Chez Bruce

The restaurant was opened in February 1995 by Bruce Poole and his business partner Nigel Platts-Martin, a proprietor of several other Michelin-starred London restaurants, like La Trompette in Chiswick and The Glasshouse in Kew, both of them also co-owned by Poole.{{cite magazine |title=Nigel Platts-Martin: The quiet man? |url=https://www.thecaterer.com/news/restaurant/nigel-platts-martin-the-quiet-man |date=29 June 2006 |magazine=The Caterer |access-date=5 November 2021 }}{{cite news |last=Beckett |first=Fiona |date=6 January 2001 |title=Nibbles |work=The Times |edition=1F3 |page=6 |id={{ProQuest|318426398}} |issn=0140-0460 }} Before the opening, Poole previously worked for Bibendum under Simon Hopkinson and then The Square (then-located in St James's),{{cite news |date=11 March 1995 |last=Green |first=Emily |title=A worthy successor to Marco |work=The Independent |page=32 |issn=0951-9467 |id={{ProQuest|312298686}} }} which had been also co-owned by Platts-Martin and its chef patron Phil Howard.

Chez Bruce occupies the site of former Marco Pierre White restaurant, Harveys. It also occupies the site of a nearby former post office since 2009 for building expansion.{{cite interview |title=A Minute on the Clock: Bruce Poole |interviewer=Kerstin Kühn |magazine=Caterer & Hotelkeeper |volume=199 |number=4583 |date=26 June – 2 July 2009 |page=11 |issn=0008-7777 |id={{ProQuest|222761901}} }}

The restaurant has held its first Michelin star since late January 1999.{{cite magazine |last=Fingleton |first=David |date=6 March 1999 |title=Restaurant: The Fat Duck and Chez Bruce |magazine=The Spectator |volume=282 |number=8900 |page=57 |issn=0038-6952 |id={{ProQuest|201295767}} }}

The restaurant's menu has been seasonal and has featured wines. Poole's cuisine has been French brasserie.{{cite news |last=Lanchester |first=John |date=30 July 1995 |title=Eating out: The Sugar Club/Chez Bruce |work=The Guardian |location=Manchester |page=38 |issn=0261-3077 |id={{ProQuest|294899802}} }}{{cite interview |url=https://www.andyhayler.com/chef-interviews/chef-interview/bruce-poole |title=Bruce Poole |date=December 2007 |work=Andy Hayler's Restaurant Guide |access-date=26 July 2021 }} Among the dishes served in July 1995 were salt cod fritters with potatoes, fried parsley, and mayonnaise; and soused mackerel with frisee leaves, sliced boiled potatoes and bacon lardons. Among the main courses were sliced roast neck of lamb with spinach, merguez sausages and a timbale of spiced aubergine; and grilled calf's liver with sliced grilled onglet, spinach and diced fried potatoes. Among desserts were sandwich biscuit enclosing raspberries and vanilla ice cream, entitled "sablé of raspberries"; and strawberry granita.

Among the dishes served in August 2019 were cod brandade with sauce nero and warm salad of cuttlefish, courgette and chili; diced (raw) tuna with tamarind-glazed aubergine, soy, sesame and pickled ginger; mackerel rillettes with cured mackerel, elderflower, crème fraîche, cucumber and gooseberries; as a main course, roast cod with olive oil mash, provençale tomato and gremolata; and hot chocolate pudding with praline parfait.{{cite web | url=https://vinous.com/articles/vinous-table-chez-bruce-london-uk-aug-2019 | title=Vinous | Explore All Things Wine }}

Gordon Ramsay, who worked under Marco Pierre White at the former site Harveys for three years, praised Chez Bruce in 2005 as one of his favourite restaurants.{{cite news |first=Gordon |last=Ramsay |author-link=Gordon Ramsay |date=1 October 2005 |title=Ramsay's favourite restaurants |work=The Times |page=71 |issn=0140-0460 |id={{ProQuest|319397112}} }} In July 2016, after disdaining it as "ultra-bourgeois and a little dated" around ten years prior, The Guardian food critic Marina O'Loughlin rated Chez Bruce's food, atmosphere, and money value nine out of ten points each, calling it "an absolute classic".{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jul/15/chez-bruce-london-sw17-restaurant-review-marina-oloughlin | title=Chez Bruce, London SW17: 'A meal that encourages you to wallow in sheer, sybaritic pleasure' – restaurant review | Marina O'Loughlin | website=TheGuardian.com | date=15 July 2016 }}

In 2006, Chez Bruce was first named as "Londoners' Favourite Restaurant" in a survey conducted for Harden's London Restaurants, a title which The Ivy had held for the past nine years.{{cite press release |title=Chez Bruce Knocks Ivy Off Top Slot |url=http://www.hardens.com/about/LR06_release.htm |work=Harden's |date=31 August 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051119093652/http://www.hardens.com/about/LR06_release.htm |archive-date=19 November 2005 }}{{cite news |last=Elliott |first=Valerie |date=31 August 2005 |title=The Ivy loses its place at top table |work=The Times |location=London |page=3 |id={{ProQuest|319345403}} }} Chez Bruce has since been top of the list as London's favorite restaurant for eleven consecutive years as of September 2016.{{cite news |first=James |last=Hurley |date=13 September 2016 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/article/the-most-popular-chef-youve-never-heard-of-nrjwc87w9 |title=The most popular chef you've never heard of |url-access=subscription |work=The Times|id={{ProQuest|1818630398}}}}.

Out of top 100 British restaurants, The Times ranked Chez Bruce 43rd in 2011 with a score of 9.28 out of ten,{{cite news |title=43 Chez Bruce |work=The Sunday Times |date=30 October 2011 |page=19 |issn=0956-1382 |id={{ProQuest|900952290}} }} 31st in 2012 with a 9.42 score,{{cite news |title=Chez Bruce |work=The Sunday Times |date=28 October 2012 |page=13 |issn=0956-1382 |id={{ProQuest|1115421168}} }} 40th in 2013 with a 9.44 score,{{cite news |title=Britain's top 100 restaurants |work=The Sunday Times |date=3 November 2013 |page=1 |issn=0956-1382 |id={{ProQuest|1448010387}} }} 79th in 2014 with a 9.25 score,{{cite news |title=Mersey beats go to number one |work=The Sunday Times |date=19 October 2014 |page=4 |issn=0956-1382 |id={{ProQuest|1613664989}} }} and 82nd with a 9.30 score.{{cite news |title=Precision dining |work=The Sunday Times |date=8 November 2015 |page=24 |issn=0956-1382 |id={{ProQuest|1731643090}} }}

• List of French restaurants

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |year=2011 |first=Bruce |last=Poole |title=Bruce's Cookbook |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-00-737610-0 }} eBook: {{ISBN|9780007413270}}

• {{official website|https://www.chezbruce.co.uk}}

{{Restaurants in London}}

Category:Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Wandsworth

Category:French restaurants in London

Category:Michelin-starred restaurants in the United Kingdom

Category:Restaurants established in 1995

Category:Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Wandsworth

Category:1995 establishments in England