The top line: Keller is the new project from Dan Smith, the chef behind the Michelin-starred Fordwich Arms in Kent, and the restaurant’s former sommelier Elliott Ashton-Konig. The Kent connection continues in the kitchen with fellow Fordwich Arms alumnus Ollie Clifford-Cox, most recently of two-Michelin-starred Hide and Fox in Kent, heading up the kitchen. Together they have created a bijou wine-led restaurant that occupies a site that was formerly home to takeaway and deli RuLu’s.
On the menu: The trio may have fine dining pedigree, but they’ve loosened their ties with Keller’s menu, which has a much more casual feel to it. Dishes are cooked over a charcoal-fired Bertha oven with oysters and seafood an obvious choice given the location but there’s much more on offer. The menu has been put together with wine in mind, which is why there’s a large selection of snacks that includes chickpea panisse, creme fraiche, and parmesan; grilled flatbread with pea, mint, ricotta and lardo; rarebit croquette with Worcestershire sauce; and buttermilk fried chicken with garlic mayonnaise. The main menu is tighter, with starters such as roasted Scallop with vadouvan spices; mussels on toast with smoked bacon; and beef tartare with shoestring fries and gherkin ketchup and mains such as sea bass with fennel lyonnaise and vermouth sauce; and rump of Cornish lamb with merguez sausage, tomato, goats curd, baby gem. As is de rigueur, a few dishes are on offer to share, including a dry aged rib of beef; grilled monkfish tail; and grilled lamb chops. The dessert offer is concise, with Kentish strawberry and cardamom choux bun; and lemon meringue, lemon ice cream and toasted oats currently on offer. Ashton-Konig has put together the wine list that balances Old and New World bottles, alongside standout producers from Kent and surrounding counties. Two wines are available on tap from Uncharted Wines by the carafe, with a wide range of bottles starting at approachable prices.
The vibe: Keller’s small dining room is warm an inviting, with a red painted ceiling and wooden parquet floor. The wine bar element is emphasised by a large wine chiller that serves as the focal point of the dining room, as well as small marble-topped bar with high seating for four people. The overall decor has been inspired by the vineyard landscape and the atmosphere of a wine cellar, which has been reimagined in a modern and contemporary way.
And another thing: Keller’s unusual logo is that of a goose drinking a glass of wine. The reason behind it is because Ashton-Konig’s nickname in hospitality circles was ‘Goose’ so when he was looking for a logo he wanted to include it somehow. “Then when we played around with it, we quickly realised that the goose drinking a glass of wine would not only look cool, but felt right,” he says. “It’s also a way of communicating to people that we don’t take ourselves too seriously, we want people to have fun when they come into Keller.”
28 Harbour Street, Whitstable CT5 1AH / kellerwhitstable.co.uk/