Executive chef Spencer Metzger serving up the lamb dish at the table
What can you tell us about Row on 5?
Now that Pollen Street Social is behind him, this is the signature restaurant in Jason Atherton's group (in the UK, at least). It sees former Ritz chef Spencer Metzger taking on the main Executive Chef role along with Head Chef Christina Blevins (who happens to be on our Murphia List). It's a restaurant that earned its first Michelin star in less than three months, following the trajectory of Row on 45 in Dubai, also launched by Metzger and Atherton (which has two stars). In short, it's a tasting menu-led fine dining restaurant, but there's a awful lot more to it than that.
Where is it?
The name gives a hint to its location, you'll find it at 5 Savile Row in Mayfair. Either Oxford Circus or Piccadilly Circus are your nearest tube stations, assuming you're not heading into dinner straight after a tailoring session at one of the nearby shops.
And that famous location makes its presence known pretty quickly, doesn't it?
In the first of several nice touches throughout the night, whatever coat you were wearing when you came in will be given a little dry clean by the team, ready for when you leave. So that's something to bear in mind while working on your outfit for the night. It's clearly something you'll benefit more from in the colder months, of course...
So what's the set-up inside?
We've talked in the past about "promenade restaurants", where your meal takes place across two or more rooms. Examples in London include Kitchen Table and Cycene, where everything starts in the bar before moving into the restaurant but it's something you're more likely to come across out of town, with restaurants like Moor Hall doing it notably well.
In London itself, Row on 5 is easily the most impressive implementation of the promenade dining experience that we've come across to date. The evening sees things starting in the bar downstairs first with snacks and initial drinks, before moving up to the restaurant for the main dishes and back down to the bar for some impressive petits fours. It's a pretty standard approach for this kind of affair, but it's the scale of things that we haven't come across in London before. Space is at such a premium in town that it's very rare to see this kind of operation at this level.
You begin in the downstairs bar, with its own dedicated kitchen space:
You'll come into the bar space, which also has its own private dining room and a walk-in wine cellar.
But then you head up to the main restaurant upstairs which is a frankly massive room, dominated by a central kitchen.
The main restaurant space, which has tables lining the walls, all looking towards the kitchen. It's extremely impressive.
Many chefs in London would be happy to have either one of these big spaces for a restaurant, but both spaces being reserved for around (rough guess) 30 guests the entire night is quite a statement. As you can imagine, we've been to a fair few restaurants in London but we were still taken aback by the size of this (along with thinking about the money that must have gone into it).
Where should we sit?
Downstairs, there are fewer seating choices for the snacks part of the evening (although take the counter seats if you want to see the chefs up close) but upstairs there are more clear options. If there are two of you, then the tables that line each side of the room are the ones to go for. Everything points out to the kitchen and the tables are specifically extra deep so that the chefs can plate most of the food right in front of you (see the photo at the top). If you like a bit of tableside theatre, you're in for a treat here.
For larger groups, there are some more traditional tables (or private rooms) but we saw a group of four take the counter seats by the kitchen, so that's also an option.
With all that preamble out of the way, what's the food like?
We are very much in fine dining territory, and it's quite a step up from Atherton's last flagship, Pollen Street Social. Now it's much more about the service and presentation of everything and the level of detail that's gone into the food. If one of your main criteria for going out to a restaurant is for something you can't make at home, you're going to be extremely well catered for.
Price-wise, it's £250, with a £195 menu available at lunch on Friday and Saturday. A fully vegetarian version is available.
They describe themselves as being about "British gastronomy" but while there's great attention paid to seasonal British produce, we'd say it's a menu that takes its influences from fine dining across the globe.
You are given the menu in a wax-sealed envelope and have option of reading that before the meal or waiting until afterwards. We'd strongly recommend the latter - dishes are described well and clearly, and we'd say it's a much more fun experience to be surprised. With that in mind, we've highlighted some but not all the dishes below (and expect them all to evolve with the seasons).
Starting downstairs, you'll get a small selection of snacks to get things moving. Everything seems to be presented by a different team member - there's a lot of staff - and it's all beautifully created:
A selection of the snacks that you'll get in the bar to start things off, all beautifully presented. The "cheese and onion" crackers on the top right were particularly great.
