Private Dining Rooms

Overview

A gem is what most critics have called this new venue and it’s important not to be fooled by its demure, understated exterior. It’s worth betting that within a year this place will have scooped up several accolades and possibly even a Michelin star.

This tiny little bistro in a Knightsbridge alleyway is currently dwarfed by the massive building site next door that will become the new Bulgari hotel next year. Yet as the more mature among us know, good things come in small packages.

The restaurant has a first class pedigree. The restaurant’s owners are a foursome with Thierry Labourde as chef (of Ducasse and le Gavroche fame), Yann Chevris (who opened Nahm, Nobu and l’Atelier du Robuchon), Philippe Messy a sommelier and respected wine buyer and top level florist Pascal Lavorel.

The restaurant is reminiscent of a traditional Parisian café – and it is in fact the owners’ take on what they loved about their favourite French restaurants when they were younger.

The experience begins walking through the door, where there’s a brass curtain rail complete with heavy red velvet curtain to stop drafts reaching diners on cold winter nights.

The exposed cream painted brick work with red feature walls brings out the red lines in the rustic linen table cloths and napkins, while the artwork, which ranges from 1930s – 1950s photographs is that type of evocative black and white photography so archetypal of a French brasserie.

There’s a classic French style mirror with Chabrot in shadowed letters and bar-style seating to one side whilst the rest of the restaurant is filled with traditional French café tables. 

The private dining room is upstairs, and carries on with the Parisian café feel. More mirrors, black and white 1930s-1950s artwork and brown leather banquettes complement the walls and ‘du jour’ blackboard. Being a long and relatively slim room, the set up can squeeze 25 on one long table.

Although the tone of the restaurant is simple traditional Parisian bistro, the attention to detail sets it a cut above most of its London peers with gourmet influences such as the Opinel Savoie knives, porcelain plates and G&C wine glasses – not to mention the chef and his menu or the (French-leaning) wine list with bins from £19.50 - £650.00.

There’s no room hire on Mondays and Tuesdays but a hire charge (on application) from Wednesday to Saturday. The restaurant is currently closed on Sundays, but this is likely to change as the restaurant becomes more established. A true treasure, that’s bound to be discovered by the London dining scene within a flash.