Restaurant Story x Gusbourne Estate
A Night Celebrating British Wines and British Cuisine in London, UK
Next on my list is Restaurant Story, located in a modern British cottage near London Bridge. The restaurant was opened in April 2013 by Chef Tom Sellers, who was just 26 at the time. Hailing from Nottingham, Sellers envisioned the restaurant as a platform to tell his personal story and celebrate British cuisine through a narrative-driven dining experience.
The restaurant, housed in a former Victorian toilet block rebuilt into a beautiful modern cottage, quickly gained acclaim for its innovative approach, earning its first Michelin star just five months after opening and a second in 2021. In 2023, Restaurant Story underwent a significant refurbishment, launching "Story 3.0" with a new second-floor private dining room and terrace, enhancing its intimate and theatrical appeal. The restaurant’s ethos centers on evoking memories through food, blending seasonality with storytelling, and has evolved into a two-Michelin-starred destination known for its ever-changing tasting menus.
The current Executive Chef is Tom Phillips, who joined Restaurant Story in late 2017. Phillips brings extensive experience from prestigious kitchens, including The Ritz in London, Per Se in New York, and L’enclume in the Lake District. Known for his passion for British produce and meticulous attention to detail, he competed in the Bocuse d’Or World Finals in 2019, finishing 10th, and is representing the UK again in 2024/2025. While Tom Sellers, the Chef Patron, remains the creative force behind the restaurant’s vision, Phillips oversees the kitchen’s operations, ensuring the execution of Sellers’ narrative-driven, seasonal dishes.
Restaurant Story is renowned for its surprise tasting menus (six-course lunch or nine-to-ten-course dinner), which change daily based on seasonal British ingredients and Sellers’ personal memories. Some iconic dishes include:
Beef Dripping Candle: A signature dish since the restaurant’s opening, this edible candle melts into a rich beef dripping oil, served with freshly baked brioche for dipping. Inspired by Sellers’ working-class roots and his father’s childhood meals, it’s a nostalgic nod to British bread and dripping.
Storeos: A playful take on the Oreo cookie, reflecting Sellers’ childhood love for the snack, often served as a whimsical course.
Half-Time Oranges: A mid-menu course inspired by Sellers’ sports-playing days, featuring orange segments that evoke memories of halftime breaks.
Snail Porridge: A creative dish that pushes boundaries, combining snails with unexpected textures and flavors, emblematic of the restaurant’s inventive style.
The restaurant’s storytelling concept, initially emphasized through a book-themed experience where diners were invited to bring their favorite stories, has evolved into a focus on culinary narratives tied to Sellers’ life and British heritage.
I managed to finally make a reservation to Restaurant Story, but the only availability for was a special winemaker dinner. An abridged six course tasting menu, paired with wines from a British winery, Gusbourne Estate. The evening was be co-hosted by Story's Head Sommelier Carolina Seibel and Gusbourne's Ambassador Steve Kirkham.
This was a communal interactive experience at a shared table in the private dining space upstairs, and we got a chance to meet and converse with people who loved Restaurant Story, or Gusbourne Estate, or both. I compared notes about the best dining in Europe with a couple who lived nearby, as well as meeting two foodie tech bro friends who had travelled to London for this event.
The evening started with casual drinks and canapes on the outdoor patio before our wonderful ambassador, Steve Kirkham started the night with an introduction to the sparkling Blanc de Blanc made with 100% chardonnay made in the traditional champagne style from the 2019 vintage. Bright, citrusy with lemon and apple on the palate.
Along with the sparkling wine came a few canapes:
a dainty rabbit and carrot sandwich
hand picked crab in a delicately light tart
the famous double stuffed stereos - like Oreos but savoury with squid ink truffle flavoured biscuits with an aged cheddar filling.
Steve opened the night explaining the winery and the wines that they selected for the evening, along with tasting notes and how they thought about the pairings.
After taking our seats at the table, the first course served was an amberjack crudo with tomato, soy and ginger dressing topped with a generous dollop of m25 caviar.
The crudo was served with Gusbourne’s 2021 Estate Brut Reserve, a combination of both red and white grapes creating a bit of acid on the palate with light bubbles and a hint of saline on the nose.
Next came a cheese and mushroom filled ravioli in the burnt butter and rosemary sauce topped with a bit of parsley oil. Rich, hearty and filling, one of my favourite dishes of the night.
Pairing with the pasta came a 2024 Rose that was more more pale pink and orangey than the classic rose tint. Made of 100% pinot noir, it had a strong orange scent, a bit of raspberry on the tongue and cut well through the fattiness of the pasta sauce.
Following the pasta, the bread course, with the iconic Restaurant Story beef tallow candle. The kitchen forms beef tallow into solid candles. Being comprised of entirely of fat, the candles light easily and the melting tallow forms a warm, buttery dip for the homemade brioche slices. To add a bit of seasoning and texture, a savory vegetable extract and a celery relish was provided on the side.
The break course was paired with a 2020 Blanc de Noir, a white wine made from grapes usually used for reds. The grapes are gently pressed to avoid mashing the tannins from the skins and the juice quickly removed from the skins to avoid any of the red colour extraction.
Moving into the seafood course, we were presented with a Cornish dover sole, pressed together and filled with a scallop mousse. A very familiar technique I last saw at Sezanne, the fish was served with a diced grape “caviar” and a cauliflower foam. Great execution and another highlight of the night.
The dover sole was served with a 2022 Guinevere Chardonnay. Sweet, with hints of apple, and a bit of creaminess, a great match for the fish.
The main was a roasted lamb rack with turnip carrots, in a thick demiglace sauce. Perfectly pink, rich, juicy and oozing with rendered fat. Absolutely perfect. Pairing with the lamb was a 2022 burgundy-clone. An interesting red, and not something I’d expect out of a British winery.
One note about the dinner was that the communal nature made for an incredibly fun experience - meeting new people with similar interests and sharing notes about great places to eat or visit all around the world. Chatting with the sommelier about her thoughts on the pairing decisions and learning more about the history and evolution of the British wine industry.
Unfortunately, all this lively conversation and revelry did significantly slow the pace the dinner and four hours in, I had to quietly duck out in order to make a meeting I had scheduled for that night. This meant that I missed the dessert course and associated wine pairing which is an absolute shame.
Overall, even the abridged menu at Restaurant Story was an amazing experience, the great company just adding to the night. There wasn’t a single course that I didn’t like, and I’m already looking forward to returning for the full tasting menu. The price for the six course dinner and wine pairing was a bargain at GBP 175, priced less together than the normal nine course menu at GBP 250 alone.
Total Damage: 215 GBP/person