Hearty, thoughtful and fancy – but not painfully fancy

Pimlico is an area I tend to avoid, mainly because its abject loveliness makes me introspective: it’s all those spotless pavements and treasured Regency architecture filled with bouji boutiques selling £495 lacquered tea trays while the local 7-11 is a Daylesford Organic, so even your daily bread is a seven-seed sourdough.

Pimlico is modern life with all its tricky edges smoothed off. Wildflowers, a new restaurant by chef Aaron Potter and interiors stylist Laura Hart, is Mediterranean-inspired both in menu and decor. Potter was once head chef of Elystan Street, one of the capital’s loveliest places to have dinner. Here, he’s dishing up the likes of lamb tartare with harissa, scallop crudo and sugar pit pork chop with gremolata. It’s a three-course-dinner affair: there’s no painfully long tasting menu and a heavenly absence of tweezers. The menu is hearty, but thoughtful and fancy – but not painfully fancy. Wildflowers is, damn it, verging on casual, but it’s Pimlico casual, so, yes, denim and trainers, if you like, but this is no Bella Italia.