The Yellow Bittern, an 18-seat restaurant and bookstore near King’s Cross station, hardly looks like the most divisive lunch spot in London. It feels more like the farmhouse of a retired professor: Customers ring a bell to enter, hang their coats on pegs by the door, while pots of Irish stew simmer in the tiny open kitchen. The food is hearty and hot, served with jars of mustard, and the decor includes books on Bertolt Brecht and an accordion.
However, the cooking and ambience are not the only reasons that London’s top restaurant critics and gourmands have flocked to this establishment. Many are curious about the controversy surrounding its head cook, Hugh Corcoran, a deeply read communist and vocal Instagrammer who managed to enrage half the city soon after the Yellow Bittern opened in October.
“I’ve arrived at dinner parties or meals with people and then we all say, ‘Shall we discuss the Yellow Bittern?’” said Margot Henderson, the chef of Rochelle Canteen in East London. “It’s the talk of the town.”
Much of that talk centers on class issues, which are often at the forefront in Britain. The Bittern is cash-only and has two seatings, at noon and 2 p.m., only during the workweek. Critics point out that few Londoners can justify a leisurely, multicourse midday meal with a bottle of wine, which can easily cost $300 for a group of four. The implication that they could—especially from someone with a drawing of Vladimir Lenin in his restaurant—has sparked irritation.
“The food was good,” Jonathan Nunn, founder of Vittles, wrote in an email after reviewing the Bittern. “But this is like asking people on the Titanic whether they ate well. It was too colored by everything else going on around it.”
The Bittern isn’t unusually expensive; Corcoran, 35, is part of a long lineage of London chefs serving creative spins on country food. Modern British cuisine, having taken off in the 1990s, remains highly influential in London. This nose-to-tail cooking approach is epitomized at St. John, co-founded by Henderson’s husband, chef Fergus Henderson.
Corcoran, from Belfast, does not view Northern Ireland as a legitimate state and holds a passport from the Republic of Ireland. He draws inspiration more from his home and places like France and the Basque Country than from Britain.
However, the controversy has less to do with the cooking than with Corcoran’s outspoken nature. Soon after opening, he took to Instagram to scold his customers.
“Restaurants are not public benches,” he wrote, admonishing patrons who split entrees and those who do not consume alcohol. “You are there to spend some money.”
Corcoran’s post sent shock waves across London, a city known for its “sorry, pardon me, after you” mentality. Critics published a flood of reviews, ranging from praise to scathing rebuttals. Yet, this tumult has only increased the restaurant's allure: Tastemakers like Alice Waters, Nigella Lawson, and chef David McMillan have visited.
The menu features items like soda bread with butter and silky leek soup, alongside main courses like rabbit and guinea fowl pie. For dessert, there might be cream poured over an apple tart. Guests often linger long after the owners begin clearing tables.
Supporters view Corcoran and his co-owners, Lady Frances Armstrong-Jones and Oisín Davies, as mavericks challenging the notion that the customer is always right. They celebrate the Bittern as a reaction against pretentious “tweezer” food.
Conversely, a louder chorus of critics mocks the restaurant, calling it a web of performative contradictions. One critic highlighted the absurdity of a stew priced at 20 pounds while suggesting a 90-pound bottle of organic red Burgundy, describing it as a fetishization of a working-class life that never existed.
The owners maintain they never claimed the Bittern was for the working class. “We have to run a business,” Corcoran stated. “The people who come here are the people who can afford to come here.”
Corcoran believes Londoners deserve more than quick, soggy lunches. “Is this the kind of society that we were trying to create?” he asked. He suggests that discontent may be displacing frustration about lunch breaks, as the Bittern represents a reminder that people should have the time to enjoy a meal.
So far, the Yellow Bittern is thriving. With a 10-year lease and near-capacity crowds each day, Corcoran believes they’ve found an audience craving a thoughtful dining experience. —NYT
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