Emberwood, Bath

Queen Square — created by Twerton-born revolutionary architect John Wood the Elder in the early years of the 18th century — was the first Georgian square created in Bath. Wood the Elder lived at the epicentre of his visionary, speculative design plans at 9 Queen Square from the first phase of construction in the late 1720s until his death in May 1754, when his son John Wood the Younger took over where dad’s plans for building the rest of Bath into one of the most important and significant cities in Britain left off.

Today, 9 Queen Square is the front door to The Francis Hotel, which opened in May 1884. 

In 2012, The Francis Hotel underwent an extensive transformation that transformed the gently imposing row of seamlessly interconnected Georgian townhouses on the south side of Queen Square into an elegant, Regency-inspired residence for visitors to the city. And now, it’s undergoing another contemporary transformation (oh come on, we can’t let an iconic Bath address age disgracefully, can we?) that promises to transform it into… well, see here to read about all that; for the purposes of this particular timeline, we’re here to eat.

Emberwood opened its doors in The Francis Hotel in May of this year (there’s an awful lot of May dates in this potted history, aren’t there?). 

Refreshingly eschewing attempts to channel all the pomp and ceremony of a Georgian era vibe (if we want that, we’ve already got this) in favour of creating modern history all of its own, Emberwood has bought something fresh and new to the Bath restaurant scene in a way that’s totally unique to the Heritage City right here, right now; take an imaginary flight from Hollywood’s Musso & Frank to Mayfair’s Guinea Grill with a brief stopover at the original Ivy along the way and you’re on the general ambience journey with me.

Smart, friendly doormen dressed in refined versions of Peaky Blinder-esque vintage gangster chic (without, please note, any trace of actual ‘gangster’ vibe) meet you at the door. In the stylishly spacious dining room, acres of polished wood and gleaming brass are softened by potted palms and velvet banquettes. Sparkling chandeliers twinkle overhead, bespoke low lighting flatters the whole space… and an exciting open kitchen offers exciting open views into a massive, rather dramatic charcoal-fired open hearth; “Ember” from that hearth, “wood” after the guy who built Queen Square – geddit?

Flame cooking is the Emberwood kitchen’s USP, with seasonality and impeccable sourcing writ large across the menu. Coal-roasted scallops almost took my attention away from the Cornish crab on the starter selection and I thought my satiation search was over when I spotted whole monkfish tail on the ‘From The Hearth’ section… until I noticed a very promising red mullet dish swimming alongside it. 

It’s a bit of a shame, though — and this is honestly my only tiny Emberwood niggle — that the beefy main event on the feasting section of the menu (that’ll be the restaurant’s already legendary ex-dairy South West Côte de Boeuf, then) isn’t readily available for a table for two. Yes, there was a Bavette steak on the main course selection but please, please, Emberwood God: can you throw a single-suitable Ribeye or a T-bone on there too, just to keep everybody happy? But oh, what do I know about such logistics? We’ve already vowed to return for the Côte de Boeuf and anyway, it’s not like we weren’t happy with the options we settled on; to the contrary, we were both beyond delighted.

We started with Martinis made to order at our table by a lovely man with a dedicated Martini trolley (gotta love a Martini trolley!) and a little board of rare breed Mangalitza coppa from the British Heritage Cured Meats selection — a rare treat indeed. When we managed to tear ourselves away from the cocktail/grazing combo, we tore into a silky beef tartare accompanied by uber-beefy beef tallow crisps, and the crab dish that kicked the scallops to the kerb: a generous pile of soft, sweet, chic crustacean delicately muddled with crab oil mayonnaise, tarragon and pickled lemon; heavenly, both. 

For mains, *that* rich, creamy red mullet resplendent on a super-luxurious crab and saffron risotto and topped with vibrant spears of just-about-al-dente asparagus; I doubt that even monkfish tail could have reached such giddily foodie heights. And oh, the delicate Cornish hake perfectly teamed with nutty, anise-tinged caramelised fennel, smoky charred potatoes and briny samphire: Bring. It. On! 

Both were the kind of dishes that you live in hope of finding in a restaurant in Padstow, or a Mediterranean quayside bistro, or an Amalfi Coast cucina — and I say “live in hope” because, regardless of where I’ve roamed, I’d yet to find the seafood dishes that lived up to my seafood dreams as much as the two I found on Queens Square, Bath, at Emberwood… and I mean that from the bottom of my fishy little heart.

For dessert, a deeply umami miso custard tart for Him and for me, a fragrant yuzu curd, matcha and white chocolate choux bun from the Dessert Trolley — who doesn’t love a Dessert Trolley, especially when it has ‘secret’ drawers that are opened to reveal a beautiful array of perfect petits fours hiding in plain sight? 

Throughout our dinner, service was friendly and seamless, the ambience exuded subtle, laidback exuberance and the overall experience was as contempo-elegant as a contempo-elegant restaurant experience gets; if you want to feel special, you’ll feel very special here.

John Wood the Elder’s plans for Bath were ambitious; he aimed to create a city that reflected both classical grandeur and ancient British history to shape and reflect the city’s modern identity. Today, Emberwood is keeping the flame at the epicentre of Wood the Elder’s vision burning brightly.