Pre-Pay Trend. Me in GQ. Matt Abé gets Gavroche. Guide Review, Critics & More.
Rayner doesn't worship Gilgamesh. Hayward follows that cab. Ivers scores the hardest seat in London. Preston loves Dom's Subs.
Well, good morning. It’s the last Monday of February. We’ve had a bit of a warm-snap in London over the last few days, and it suddenly feels as though spring is right around the corner. I had a great week last week: I finally made it to Kiln and had the chance to meet the brilliant
in person. Sam’s day job is definitely interfering with his Substack writing at the moment, but if you haven’t subscribed to Bald Flavours, you should. I love his writing, and he tends to visit slightly different places than I do. Last week’s other highlights also included lunch at Anglothai and dinner at The Goring. More on all three in the coming weeks. For now, I hope things are looking for bright for you and that you’ve had the chance for a good lunch. If you have, I’d love to hear about it.I also appeared in GQ last week — though definitely not for my looks. I was very glad to be asked to contribute some words to GQ’s wrap-up of Michelin’s recent accolades for the UK and Ireland. You can read the whole piece here.
I’m especially pleased that I was described as “an expert in eating” by GQ. You might see that again from time to time.
More Top Places Adopt Pre-Pay & Deposits
The FT digs into the growing trend of restaurants requiring diners to pre-pay substantial amounts — and in many cases, the cost of the full food experience — at the time of booking.
I’ve seen this for myself. I’m headed to Row on 5 this Friday, which required me to pre-pay the tasting menu cost for each member of our party of five. A. Wong had the same requirement.
I have absolutely no problem with this.
The article talks of diners making multiple bookings for a Friday night, then no-showing several. I genuinely can’t believe anyone would be that rude, so let me be clear: If you do this, you’re an asshole. You should stop.
Deposits and pre-payments are also designed to stop bots from grabbing bookings and reselling them.
The no-show problem is huge. At many restaurants, the number of no-shows can run to 25% or more of total bookings. That’s a huge monetary loss at a time when restaurants are struggling with rising food costs, NI increase, Brexit fall-out, and more.
I really hope the move towards deposits and pre-books works. And if it helps me get a table at Bouchon Raccine, so much the better.
Excellent Gastro-Pub in Southwark
A.A. Gill famously hated the gastro pub movement. But these days, gastro pubs are a huge and important part of the London dining scene. Indeed, London’s hardest table is arguably at the Devonshire — a pub. The Hero in Maida Vale is another top destination. But the Anchor & Hope in Southwark was one of the original generation of great gastro pubs, and it remains a fantastic choice for a professional lunch (or drinks or dinner). You can read my whole review by clicking the feature below:
Matt Abé to Take Over Le Gavroche Space
A legendary chef starting a new restaurant in a legendary space? Sounds excellent. Abé has been the top chef at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, which holds three Michelin stars, since 2020. He replaced Clare Smyth, who left to set up CORE, which now likewise holds three stars.
The restaurant will be 50% owned by Gordon Ramsay’s group, who will hold the lease on the building, while private equity house Lion Capital will own the other 50%. No real details beyond that as yet.
Michel Roux, Jr. still owns the rights to the Le Gavroche name, and he has made it clear that he has no intention of selling it, so Hot Dinners speculates that we could be in for another Arlington / La Caprice situation where the new thing winds up an homage to the old. Ramsay cooked for Roux at Le Gavroche early in his career.
The story emerged when an eagle-eyed journalist caught sight of a filing relating to licensing. But we can be sure Abé will have aspirations for greatness, and that should be a recipe for interesting food.
Critics Wrap-Up
✍🏻 indicates a review that you should read for the writing.
🍽️ indicates a place that sounds excellent and is probably worth a try.
✍🏻 Jay Rayner (Observer), who has three reviews remaining at the Observer before taking over the critic’s beat at the FT, revisits Gilgamesh, now in Covent Garden. It “is the rebirth of a bonkers restaurant which opened in 2006 inside The Stables at London’s Camden Market at a cost well north of £12m. It could seat 570 people and had a hilariously garish interior of sculptures and gold-effect reliefs.” … “I simply needed to know: would Gilgamesh Mk II make any more sense than the original?” … His experience “starts with the sort of prawn crackers delivered in a white plastic bag with a cheap Chinese takeaway.” It goes downhill from there.
