Essence Cuisine, Shoreditch

Essence Cuisine is a swish, 100% plant-based restaurant in Shoreditch led by LA celebrity chef Matthew Kenney who, according to Forbes magazine, has ‘a certain glow about him’ .

The interior is sharp and minimal with aluminium walls and a concrete bar; with its tiny tables and bench seating, it should be noted, however, that Essence Cuisine is not conducive to lingered dining.

At breakfast try the surprisingly fluffy scrambled chickpeas with ‘massaged’ kale and spicy green harissa, asparagus and mushrooms. For lunch or dinner, order the lively spicing of the slurpy, springy Pad Thai made with kelp noodles, tamari almonds and lime; or the Heirloom tomato lasagne, a reinterpretation of a classic, made with courgette in place of pasta, sundried tomato sauce, pistachio pesto and creamy, macademia ‘ricotta’. The brownies made with raw cocao and toffee-like Medjool date ‘caramel’ are revelations.

Essence Cuisine represents the very best of imaginative 'free-from' cooking, and it is somewhere we will go back to again and again.