Navigating an à la carte menu is like piecing together a puzzle. There are dishes that belong together, and some that are better left apart. Your server is there to assist, of course, offering helpful advice on matching plates. And sometimes, you strike gold – as I recently did at Agnes.
The trio in question: scorched ricotta with extra-virgin olive oil and aged Sherry vinegar, fermented potato flatbread, and txistorra – a smoked Catalan-style pork sausage – cooked with farmhouse cider and finished with lime. The creamy, slightly nutty cheese cuts through the fatty, paprika-laden sausage, while the bread plays an important role in mopping up every last drop.
Those three dishes are part of Agnes’s new menu, which leans into Spanish and Mediterranean influences. It’s the first overhaul of this scale since the Anyday group (The French Exit, Golden Avenue, Bià nca, et al) opened the restaurant in 2020, with culinary director Ben Williamson saying he wrote the menu from the ground up to take Agnes back to its roots.
There are plenty of different roads you can take but make sure to begin with the Mallorquina toast ˗ crisp bread topped with La Boqueria’s Mallorquina, offset with honeycomb and guindilla peppers. Elsewhere, a flambadou (a cast-iron cone) is employed to sear scallops in their half shell, with a sweet fennel soubise tucked underneath.
The Agnes wine list has always been a strength, and the current by-the-glass selection is packed with strong choices, from a Sicilian catarratto and aged Heathcote syrah to a fruity red rice sake. When in doubt, rely on some expert advice from the sommelier on duty.
Other certainties remain. There’s exceptional wagyu, whether you opt for a flawless sirloin or the spoon-tender short rib with burnt eggplant and black garlic paste; an excellent duck dish, currently partnered with pickled rhubarb, curried jus gras and Thai basil; and well-balanced desserts, like smoked yoghurt crèmeux with plum – in both fresh and sorbet form – and torched Italian meringue.
Cooking over fire isn’t the novelty it was when Agnes first opened, yet its willingness to experiment – finding new ways to use the flame and drawing on different cuisines – is why it remains one of the country’s finest fire-driven restaurants.
This is one of the best Agnes menus in years, and if it’s been a while since your last visit, it’s time to go back. Even if it’s purely for that ricotta-flatbread-txistorra combo.
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