It was a deal too good to miss so when Michelin-starred London restaurant St John offered diners the chance to eat celebrated fare such as roast bone marrow and apricots on toast at a fraction of the usual cost they bit its proverbial arm off.
The feted restaurant, founded by Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver, caused a virtual stampede on Thursday as it opened bookings for its 30th anniversary celebrations when it has vowed to recreate its 1994 menus but, crucially, selling favourites such as crispy fried pig tail and eel, bacon and mash at their original prices.
Tables for next month’s “1994 menu” services were snapped up within minutes of reservations going live on the OpenTable booking site on Thursday morning.
The lucky few who managed to bag a table will be able to tuck into its famous roast bone marrow and parsley salad for £4.20 rather than the 2024 price of £16. Meanwhile, apricots on toast, another favourite, will cost £3.70 as opposed to the current going rate of just over a tenner.
First opened within the site of an old smokehouse by Smithfield market in 1994, St John is considered one of the most influential restaurants in the world. Announcing the special cut-price menu, the founders said a “good age deserves a good lunch and a good party”.
In a statement posted on Instagram, they said: “We simply do things how we feel they should be done, and cook what we want to eat. We have been lucky enough to find that our many friends and customers want to eat the same way.
“Those who joined us in our opening weeks will remember such delights as apricots on toast at £4, or grilled lambs tongues, broad beans & carrots at £8.80, and think back to when our roast bone marrow and parsley salad was £4.20.
“Perhaps they will remember the outraged article in The Sun newspaper at boiled eggs and carrots being exactly that, and charged at £2.50. All this, minus the outrage, will be yours once more,” they added.
In keeping with its usual practice the menu will change twice daily during the event but diners can expect “both beloved classics and delights from the archives, in the form and price that they first appeared to such bafflement and acclaim in 1994”. However, while the food prices will be retro the offer does not extend to drinks and wines, which will be sold at current prices.
