WORDS
Jane Fulcher
The background
Eldr opened earlier this year on the second floor of the beautiful columned Pantechnicon building on Motcomb Street in Belgravia. This building, which used to be a furniture warehouse, is now a temple to Japanese and Nordic design and gastronomy. The lower ground floor hosts the mind-blowingly good Japanese restaurant, Sachi, and Eldr focuses more on the Nordic side of Pantechnicon’s dual personality. Finnish-born chef Jenny Warner leads the kitchen at Eldr, using local and seasonal ingredients to serve a seven-course tasting menu of Nordic delights every Friday.
The space
The Pantechnicon building, from top to bottom, must be one of the most delightful in London. The minimalist warmth of Japanese and Nordic design has come together to create a space that is elegant, intriguing and relaxed. Eldr is finished in natural wood with splashes of green foliage and warm, low lighting.

The food
The Nordic menu changes with the seasons but, whatever the weather, will be a tribute to the formative years of chef Jenny Warner, spent in Finland. Much of the food is cooked on a grill or over an open flame to add depth and smoke. Eldr has an exciting suggested drinks pairing too, which truly embraces the Scandinavian heart of the restaurant to serve something really original. The seven-course feast starts with a couple of exquisite snacks: a Hasselback potato, served with spruce and whitefish roe, and a crispy cauliflower mushroom with reindeer and truffle. If you opt for the drinks pairing, this is served with a deliciously balanced cocktail of Norsk 75 Nuet Akvavit with homemade elderflower cordial and champagne.

To follow is an extra-special loaf of flower-shaped malted rye bread with bone marrow butter made by smoking the bone over hay before whipping the marrow with butter. The result is at once comforting, delicious and luxurious tasting. And a delicate hand-dived scallop with roe velouté and dill, served with a glass of fragrant dry Furmint Juliet Victor Tokaj that works perfectly with the sea flavours of the dish. To follow was a rich and umami-forward dish of venison tartare and roasted ceps, balanced with sharp gooseberries and burnt butter and served with a fresh Tuscan Garnaccia and then a perfectly pink and tender Sladesdown duck served with turnip, pine and bilberry crumble and paired with a 2015 Savoie Mondeuese from Prieuré Saint Christophe.
A wonderfully unusual palate cleanser of sea buckthorn sorbet with sparkling birch sap followed before a dessert of warming cinnamon-poached plum with maple syrup and pecans served with a glass of wonderfully sweet ice cider from Brännland in Sweden.

The menu is a really exciting journey around Nordic cuisine with Warner’s own personality and flare woven through. It’s thrilling to enjoy seven courses of delicious flavours and cooking that feel like something truly different.
The verdict
Pantechnicon is a special place and Eldr only adds to making it an increasingly thrilling destination for Londoners. The menu and cooking are really original for London, and it makes for a fantastically scintillating – and tasty – evening exploring Warner’s Nordic cuisine.
The bill
The seven-course tasting menu is £75 per person; drinks pairing is £65 per person.