Private Dining Rooms

Overview

The stunning brick-lined and vaulted Sandeman Room was the original bottling cellar of the eponymous port and sherry shippers from 1798 for almost two centuries.

It seats up to 24 and is perfect for intimate and atmospheric dinners.

On the ground floor the striking White Room has two dramatic Hoyland paintings; the fifteen foot Stitching Stars and the even more striking seventeen foot early work, simply entitled '1-07-70'. The White Room seats 40 comfortably.

The Wine Study is a secluded area which looks on to the White Room through our wall of wine. The Wine Study is ideal for a table of up to 16.

The Don Restaurant is available for Private hire on Saturday and Sunday and every day for breakfast.

Matt Burns

How long have you worked at the restaurant?

Over ten years since opening the restaurant.

Which was the first restaurant you worked in?

L’Interlude de Tabaillau, London.

What was the last restaurant you went to apart from your own?

Eat 17 Walthamstow

What or who has been the biggest influence on the way you cook and why?

Jean-Louis Taillebaud and Pierre Koffmann for the imagination, enthusiasm and the belief that anything can be cooked, cooked well and made to taste fantastic.

What is your personal signature dish?

Pressed meat or fish terrines

Which other chefs do you most admire?

Shaun Hill for teaching me to cook for myself and not take criticism personally, and Albert Roux for his precision.

What is the best part of your job?

Seeing the pleasure someone can feel when he or she eats something you have prepared.

And the worst?

Having to bight your lip and receive criticism from someone who has no idea what they are talking about.

What would your last meal be?

Freshly caught scallops and langoustine roast on an open fire on the beach at Camusdaruch, Morar, West Coast of Scotland, mid summer 11pm watching the sun set on the ocean followed by a glass of pure malt.

Do you have a chef’s shortcut that you can share with us?

Keep your cooking pure and simple - most exotic sauces and marinades were created to mask inferior ingredients.