Platform1 in East Dulwich Will Serve Up Fodder Until 25 November

Chefs Michael Thompson and Ollie Downey come bearing Fera chops and locavore produce

Platform1 in East Dulwich has selected its latest resident kitchen, and the news is — it’s fodder.

The project, helmed by Fera alumni Michael Thompson and Ollie Downey alongside Elle contributor Jenny Novitzky and food writer Louise Stapley, promises “all things wild, local and seasonal, bringing ‘a fresh twist to fine dining’ by working with foraged produce and a community of carefully-selected suppliers.” They follow Stoke Newington neighbourhood favourites Perilla and Brixton darlings Smoke and Salt in making their first forays into public service on the, uh, platform, which was established by Chloe Gounder-Forbes in 2015.

It’s a somewhat strange beast — the process for getting on the platform is likened to an audition routine, with strict stipulations: a set menu for no more than £35pp, and bar snacks to go with it. fodder’s menu will go far beyond what their name might suggest, promising the following:

Fodder Official

• Heritage carrots and butterhead lettuce with smoked hay
• Buttermilk buns, crispy chicken skin, cultured butter
• Chicken and spelt ragu, sauerkraut, mushroom and bread broth
• Raw plaice, cucamelon, apple marigold
• Grey-legged partridge, Kalibos cabbage, beetroot and anise hyssop
• Caramelised pear, buckwheat, hogweed and whisky

Suppliers will be from as far afield as Cornwall — via the Good Earth Growers collective — and as close as the restaurant’s very roof, with herbs grown on site, while wine pairings will focus on neglected, forgotten, or otherwise undiscovered grape varieties.

Based on the dishes above, the invention seems genuine, the combinations savvy, and the vision clear — of course, the proof will be in the eating.