-Please note that this restaurant has now closed as of 19/07/07-
The Hon Christopher Gilmour is as copper-bottomed an English gent as you could hope to find. It’s, therefore, perhaps curious that he is the capital’s only multiple operator of quality American-inspired restaurants (the result, apparently, of a decade spent in his youth over the Pond). His calling-card – or, should we say, visiting card – is his eponymous establishment in Covent Garden. It has never been a major gastronomic beacon, but it has at times has been quite an ‘in’-crowd destination. It is perhaps most notable for its classy setting, in an impressive former townhouse (once home to the capital’s first licensed casino, and one of 19th-century London’s top brothels).
Grandeur, though, is signally lacking from this new offshoot, near the Gherkin. Roughly half the space is given over to a bar area, dominated by a large plasma screen. The colour scheme is green with blue highlights, with some of the lighting in the form of blue-painted fluorescent fixtures. Those who, like us, clearly don’t ‘get’ innovative Interior Design might think the result cold and depressing. Service, however – which is both copious and friendly – tries hard to make up for the deficiencies of the décor.
The menu certainly avoids pastiche, including dishes such as rabbit and foie gras terrine, or lamb with pea purée, which don’t sound particularly American.We went for the Full Stars-and-Stripes Monte. Maryland crab cake, was pleasant in an unremarkable way, and likewise the ’10oz New York strip sirloin’. Chips, however, were a major hit, and the bread was notably good too. The cheesecake was perfectly nice. But it was English! Given that New York cheesecake is arguably the US’s greatest gift to world gastronomy, this seemed very odd indeed.
