The Collab, Walthamstow: Roasts and Sublime Sides
I left East London over 15 years ago, migrating deeper into Essex with each subsequent move. The trend to move away in search of more square footage, according to current statistics, means that over a third of Londoners who move home are choosing to live outside of the capital. No matter, I’ve squarely bucked that trend, moving to Leyton late last year. Why? Among many other reasons, I wanted to have a bit of life when I stepped outside my front door.
Good timing then for The Collab to re-open earlier this year in Walthamstow, just down the road from me. I take my friend Patsy on a rainy Sunday. It’s a welcoming industrial space, large windows onto Hoe Street.
Named after the collaboration between owners Paul Human and Sam McGregor, from the food and drink backgrounds, and representing the venue's regular food, drink, comedy and music guests. Such partnerships include Mercury Prize-winning rapper-turned-sommelier Domm the Somm, AKA Dynamite MC, who paired music and wine, and Stuart Braithwaite of Scottish rock band Mogwai, who hosted a Burns Night.
It’s Sunday, it’s cold so roast dinner it is. Don’t worry if you don’t eat meat, as the roast menu includes a vegan wellington, £18. I only eat meat when I go out, and love ribs, so beef short rib sourced from a Smithfield butcher it was. When it arrives it matches the menu description perfectly, slow cooked, falling off the bone, £25. The plate is brimming with good things to eat, from a generous mound of homemade horseradish sauce to a crispy chunky Yorkshire pudding. For me the best thing is the pool of rich gravy.
We add sides - broccoli, carrots and a cauliflower cheese clearly giving its macaroni sibling a run for its money. The cheesy topping is gnarly and garnished (the latter not needed on a plate of comfort food). Patsy’s four-hour Suffolk lamb shoulder cooked in red wine pleases her as much as my lunch does me, with a massive dollop of mint salsa verde, a posher version of mint sauce. This is the type of food that makes you sing while you eat it, like a happy baby helped by the enthusiasm of the consistently friendly team.
Waistbands are getting tight by the time we finish, but I’d spotted a burnt Basque cheesecake when we’d first been given the menus, and so we order one with two spoons. It comes with a pretty raspberry coulis on top of the dark crust topped yellow wedge served on an equally pretty blue and white China plate. We don’t really need two spoons, as I pretty much hoover it up alone. I’m not that good at sharing puddings.
Tapping this up on another rainy Sunday, I wish I was back there, eating hearty, healthy food while nosing at shoppers on Hoe Street.
*198 Hoe St, Walthamstow, London, E17 4BF, The Collab
