Lucy Carr-Ellison, co-founder of Wild by Tart in Eccleston Yards, reveals what's cooking at her restaurant. As told to Cally Squires.

“The vibe of the restaurant is very relaxed and approachable, with people coming in for a really good time.

“Our open kitchen and grill means you can see all the drama going on.

“The menu is all to be shared and a lot of the dishes are inspired by our travels around the world.

“We love doing a little tweak on a classic dish. We also have some very traditionally and simply cooked things like a delicious grilled rib-eye.

“And we really celebrate our meat and fish.

“The lamb, and the cows actually, come from my family farm up in Northumberland. Our pork comes from wonderful Tamworth pigs at Jemima’s in Somerset.

“It’s really important to us to know where everything comes from. It’s so exciting as we’ve met so many wonderful suppliers and producers.

“Slow-cooked meat like the lamb here is one of our favourite things. This dish is quite smoky and spicy, it’s got a chipotle-style marinade on it with a very fresh tomato salsa on the top.

“Our crab and clams come from Devon and we work with a supplier called Wild Harbour. They have a fresh catch every day and we get a WhatsApp first thing in the morning with what they’ve caught.

“The crab is a very citrusy, light dish and the clam is served with our homemade tagliatelle as Jemima and I are both massive pasta fiends.

Veg centred

“We wanted to go more veg heavy and have lots of wonderful vegetable dishes with meat or fish to go with them, rather than the first focus being a protein.

“Most of us probably do eat too much meat so we really celebrate the vegetables.

“But of course because we’re able to produce and supply [ourselves], all of our cows are grass-fed and Jemima’s pigs roam around in the woods outside her house.

“There is really a rolling change with the seasons in terms of dishes. At the moment we have a burrata, speck and fig dish on but we’ll be taking that off soon as figs come to the end of their season.

“It’s nice to be in the kitchen every week coming up with new recipes.”

“The wood oven is really dreamy, we cook our little pizzette in it. Both the cabbage and beetroot dishes are cooked over the fire.

“We smoke our beetroots at the end of service for the next day, and those are served with whipped feta at the bottom and crunchy almonds.

“The crispy cabbage is one of my personal favourite dishes on the menu. It has has crispy curry leaves and a lovely charred smokiness from the fire.

Crockery, glasses and drinks

“Presentation is important for us. When we first started this we decided to design our own crockery and we’ve been working with ceramicists in Mallorca, Puglia and Morocco.

“We also designed some wine glasses etched with stars which we sell in the shop.

“The cocktail list, just like the food, has been inspired by our travels all around the world. We love tequila and my favourite is a hibiscus mezcal number. Our smoky negroni is very dangerous too!

“Winewise we’ve got classics but also some exciting things like orange wines and a great white from Uruguay.

“It was great fun doing the wine list and it’s also something that will evolve from month to month.”

Wild by Tart is at 3-4 Eccleston Yards, Belgravia, London SW1W 9AZ.

The restaurant is open Monday to Friday 12 noon to 10 pm.

Book at: reservations@wildbytart.com 

Or call: 0203 848 6240.

For other restaurant stories, see the Food & Drink section of our website.

You may like to read Vegan London, our round-up of plant-based food in the capital to celebrate World Vegan Month.

Or try A Mayfair Christmas about the festive offerings at stylish venues in the heart of London, including Dukes Hotel.

In Basque in Glory, read about how head chef at Belgravia's Ametsa, Ruben Briones, prepares rustic Basque food with a contemporary twist.

This article first appeared in Belgravia magazine.

Main picture left to right: co-founders of Wild by Tart; Jemima Jones and Lucy Carr-Ellison.