After this, you're escorted upstairs and brought into the main restaurant with some impressive speed involved when the waiter that escorts you into the lift is already waiting upstairs when the doors open.
Here (assuming you're on the side tables or the counter), every dish has some form of plating at the table, whether it's simple tandem saucing or more intricate finishing off. While Metzger has taken note of some of his Ritz experience, it's taken in a much more informal direction, with plenty of opportunity to chat to the chefs about what's been delivered to you. There's also a decidedly retro British pop/rock soundtrack that clearly has Atherton's name all over it.
Here's a taste of what was on offer when we visited. They've given us some extra information on the dishes, which showcases just how much work has gone into it all:
Orkney scallop - these are XL scallops, served with an XO sauce made from the skirts and Yara Valley Farm ikura eggs washed in yuzu sake and kobasu zest along with a beurre blanc sauce.
Arriving with a dish of Morel Farci is the bread course, an amazing shokupan bread, glazed in fermented honey and sea salt. it comes with Hollis mead miso butter and fermented honey caramel on top. This is possibly one of the best bread courses we've had in years.
Cornish turbot - 8-day aged turbot, steamed and brushed in brown butter and amalfi lemon juice and topped with N25 Kaluga caviar. Of particular note in this dish are the oh-so-seasonal teardrop peas, which are always picked early in the morning and what they describe as "most exclusive pea in the world". They are simply wonderful.
Pyrenees lamb - 45-day-old milk-fed saddle of lamb brushed with miso butter, with caremelised caulfilower and yeast puree, young shoots and a wild nettle, garlic and mint emulsion. That comes with a sauce made of braised tongue, smoked bone marrow, wild garlic capers and rendered lamb fat.
Malaga strawberries - the main dessert, it's Xocco white chocolate, yoghurt and roasted vanilla mousse, filled with a compote of Malaga strawberries and Madascan pepper and gariguette strawberries consomme, before being topped with more strawberries. There's also a white asparagus ice cream which is one of those ice cream flavours that works far better than you might expect it to.
After dessert, you're not done yet. You'll be brought down to the bar again for the final part of the meal lalongside tea or coffee (and more drinks if you fancy). There are two specific elements that round off the dinner perfectly.
The tea and cake course is madeleines with cream to dip them in. We adore madeleines, so this was a near-perfect way to finish.
And just after the above, the chocolate trolley is wheeled over. You're asked to choose which ones you want. We're terrible at choices, so we went for all of them...
What about drinks?
Cocktails are available if you fancy, but you'll really want to take a look at the enormous wine list, even if it's just to gawp at. It's an enormous tome that's about four inches thick, quite the beast.
The wine list is not a one-pager.
If, after seeing that, you decide to go for the pairing option, we'd say that's a very good decision. Their executive sommelier Roxane Dupuy was excellent throughout, delivering clear, concise and engaging introductions of all the wines. The pairings start at £150 (although there is a £995 pairing if you're feeling particularly flush). Glasses start at around the £27 mark, so it's not a place where you can economise. There's also a non-alcoholic pairing for £95. We'd like to make a special mention of the synchronised glass swirling that takes place as she and another waiter present each glass. Is it OTT? A bit, but it's also great fun to watch.
You may also want to save something for this at the end:
The digestif trolley is a thing of beauty
Overall thoughts
As we mentioned earlier, Row on 5 won its first Michelin star in near record time. There was some expectation that it might actually go straight to two stars (like its Dubai cousin) but while that wasn't to be, a second star is clearly in its future. We haven't seen an undertaking like this in London for quite some time. The amazing space, the attention to detail in the food (which, importantly, tastes wonderful), and the immaculate service (which isn't at all stuffy) all contribute to delivering a truly special occasion.
We'll admit we came into Row on 5 ever-so-slightly sceptically, wondering what was so special about the place, but left completely converted. If you're after a really special night out (and can afford the price tag), this should 100% be on your radar.
More about Row at 5
Where is it? 5 Savile Row, London W1S 3PB
How to book: Book online or email reservations@rowon5london.com.
Find out more: Visit the website or follow the restaurant on @rowon5london.
Hot Dinners ate as guests of Row on 5. Prices are correct at the time of writing.
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