Restaurants

The owner, manager, waiter come barman at Chez Manny is his restaurant personified. Manny exudes such Gallic charm and passion for his profession that visiting this, his first restaurant and dream come true, really is like popping round to a stylish friend's house. You're personally looked after, encouraged to do what you like, to take your time, to relax. So serene is the atmosphere created by the marriage of Manny's warmth (when he asks you how you are it's because he genuinely wants to know), the residential setting and the largely local diners that the Chez Manny experience is akin to one long exhalation. Set on a cobbled Battersea back street, the biggest traffic irritation you're likely to suffer as you sip your chardonnay on the terrace is a child slipping of its bike. Stress simply isn't part of the vocabulary. From his brother's French cosmopolitan menu, Manny recommends sauted fresh scallops meuniere to start, followed by a sea bass fillet wrapped in proscuto ham, and finished off with a slice of rosemary tarte tatin. For a respite from the brimming, braying bars of Battersea Rise and Clapham Junction, this small, simple restaurant is very much worth a try.