The Times
Camilla Long went in search of Parisian “ben oui” at a new bistro from Jason Atherton and Row on 5 chef Spencer Metzger in what she called the “Sotheby’s/Christie’s/Savile Row end of Mayfair”, a difficult zone inhabited by “strays – straight gays”: men who think about paintings and fashion instead instead of eating.
“The menu feels more Club 55 than genuine bistro”, listing fish, oysters, scallops, veal T-bones, lobster and bluefin tuna in a tomato elixir. Camilla suggested that “real French cooking – all the bollocks, potted eyes and arseholes – would frighten the other big diner in this area: the tourists.”
The snacks and starters – little Marie Antoinette piles of prawns and crab, a pristine courgette flower with sauce vierge and a scallop with Café de Paris butter – were “beautiful” and “sublime”. But the mains – veal T-bone and grilled lobster tail – arrived after a 45-minute wait and were “uninspiring”, the cooking “completely different”. “What happened?” Camilla wondered. “Did the chef quit his job half way through?”
Camilla Long - 2026-07-12The Daily Telegraph
William Sitwell awarded Spencer Metzger’s reboot of Jason Atherton’s Little Social a glowing review, hailing its “flawless bistro classics” – the sort of food chefs prefer to complex multi-course tasting menus.
Nibbles of anchovies and red raw prawns were “delectable”, while a starter of tomatoes from Mount Vesuvius and ripe peaches over stracciatella cheese was “achingly good”, the sort of dish normally found only in the Mediterranean.
The high point of his meal was a “revelatory” poulet rôti with morels and a vin jaune sauce which “cannot be bettered anywhere”, and was served simply with a green salad and chips. House wine at £45 was “a miracle” in Mayfair.
William Sitwell - 2026-07-26
