Evening Standard
David Ellis was the first critic to issue judgement on the heralded reboot of Le Gavroche by chef Matt Abé, backed by his old boss, Gordon Ramsay. It is, he said, “a restaurant of substance over style”, even if the luxuriously spacious and sound-proofed interior in cream and leather – “call it cruise ship chic” – is not to his taste and the whole experience is “priced for warlords and footballers” (David ate the cheapest menu, at £165 a head).
“But are you chasing exquisite food, money no object? Book now: go. It might not be the most beautiful place, or the best value, but Christ can Abé cook. He is not only the name above the door, but the man sweating it out at the stoves. For all my sniping, there’s no putting down what comes out of the kitchen.”
Of particular note were “what I can only call a Parmesan Oreo”; a broth of carrots, parsnips and beef tallow that “tastes like an entire roast dinner”; quail blanquette that was “precision manifest”; a huge scallop in a battered crust; and “steak the size and shape of a tea caddy… extraordinary, intensely beefy, its fat rendered so well it could have been cut off and served as a snack.”
David Ellis - 2025-12-07
