting their unique flavour and quality.
Normalising Bone Marrow: Inspired by the film *La Grande Bouffe*, St John's signature roast bone marrow and parsley salad introduced this once-overlooked ingredient to a wider audience, eventually leading to its appearance on supermarket shelves and restaurant menus.
Cookbook as Philosophical Treatise: Henderson's book, *Nose to Tail Eating*, became a cult classic, inspiring a generation of chefs to embrace his philosophy. Its chic design, ironic tone, and exploration of culinary history and tradition made it more than just a cookbook; it was a portal into a bohemian lifestyle.
Reframing Food's Visual Language: The photography in *Nose to Tail Eating* was groundbreaking, featuring intimate, personal, and real images of food, a stark contrast to the overly stylized food photography of the time.
Scoff the Beaten Track: St John's decision to open in a run-down, industrial part of London was unconventional, paving the way for other restaurants to open in unlikely locations.
Sustainable (Before It Was Commonplace): Long before sustainability became a buzzword, St John embraced a waste-not-want-not approach to cooking, utilising every part of the animal.
Everyday Excellence: St John elevated the mundane, proving that simple dishes like chips and scotch eggs could be transformed into culinary masterpieces.
Started the Sharing, Small Plates Thing... Maybe: St John Bread & Wine was serving small plates and large sharing dishes for years before Polpo popularized the concept, highlighting the restaurant's forward-thinking approach to dining.
Fashion Plates: Henderson and Gulliver's stylish attire, particularly their fondness for blue chore jackets, cemented their place as workwear icons, inspiring the "chefcore" fashion trend.
Redefining Restaurant Design: St John's minimalist, industrial aesthetic, with white walls, industrial lights, and a no-frills approach, became a blueprint for many contemporary restaurants.
Beyond the Stars: While St John eventually received a Michelin star, it had already established itself as a culinary destination, proving that recognition from Michelin was not essential for success.
Linguistic Brevity: St John's minimalist dish descriptions, like "snails and oak leaf," reflected the restaurant's straightforward and unpretentious approach to food, a style that has become commonplace in modern dining.
Cultivating Noma's Radishes: The inspiration for Noma's famous radishes in edible soil can be traced back to St John, where René Redzepi first experienced the refreshing simplicity of steamed radishes.
Pioneers in Seasonality: St John championed using seasonal ingredients, highlighting the fleeting flavours of peak-season produce. This emphasis on fresh, local ingredients helped popularize a more sustainable and conscious approach to food.
Grape Leaps Forward: St John's dedication to sourcing high-quality, natural wines, including bag-in-box and Crémant, helped elevate the wine experience and paved the way for the rise of natural wine in London.
Better Bread, Baked In: St John's commitment to baking its own bread, particularly sourdough, changed the way people viewed bread in restaurants. The restaurant's success led to a shift in the culinary landscape, with chefs now routinely baking their own bread and restaurants opening dedicated bakeries.
Recruiting Fernet-Branca Fans: Henderson's enthusiastic advocacy for this herbal aperitif helped popularize it among chefs and bar staff, creating a cult following for the bitter but beloved Italian liqueur.
Historic Foods: St John embraced traditional British dishes, like eton mess and eccles cakes, showcasing the importance of culinary heritage and reintroducing forgotten ingredients to the modern palate.
St John's legacy extends far beyond the food it served. It represented a rebellion against culinary trends, a dedication to quality and authenticity, and a celebration of the humble and the overlooked. In doing so, it redefined British dining, inspiring a generation of chefs and changing the way we eat.
