On the face of it, “naked cooking” sounds like a recipe for disaster – shallow frying bacon is one activity we’re particularly keen to avoid sans vêtements – but don’t worry, this is naked cooking as imagined by restaurateur David Moore. The man behind Michelin-starred venues Pied à Terre and L’Autre Pied rarely puts a foot wrong, and his latest venture on the London food scene, pop-up Pied Nus (barefoot) is another hit with diners, and everyone is fully clothed.
Three doors down from L’Autre Pied on Blandford Street, Marylebone, Pied Nus is Moore’s way of experimenting with raw or minimally cooked dishes in preparation for a more permanent home if all goes well. The restaurant has popped up (and is due to pop down again in April, 2014) in what was chef Simon Rogan’s popular foraged-ingredients place Roganic, and Pied Nus has stepped in with an interior that’s as stripped back as the food, and revels in its unreconstructed state – part restaurant, part Victorian artisan workshop, it’s a ramshackle design lovers den of curiosity. The menu will only run to a dozen items going for between £5 and £12 a pop – pretty reasonable for dishes by Ed Dutton, who is coming in as head chef after a stint as sous chef at Tom Aikens’ place in Chelsea. It seems what they’re saving on the gas bill is being passed on to the customer…
