The first fine dining restaurant ever to open on London’s Savile Row in the tailoring street’s 290-year history will, according to chef-patron Jason Atherton, also be a landmark in his own career. The famously well-dressed chef says that ‘row’ stands for ‘refinement of work’ and this two-floor fine diner is intended to be his legacy of culinary creativity and finesse.
The Mood: dinner party of dreams
After ringing a doorbell to gain admittance, guests are led into a wine cellar-lined lounge filled with 4,500 bottles. One temperature-controlled room contains vintage Champagne, another all the list’s red and white wines while a glass-walled cabinet displays the Romanée Conti collection of Atherton and wife Irha, held aloft on silver hands modelled on Atherton’s own. Preliminary snacks are eaten down here before diners are ushered upstairs for the remainder of their 15-course tasting menu in an intimate 28-cover dining room where half the floor space is taken up by a Smallbone open kitchen. Other partnerships include Occhio lighting and Sorrells wine rooms, built with sustainable British wood. Sponsorship never looked so palatable.
The Food: stars in their eyes
Atherton’s executive chef is Spencer Metzger, the former head chef of The Ritz who recently won two Michelin stars within six months of Row on 45 opening in Dubai. The technique that goes into each miniature dish might be labour-intensively intricate but with each course delivered by the chef who made it, the experience feels personal rather than pretentious. Ingredients are selected to highlight best-of-British produce, from Orkney scallops and Cornish turbot to the Scottish ceps and Colston Bassett Stilton on the vegetarian menu.
Row on 5 is located at 5 Savile Row, London W1S 3PB, rowon5london.com
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