In one of the autumn’s most ambitious new openings, chef Matt Abé this week launched his first solo restaurant – Bonheur by Matt Abé – in the former premises of the iconic Le Gavroche in Upper Brook Street, Mayfair.
Sydney-born Matt has spent almost 20 years working for Gordon Ramsay, most recently as chef-patron at his flagship, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, where he cooked under Clare Smyth before taking over when she left 10 years ago to open Core.
While Bonheur is financed by the Ramsay group, Matt insists: “This is my restaurant. Gordon is my business partner, my adviser. He hasn’t tasted the food, and that’s the greatest thing. I can’t wait to welcome him into the restaurant as a guest.”
For his part, Gordon has described Matt’s challenge as “absolutely f—ing nerve-wracking. The biggest pair of shoes to fill in the culinary landscape.”
Matt recognises that the challenge is “monumental [and] comes with a lot of responsibility, not just to the team, but to gastronomy… But I’m running towards that with arms wide open, excited to play my part in the legacy that will remain within these four walls.”
He has assembled a strong team, led by Matthew Widdowson, general manager of Chelsea’s Five Fields until it closed earlier this year, and sommelier Eric Zwiebel. Californian-born Matthew began his working life in the US Air Force before diverting his flight into hospitality, while Alsace-born Eric – most recently of the Samling in the Lake District – is the only platinum-level holder of the ASI (Association de la Sommellerie Internationale)’s Gold Diploma, the world’s highest certification for sommeliers.
There’s also a notable promotion for Londoner Hesky Meyer, a pastry chef at RGR who has worked at Yannick Aléno’s Pavyllon, and who began his career in kosher catering. He has been appointed sous chef at Bonheur.
Bonheur promises to offer a modernised and lighter version of classical cuisine, with three eating options at both lunch (Thursday-Saturday) and dinner (Tuesday-Saturday): an à la carte menu of 3 courses (each one with 3 choices) at £165 per person; a 5-course ‘Journey’ menu at £195; and a 7-course ‘Dream’ menu at £225. The chef’s table – known as ‘Petit Bonheur’ – serves the ‘Dream’ menu for a maximum of six diners at £1,350.
For the Ramsay stable, launching Bonheur on this particular site is a symbolic event. Le Gavroche closed here in January 2024 after 57 years, during which two generations of the Roux family were the torch-bearers for classical French cuisine in the capital. When Gordon arrived on the scene in the 1990s, Le Gavroche and Pierre Koffmann’s La Tante Claire in Royal Hospital Road were the two leading exponents of that cuisine.
He now owns both of them.
