Sketch: Lecture Room & Library
Time Out rating:
<strong>Rating: </strong>5/5
Time Out says
Tue Oct 16 2012
If you have never ventured through the portals of Mourad Mazouz and Pierre Gagnaire’s converted Georgian townhouse, prepare yourself by reading the legend on the website. ‘Arrive with an open mind and imagine, if you will, a painting that never dries’ is the exuberant invitation – and the reality does not disappoint.
Catch the twinkling eye of David the MD and he will take you on a tour of the crazily opulent spaces with the air of a guide to Hogwarts. Still, nothing can, nor should, distract from the no less exuberant cuisine of Gagnaire, and despite a carte that (justifiably) averages £40 each for starters and mains, you can drop in for a – relatively – ‘rapide’ lunch for less than this. You’re unlikely, even, to begrudge a penny of the all-inclusive £48 deal given the quality of wine on offer.
From the artful intrigue of the ‘nibbles’ – wafers you pull from a knife-block-like bed of sesame-scented ‘sand’ before dipping into essence of artichoke purée, for instance – via a symphony of starters that moved on our visit from a bright, citric lemon jelly with olive oil sorbet, via tastes sweet, salt and bitter to a crescendo of pungent foie gras mousse paired improbably with a disc of dark milk chocolate; to more familiar but no less meticulously executed mains (vegetarians get their full measure of magic) and desserts that again defy expectation, it is impossible not to smile with the delight of discovery.
Were it simply a matter of artful deception and riotous colours, the whole show would grow tiresome; but the skill of Gagnaire’s team is such that each section of the menu continually reawakens the palate. Amid the sensory riot, smooth service supplies a calm counterpoint.
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