North London Food & Culture

When is Patron opening – and why the delay?

Cute new licensed French bistro on Fortess Road now set to open doors in the New Year

Back in the summer, we broke the news of a very charming sounding independent French charcuterie and cafe, set to open in October a couple of doors down from Baan Thai on Fortess Road. The young French owners had a good backstory, too, having already achieved success with the acclaimed Cafe Gourmand on Lexington Street in Soho.

But what happened? Well, the good news is that Patron is now set to open in the New Year. “We’d like to thank our local Kentish Town neighbourhood for all your support,” say owners Tanzi and Jean-Francois, who met nine years ago at cheffing college. “We’ve just been granted our drinks licence and are super excited. Although there’s been a bit of a delay, the refurbishment will start very soon and we plan to be open in January.”

The couple told us earlier in the year that they moved to Kentish Town eighteen months ago. “We just fell in love with the area. We talked about how wonderful it would be to open somewhere and couldn’t believe that there wasn’t a French shop of some kind yet, with all the French schools and French neighbours. So the moodboard began – and search for the ideal spot.” They chose the name Patron as it means both a regular customer and the owner of a restaurant, so the pair hope to create a friendly and convivial place for our locals.

And if you can’t wait until 2015 to try their cooking, why not pop down to cosy old Café Gourmand? “It’s our favourite time of year for slow-cooked casseroles and comfort food,” says Tanzi. “French onion soup is back, and gratin dauphinois has just made an appearance on the menu. The five hour duck confit with rosemary sauté potatoes and red wine reduction has especially been flying.”


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For the sweet of tooth, there are mini crème brûlése, tarte aux pommes and profiteroles stuffed with ice cream and warm chocolate sauce. “We just can’t wait to be bring these classics to our neighbourhood, along with some truly delicious wines,” she says.

Patron will be located at 26 Fortess Road NW5. It opens in Jan. Follow them on @cafegourmanduk

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