Our barrel table at Topa as we hit the cheese and dessert part of our dinner there.
Tell us about Topa...
When we heard that one of our favourite wine and cheese shops was introducing a weekend residency inspired by the food scene of the Basque region of Spain, we pretty much said 'sign us up'. That part of Spain is one of our favourite places in the world for food so anything purporting to bring that kind of vibe to London had our vote.
The chef in question is Simon Shand, who was previously head chef of the Michelin-starred Leroy in Shoreditch. Here, he's swapped a proper kitchen and staff for a tiny oven in a space so small only one person can be in it. But he looked very content serving up an array of gorgeous plates for hungry North Londoners.
Where is it?
You'll find it taking over the space at Provisions on Holloway Road three days a week in the evenings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
For the residency the shop transforms from its daytime layout, swapping out the central counter, which normally showcases cheeses, for a dining counter. There's even a wine barrel laid out as a table for two. On the night we tipped up the place was pretty much full of folk making merry. All in all, this is a very nice scene.
Take a seat at the central table, or pick one of the counter seats up at the window
What's on the menu?
It's all very simple with options being a range of pintxos (displayed in a cabinet at the back by the open kitchen) followed by a series of larger plates. We're pretty greedy, so we did our best to work our way through pretty much everything of the 13 dishes between us. But you could absolutely come in for a glass or two of wine and a few pintxos and have a lovely time too.
It looks as though the dishes change pretty regularly, so what we had might not still be on offer. But we'll show you our highlights so you can get a feeling for what's on the menu, how big it is and how much it costs.
Grilled peppers topped with a superb raw goat's cheese Fusette Cendrée (£3.50 each)
Left to right: Christian Parrat black pudding with crab apple and nectarine (£4.50 each) and veal tartare with bonito and capers (£4.50 each).
At this point we moved from the pintxos section to the plates part of the menu where everything was more sharing in size and style.
Cornish scallop, chicken and fennel skewer (£12) - sweet scallops and grilled chicken thighs turn out to be a great combination.
Sauteed mushrooms with raw egg yolk (£9) - this is the second iteration of the famous Ganbara dish in San Sebastian that we've enjoyed in recent months (the other was at Whyte's in Hackney). If this is a trend, we're happy to hop on it.
Salt hake brandade (£8) - a nice change up from the usual salt cod
Glazed pig cheek with pomme puree and a red wine jus (£16) - the biggest dish on the menu on our visit.
Room for dessert? There were just two on offer on our visit, so it seemed foolish not to try both.
Three cheese plate (£12) - given that Provisions specialises in selling amazing cheese, you know that whatever they choose for you on the night is going to be good.
Fig, hazelnuts and brown butter sponge (£5) - an incredibly delicious end to a lovely supper.
What about drink?
We placed ourselves entirely in the hands of the staff here who clearly know what's going to work with each dish. We tried a few glasses of wine including maybe our favourite of the evening, a glass of Fleur de Cailloux - a lovely organic white from Roussillon.
But we also recommend you start with the following:
Patxaran and tonic (£9) - a traditional Basque aperitif made from macerated sloes that we'd somehow never encountered in any of our trips to the region. It makes for a lovely fruity long drink to start your dinner at Topa.
Overall thoughts:
Perched up at a barrel enjoying a parade of pintxos and good wine, it wasn't all that long before we totally felt like we were in some convivial spot in San Sebastian or Bilbao rather than the much less picturesque Holloway Road. We're always amazed by the inventive dishes that can come out of the tiniest of kitchens and Topa was a perfect example of that. It's a lovely spot to while away a few hours.
More about Topa at Provisions
Where is it? 167 Holloway Rd, London N7 8LX
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @provisionsldn.
Hot Dinners dined as guests of Topa. Prices correct at time of publication.
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