Crouch End's favourite French bistro Les2Garcons has landed yet another accolade - this time a coveted Michelin Bib Gourmand.
Ahead of this year's Michelin Guide ceremony for Great Britain and Ireland on Monday (February 5) the legendary food guide has announced 20 new restaurants which have earned the distinction of "offering great quality, great value cooking."
Voted last year London's Best Neighbourhood restaurant by The Good Food Guide, Les 2 Garçons started off in a tiny 20 seat venue in Crouch Hill before relocating to bigger premises in Middle Lane Crouch End, where the guide says "well-loved dishes like French onion soup and steak frites are delivered with a wonderful sense of joie de vivre."
Chef Robert Reid and Maitre 'd Jean-Christophe Slowik, who met while working in Marco Pierre White's three Michelin star The Oak Room opened the bistro in autumn 2021 with the help of a Crowdfunder.
Both men live in Crouch End and lockdown made them reappraise their priorities, with Reid wanting to open a neighbourhood restaurant close to where his two kids go to school.
He told the Ham&High at the time, that they shared a friendship and passion for good food, wine, and hospitality: "Our focus is on community, getting together and sharing. We wanted the feeling of a tiny 1930s Parisian bistro with smoke, hustle and bustle and lots of energy – like rats fighting in a sack! – where people talk to each other and nobody looks at their mobile phones."
The only other London restaurant to earn a new Bib Gourmand was Notting Hill's Empire Empire, which serves up the cuisine of Punjab and Northwest India through "interesting dishes with a real freshness and vitality."
The remaining 18 includes restaurants in Edinburgh, Belfast and around the UK such as the gastropub The Lock&The Tyne in Old Windsor which according to the guide offers "re-worked, traditionally based dishes that represent good value."
Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of The MICHELIN Guide said: "It is a joy to see 20 restaurants newly awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand in the 2024 edition of The MICHELIN Guide Great Britain & Ireland.
"These are establishments that deserve recognition for their continued commitment to offering affordable, delicious cooking. The generosity and value for money they offer is wonderful to see during these challenging economic times."
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