Yes, it’s getting cold, yes it’s getting dark at 6pm and yes, there’s a set of igloos-cum-dining rooms on the Southbank making the whole ordeal seem a little more pleasant.
For the next couple of months, Jimmy’s pop-ups, the acclaimed nomadic catering company, will be setting up ‘the ultimate Alpine foodie retreat’, snatching the fondue, hot-toddies and fire pits from the mountains and snow and plonking them on the fair-lit riverside walk.
As a centrepiece, there’ll be a two-storey wooden cabin up top, a ticketed dining-room serving mulled wine cured gravlax salmon and game terrine on brioche to start, followed by fondue served with dunkable chunks of charcuterie, potatoes and salad.
Below this, the cabin hosts a chilled streetfood grill – think raclette burgers, wild boar and apple hot dogs, and fries dusted in parmesan and truffle oil.
Too cool for the public restaurant? Handy that they’ve set a squadron of private dining snowglobes, igloo-esque pods dotted along the Thames with room for up to ten people. Foodie offerings include a trio of canapés, fondue (naturally), plus the option of a Côte de Boeuf with charred broccoli and salted almonds to share.
Not peckish? You will be. But in the meantime there’s a heated riverside bar, fire-pits, a canopy roof and an array of winter warmers – hot toddies and seasonal cocktails – to heat those frosty fingers as winter gets into its stride.
