Gauthier Soho

French Restaurant & Private Dining Rooms, London - Gauthier Soho

Open for Lunch: Tues-Thurs 12-2.30pm, Fri-Sat 12-3pm.

Open for Dinner: Tues-Thurs 6.30-9.30pm, Fri-Sat 6.30-10.30pm.

http://www.gauthiersoho.co.uk

Gauthier Soho Restaurant Review - The Bon Vivant Journal

Soho is renowned for its wild, debauched ways, while Alexis Gauthier, former chef at Roussillon in Pimlico, is known for his delicate style with fine French cuisine.

On entering Gauthier Soho, you are struck by the deafening silence; the hushed, muted tones of the decor and the soft murmurs from nearby tables ensure you’re aware from the start that this is a restaurant with serious intent, where the food will play the starring role.

We paired each course at Gauthier Soho with wines selected by the sommelier, which included a glorious Vouvray La Dilletante 2010.

Gauthier Soho is refined and elegant, offering fine dining with a masterly grip on intricate, delicate flavours.

Alexis is a chef with real flair who was awarded a Michelin star within 10 months of opening Gauthier Soho – with more time to explore different combinations in new surroundings, surely more awards will follow.

Gauthier Soho - London Restaurant Reviews | Hardens

In a small townhouse quietly located in the heart of Soho, a Gallic restaurant run by Alexis Gauthier, formerly of Pimlico's celebrated Roussillon - on our early-days visit, there was no sign that the magic had transferred.

Chef from well-known and long-established 'hidden gem' restaurant (Rousillon) sets up on his own in cute West End townhouse (once associated with Richard Corrigan), to offer a refined Gallic formula at reasonable prices.

We so much wanted - and expected - to like Alexis Gauthier's new restaurant.

The second problem is the food, which may well be a function of the setting: the best food, an eminent restaurateur-turned-critic once confided to us, never comes out of basement kitchens.

Some of this may have been a function of simple under-seasoning, but this is a restaurant which will live or die by its food, and only two of the seven dishes we sampled - herb-crusted halibut with ginger, and lamb with asparagus - raised more than a flicker of interest.

Restaurant Review: Gauthier Soho in London - The New York Times

The English remain avid fans of French cooking, and France repays the compliment by supplying them with a continuously renewed brigade of culinary talent.

By any measure, London has the most impressive constellation of French chefs of any European city outside of France.

The latest rising Gaul is the 38-year-old Avignon-born chef Alexis Gauthier, whose restaurant Gauthier Soho, which opened in May and was recently awarded a Michelin star, adds momentum to the emergence of this central London party zone as a culinary destination.

“In my kitchen, asparagus is as important as foie gras,” Mr. Gauthier told me at Roussillon, another London establishment that he led to a one-star Michelin rating — and he remains true to this credo at Soho, where vegetables play a lead role in most of his dishes.

Second, third and fourth courses — the menu lists five possible stages, and suggests ordering at least three (do, portions are dainty) — delicately elaborated another theme of Mr. Gauthier’s: how he loves to put a sophisticated gloss on rustic southern French dishes.

Gauthier, London W1, restaurant review - Telegraph

The menu here is fancy in so far as it has a proliferation of amuse-bouches (chick-pea chips, prawns on sticks, a dazzling, tiny bit of halibut), but it is also accommodating.

I had the saddle of Welsh lamb with an elegant caponata underneath (cut up terrifically small, not a whisper of its peasant roots) and a thyme and lamb reduction, which was subtle and looked like something one of us might make (can't decide whether this is a good or a bad thing).

Elements of mousse, cake, biscuit, sauce – everything you can conceive of doing with chocolate, patted into a round, slicked over with a sauce of regal perfection, a bit of gold leaf in the middle, which impressed my companion unduly (it doesn't taste of anything.

A starter of Pimm's jelly with seared scallops is followed by madeira-infused pigeon and carrots glazed with the chef's beloved vanilla (three courses, £40) Tuesday sees Jake Watkins reopening his Michelin-starred restaurant, converted from a row of town houses, after a summer break.

His seasonal menu features albacore tuna with sauce vierge and micro-cress (£47 for three courses) A Victorian town house by the cathedral gates, where the classic menu stars Norfolk ingredients.

review of London French restaurant Gauthier by Andy Hayler in ...

The end result was very good, the carrot itself having good flavour and the mix of ingredients working together well.

The scallop had good inherent sweet flavour and the octopus was very tender, the spices of the sauce nicely enhancing the shellfish (16/20).

Risotto has always been a strength of Mr Gauthier’s cooking, even back in his days cooking at Roussilon in Pimlico.

Next was a halibut dish with beurre blanc that was also superb, the fish beautifully cooked and the sauce having just enough vinegar to balance the butter (16/20).

Whatever the reasons Michelin may have had for taking its star away a few years ago, there is no doubt in my mind that Gauthier is cooking at strong one star level now, based on my two recent meals.

Gauthier Soho, 1 Romilly Street, London W1 (020-7494 3111) | The ...

The long, boozy lunch may no longer be a part of media culture, but you'd never know it from all the new restaurants opening in Soho.

In the last year alone we've welcomed Polpo, Hix, and the Dean Street Townhouse, all fine restaurants with a dash of Soho attitude.

If Alexis Gauthier has fashioned the new restaurant after his own image, it's very hard to tell what he might be like.

Gauthier, white of wall and grey of carpet, feels like a ghost restaurant by comparison, the small downstairs dining room as pale and featureless as a Rachel Whiteread artwork.

Our bill, including service and a glass of wine each, came to £40 a head, which felt like a bargain, given the ritziness of the Gauthier offer.

Gauthier, London W1, restaurant review - Telegraph

The menu here is fancy in so far as it has a proliferation of amuse-bouches (chick-pea chips, prawns on sticks, a dazzling, tiny bit of halibut), but it is also accommodating.

I had the saddle of Welsh lamb with an elegant caponata underneath (cut up terrifically small, not a whisper of its peasant roots) and a thyme and lamb reduction, which was subtle and looked like something one of us might make (can't decide whether this is a good or a bad thing).

Elements of mousse, cake, biscuit, sauce – everything you can conceive of doing with chocolate, patted into a round, slicked over with a sauce of regal perfection, a bit of gold leaf in the middle, which impressed my companion unduly (it doesn't taste of anything.

A starter of Pimm's jelly with seared scallops is followed by madeira-infused pigeon and carrots glazed with the chef's beloved vanilla (three courses, £40) Tuesday sees Jake Watkins reopening his Michelin-starred restaurant, converted from a row of town houses, after a summer break.

His seasonal menu features albacore tuna with sauce vierge and micro-cress (£47 for three courses) A Victorian town house by the cathedral gates, where the classic menu stars Norfolk ingredients.

Restaurant review: Gauthier Soho | Allan Jenkins | Life and style ...

Corrigan's in its pomp was a place of bold and brilliant innovative dishes, a home for serious food (and sometimes serious drinking).

But Gauthier's Ducasse-trained pedigree and hunger for more stars shine through in the quality of the cooking, the relentless pre-starters, the good butters and breads.

From an assortment of courses (three for £27 to five for £45), we skip the "premier plat" of chilled broad bean soup or olive oil tart to head for fennel and crab with crustacean jelly and a summer truffle risotto with chicken jus reduction and brown butter.

As his 12 years at Roussillon show, Gauthier is a man with a sure talent for doing refined, lovely things with vegetables.

Is Gauthier good enough to take pride of place among the likes of Bruno Loubet and Pierre Koffman, whose own restaurant opens this week?