Alex Craciun in the kitchen at Aces Foodcraft
What can you tell us about Aces Foodcraft?
This is the first solo London restaurant from chef Alex Craciun, last best known for teaming up with Jason Atherton for Sosharu in Clerkenwell almost a decade ago. Since that closed, Craciun has been working in Singapore and Marbella, but now he's back in London with his own place.
For Aces, he's teamed up with his wife Aleksandra Jazevica, who happens to be a director of Primeur. That's a high-end costermonger that sells produce to some of London's best restaurants, so she's very well placed to manage the produce for this restaurant. With Aces, they clearly complement each other extremely well (the restaurant is even named after their son).
As for the restaurant itself, the food is understandably produce-led. There's also a distinct Japanese influence too (Craciun spent a year in Japan working at some of the country's best restaurants) but you'll see that the influences are wide and varied.
Right opposite Motorino is where you'll find Aces.
Where is it?
You'll find Aces in Fitzrovia, in the small pedestrianised section that is Fitzroy Place, about a five-minute walk from Goodge Street station. If you've been to Motorino, Aces Foodcraft is more or less directly opposite that.
It's a small space, but that's something that really works in its favour. The main kitchen takes up one side of the room, surrounded by a counter that's mainly used as seating for the evening tasting menu. The rest of the room features more traditional seating, but because of the size of the space, these tables almost feel like they're an extension of a chef's table experience.
Looking into the Aces dining room - even if you're not at the main counter/chef's table, you're never far from the action.
The setup means that you can get up close to the chefs at the counter, something best suited for pairs. But even if you're on a table of four or more, you're so close to the kitchen that you can still feel part of the action. It's a layout that works really well and it's enhanced further by the design of the room, dominated by a large refrigerated glass cabinet. That's not there just for show, as we were told that the fish hanging in there (see the photo above) would be prepared by the chefs the next day.
Where should we meet for a drink first?
We mentioned that Motorino is just across the way, so if you're looking for a place for a drink before or after your meal, the bar there is a great option. As for Aces itself, outside of wine and sake, the drinks list is limited to just one cocktail, but it's a particularly great one. Pretty much everyone on the counter had one of these to kick off the meal:
The Aces Martini - Helix7 vodka, dry vermouth and salted umeshu (£12) - a great price and a very good 8/10 on our martini chill scale.
So what's on the menu here?
There are actually two menus. There's an à la carte option, which is the prime focus during the day. In the evening, there's also a tasting menu which is primarily served on the counter around the open kitchen (although you can have this anywhere in the room). We had the tasting menu, so will focus on that (but we'll get to the a la carte in a bit).
As mentioned, the menu is led by the produce available, and we've already seen several variations of the key dishes that they've been serving. The menu itself gives you an idea of how Craciun is juggling a few inspirations, with titles like "A Chinese man in France" showing how he's bringing a lot of those influences together.
The tasting menu itself is £95 for nine courses, and for the level of food we had, that's an absolute steal anywhere in London, let alone right in the middle of town.
Here are some of the many, many highlights of the night:
Part of the "French Man in Japan", this is a vegetable and yuzu biscuit that's served with a soup of wild trout roe, smoked milk and toasted almonds. It's a great start, particularly in these colder months.
"A Chinese man in France" - prawn dumplings and in that mad glass is mussel "green juice" to wash it all down.
This was one of Alex's signature dishes at Sosharu back in the day, and he's brought it back for Aces. It's the Temaco (a taco crossed with temaki). Inside the delicate crispy shell is bluefin tuna, sushi rice, avocado and wasabi. In the squeezy bottle is a red fermented chilli sauce, which the chef describes as "homemade tabasco".
Italian chicken liver parfait with Parmesan and really soft and light toasted brioche
"Japanese man in the Basque country" - a take on a ramen where the noodles are made with mushrooms and truffle, with a quail egg and seaweed bamboo, delivered to guests sizzling hot thanks to the big candle below.
This is part one of a dish which sees roasted quail served inside a cabbage and it's paired with...
...part two, which is king cabbage, sun-dried tomato ragu and truffle foie gras sauce.
More highlights included an Italian/Japanese crossover using locally grown Japanese crones instead of pasta in a delica pumpkin sauce, and a dessert mixing up aged persimmon, Fuji apple, vanilla, peanut parfait and sake jelly, all finished off with piped aerated yoghurt.
The whole thing is an extremely impressive parade of unique dishes that are quite unlike anything else in London right now. It's a real triumph.
And there's an a la carte option too?
Yes, if you've had your fill of tasting menus (although we'd still say this one might change your mind on that front), there is an option to see what they're doing here on an à la carte basis. It's something they want to encourage people to do so they can show off what the kitchen is doing. They're more than happy for people to pop in for a few dishes and drinks to give the place a... test drive, if you will.
On the à la carte menu, you can try some of the dishes above, like the dumpling and mussel juice, the chicken parfait and various versions of the tacos (including a vegetable option). They'll also have sushi and sashimi dishes on offer.
What about drinks?
The list is primarily wine-focused, with a small sake selection and the aforementioned martini. The wines start at £39 a bottle, which is pretty standard for a restaurant of this calibre, with quite a few choices below £60. We opted for a 2023 Bourgogne Blanc from Fanny Sabre in Burgundy for £72, which was a great match for anything the tasting menu threw at it.
On the low/no alcohol front, they have a couple of sparklings from Germany as well as some sparkling teas from Switzerland.
Anything else?
There's one last touch that we really loved. On the back of the menu, you'll find a list of the current restaurants and bars in London that the team recommend right now, from classics to new openings. It's a pretty great list too and very current. They promise to keep updating this list regularly.
Overall thoughts
When we visited for dinner, there was a couple at the counter who were already on their third visit to Aces Foodcraft (it had barely been open for four weeks) and we can see why they've been back so many times. We left the restaurant buzzing after a night of some of the best and most inventive food we've had in London recently, all in one of the most inviting rooms we've eaten in. Everything about it just fits together perfectly, from the calm, welcoming atmosphere in the kitchen to the spectacular cooking.
It's really, really great and we cannot recommend it highly enough. You should make a booking as soon as you can.
More about Aces Foodcraft
Where is it? 8 Pearson Square, London W1T 3BF
How to book: Book here
Find out more: Follow them on Instagram @aces_food_craft
Hot Dinners ate as guests of Aces Foodcraft. Prices are correct at the time of writing.
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