Trolleys have long been a fixture in the most traditional of dining rooms, gleaming silver domes pulled back to reveal a joint of meat to be carved by a formally clad waiter, or a dish to be finished as guests watch entranced. (If you fancy owning such a classic, the mahogany and silver fleet that once graced the dining room at Simpsons in the Strand is for sale by auction in August as the restaurant, closed since March 2020, prepares to reopen in November 2024.)
Trollies nowadays are more about sparking conversations, learning about ingredients and processes, being wowed by skills, flames and obscure contraptions, and above all creating an unforgettable experience.
Let’s go on a trolley-crawl.
First up, a cocktail. Order a negroni from the roving trolley at Blacklock, for a punchy preamble to your chop-fest at any of the four London sites. Going upscale? If you have a table at Helene Darroze’s Exceptional-rated restaurant at The Connaught, meet beforehand in the Connaught Bar where a martini trolley awaits. It’s quite a spectacle as your cocktail is poured with a metre-high flourish and spritzed with lemon.
Head to 45 Jermyn Street where caviar is rolled tableside to be weighed on a precision scale ‘akin to the weighing of diamonds’ according to head chef Sam White. Choose from golden Oscietra, Siberian sturgeon or Iranian Beluga, served with scrambled eggs (made tableside of course), blinis and small baked new potatoes. White likens the appeal of the trolley to that of the open kitchen, adding that ‘it resonates with modern diners seeking more than just a meal’. And for the main event share a beef Wellington, sliced from its trolley (of course) and served with a sauce flambéed tableside.
At nearby Maison Francois, trollies can bookend your meal. The wherewithal to make steak tartare arrives on a bespoke one from which hand-chopped raw beef is mixed with egg, shallots, capers and gherkins, while the dessert trolley is layered with such temptations as Paris-Brest, chocolate mousse and apple tart.
Trolleys are key to the experience at The Game Bird. This classic restaurant within The Stafford hotel uses them to carve roast beef, flambé crêpes Suzette, serve afternoon tea – the one displaying smoked or cured fish is particularly popular. Maître d’ Luca Gaeta explains: ‘guests love the choice, it helps elevate the experience, adding a sense of old-school theatre and interaction’.
You’ll find more beef wellington at Corrigans Mayfair, where the meat is carved tableside and might come with pommes purée and red wine sauce. But for arguably the ultimate in trolley-based showmanship, go to The Ritz. Working from silver trolleys, tailcoated waiters smoothly portion and serve joints of meat, slice monkfish to be served with a shellfish sauce finished on the trolley, and flambé crêpes Suzette. Anjou pigeon or lobster à la presse takes things to the next level, with devices compressing the carcass to extract the juices used to thicken the sauce. It’s a piece of culinary theatre that you’ll find also at The Waterside Inn in Bray, and the classic French restaurant, Otto’s, in London.
Mayfair’s Dovetale offers a delightfully kitsch knickerbocker glory trolley – lavish, towering confections, including design-your-own options. And don’t miss the ice cream trolley at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, where liquid nitrogen means your cone is handed over in seconds. It’s a fun spectacle on wheels.
Back at Sola, Victor Garvey may wish for a fleet of trolleys, but he only has space for a cheese one. It’s looked after by restaurant manager Jonathan Denisse who has scoped the world to find French mimolette – ‘like a Cheddar but nuttier’ Victor says – ‘stinky, lovely’ Epoisses, and 36-month aged Gouda from Holland. Non-negotiable is Rogue River Blue from Oregon. ‘It’s like Gorgonzola but sharper’, says Garvey. ‘Jonathan’s French, I’m American. That one stays’.
