Toby Young is enlightened on why Chiswick's culinary credentials come top every time

It would appear from the increasingly regularity of appearances in the printed press that our homestead of Chiswick is becoming a celebrity in its own right.

Although far from hailing it as "Hipper than Notting Hill" satirical journalist Toby Young announced this week that he perceived Chiswick coming a poor third in the “tripartite hierarchy” after Notting Hill and Shepherds Bush.

He wrote in ES Magazine “Like most Shepherd's Bush residents, I am consumed with envy and self-loathing about the fact that I can't afford to live in Notting Hill Gate. However, I've always been able to congratulate myself that at least I don't live in Chiswick. It's like that famous black-and-white sketch about the difference between the upper classes, the middle classes and the working classes: Notting Hillbillies may look down on us and we may look up to them, but at least we aren't at the bottom of this tripartite hierarchy. That position is occupied by the wretched suburbanites who live in Chiswick.”

Woefully misguided and living with such a burden of misconception, Mr Young was clearly in need of enlightenment and a road to Damascus enlightenment was what he got when he paid a visit to Sam Harrison.

The current custodian of Chiswick chic, Sam’s Bar & Brasserie has been consistently praised by renowned restaurant critics since Sam opened the doors back in August 2005.

Patronised by discerning diners and hip bar flies alike (Sir Peter Blake is a regular customer), Sam’s has become synonymous with Chiswick culture even if it is at the 'the wrong end' of the Chiswick High as Mr Young believes it is.

Perhaps if Mr Young had ventured west earlier, he would have been able to cast off his encumbering misconceptions sooner for his previous local dining experience had taken him to Est Est Est, an establishment whose use of the term ‘restaurant’ must surely make them prime candidates for a libel suit.

Having made it as far as Sam’s, Mr Young returned to Shepherd’s Bush in a state of acute depression after discovering “yet another reason why Chiswick knocks Shepherd's Bush into a cocked hat.”

Those less than enamoured of Chiswick take note.

Emma Brophy

May 3, 2006