✍🏻 Rayner also offers his final column for Observer Food Monthly, which is more manifesto for his way of eating. “By all means serve small sharing plates, but make sure the table is big enough for all the dishes … and they come out in an order that makes sense.”
✍🏻 🍽️ Tim Hayward (FT), likewise nearing the end of his run as the FT’s critic, pens a wonderful tribute to London’s black cabbies and discovers on of their favourite haunts: The Astral in Victoria. “And it was everything I dreamt of. It was perfect. If you want to be technical, the remaining tannin from the tea on my tongue was rinsed and mollified by the sweetness of the bread, which played off the astringent, smokey bacon. But you know what I really mean. This is the ur-bacon sandwich.”
🍽️ Charlotte Ivers (Sunday Times) scores a seat at impossible-to-book Sushi Tetsu in Clerkenwell. “There is none of the showy stuff you get at many fancy sushi places to justify the price. No caviar, no truffle. Everything is simple and perfect.” Like Charlotte’s friend, I’ve been trying to book there for years, and never had any luck.
✍🏻 🍽️
(Braise) reviews Dom’s Subs, one of my favourite places for lunch, and a key place in the Guide. “The bread is baked in-house every day, and to my eye fits the bill well: a dense crumb with a soft crust, but robust enough to soak up excess mayo or a slather of gravy without falling apart. Is this the best sub bread in the country? Probably, though in fairness you’d have to say they don’t have much competition.”David Ellis (Standard) is underwhelmed by Shakara in Baker Street. “They rang me twice about my booking... when I was already inside eating.”
Nick Harman (Foodepedia) is among the first to review Lucky Cat, one of several new Gordon Ramsay places in 22 Bishopsgate in the City. “I got a bit of a Dubai vibe off the place, international money having a night out, and that’s probably what’s being aimed at. The Instas are going to be everywhere.”
Andy Hayler (independent critic) returns to La Trompette in Chiswick, which I reviewed in September. “This was an excellent meal, with the cheese souffle a particularly welcome addition to the menu.”
He also visits the Waterman’s Arms in Barnes, and is unimpressed. “The bill came to £102 per person with corkage for a single bottle of wine. This felt like an awful lot of money for the quality of food that was delivered.”
Marina O’Loughlin (independent critic) enjoys Nipo Tina, an Italian place in Mayfair. “I waddled home. Waddled. Worth it.”
Edible Reading reviews Paulette in Little Venice, and it’s his favourite meal of the last year. It was “interested in transporting you completely by delivering something unfussy and unfancy but, in its way, truly outstanding. Paulette was about as good an example of this kind of restaurant as it’s possible to find, and I loved it.”
Alex Larman (The Arbuturian) heads to Les 2 Garçons in Crouch End. “I can barely remember a better, more enjoyable meal, and if 2025 continues like this, it will be an annus mirabilis indeed.”
Tom Parker Bowles was apparently off this week.
Beyond London
✍🏻 Giles Coren (Times) heads to North Yorkshire to try Hansom, and it’s one of his best reviews in a long time. “I sat alone at a vast, round table, like Anton Ego, among the bustle of locals having lunch… But with John and Laura serving me, I didn’t need friends of my own.”
🍽️ Grace Dent (Guardian) ventures via ferry to Mersea Island in Esssex to check out Stark, the new from Ben and Sophie Crittenden, the couple behind Michelin-recognised 12-seated in Broadstairs. “Stark is a gem.”
William Sitwell (Telegraph) visits Kabuli, an Afghan spot in Birmingham. “Wrong-headed but great grub.”
Nick Lander (jancisrobinson.com) reviews “very” private members club, Maison Estelle, in Oxfordshire. “‘Correct’ and ‘surprising’ were the two adjectives I would use to describe our lunch in the Brasserie, into which sunshine poured through the large bay windows.”
Thanks for reading this week’s Professional Lunch update. Please do subscribe if you haven’t already, and let me know what you think in the comments.
"Grace Dent (Guardian) ventures via ferry to Mersea Island in Esssex to check out Stark" – Mersea Island has a road across to it, so no need for a ferry! Also, well worth a visit for The Company Shed, a seafood shack right where the boats come in