Brawn
GO HERE: for meat, and lots of it, amid the buzz of East London. Near the end of the Columbia Road Flower Market—which draws throngs on weekends with its succulents and seasonal blooms—Brawn’s led many lives. Its high ceilings and double-height windows owe to its beginnings as a 19th-century workshop; it became a white-hot wine bar in 2010; and it’s now a restaurant helmed by chef Ed Wilson, who still serves carefully chosen organic and biodynamic wines.
ORDER THE: the veal ragù if it’s an option, and any dish featuring one of Wilson’s favorite ingredients: potent Cantabrian anchovies. Finish with the creamy, vanilla-flecked panna cotta cut with tart rhubarb, which is the only permanent item on an ever-shifting menu.
THE VIBE IS: the kind of place your parents would think is cool, but not so trendy they’d feel incredibly out of place. The massive windows keep it from feeling claustrophobic.
PRACTICAL STUFF: They leave a few tables for walk-ins every night, but reservations are all but required on weekends (book a couple of days in advance). Open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday to Saturday, 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.; dinner only on Monday, 6 p.m. to 11 p.m; and lunch only on Sunday, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
