This review was written in early January shortly before Gauthier was awarded its first Michelin star later that month which it had been well tipped to do.
Entering Gauthier Soho is quite charming in its own way: press the doorbell, wait to be admitted and enter the narrow hallway of this lovely Soho townhouse. With the rain now beginning to fall though, standing and waiting on the doorstep has lost some of its appeal but the wait is mercifully short and on stepping inside, we're formally welcomed to Gauthier. Being a townhouse, there's not a singular dining room but rather dining rooms darting off the main passages and stairs and today, ours is located on the upstairs level.
The interior has met with some criticism in both the professional and blogging world. There's clearly been a lot of attention towards the look (every table has one and only one chair with a red cushion to offset the beige(!) upholstery) while walls are unoffensively white with little adornment. Overall though, while there's little to interest or challenge you, it's comfortable enough. The toilet decor meanwhile provide a strange contrast with (in the male toilets at least) pictures of well ripped naked male torsos, bathed in golden auras. There must be story behind this but I don't know what and not sure that I want to. It is though a curious contradiction with the understatement elsewhere.
Indeed, throughout the meal itself there are contradictions and clashes that result in something of a disjointed experience, a reflection of Gauthier's standing perhaps - a restaurant in waiting for (and expecting of) its first Michelin star. Most likely, they're aiming for two in due course.
It is presumably the prospect of a star that allows them to confidently offer a tasting menu and here, to their credit, it represents very good value at £68 for eight courses including a cheese course for which so many places so readily attach a £10+ surcharge. Against the backdrop of this value, the service remains incredibly formal throughout, almost as if they're trying too hard to represent the star they don't yet have. It feels like as a restaurant that they haven't found their own voice yet and so have invoked the upstairs-downstairs habits of the townhouse as it would have been back in the days of Queen Vic. In short, it has no funk and no feeling of the contemporary.
On top of that, there were just some outright curiosities. A number of the dishes came to the table complete with cloches though they stopped short of a simultaneous ceremonial lifting at the table itself. In some sense, fair enough, the kitchen is in the basement and they're worried about the food retaining warmth. So why then do they choose to serve the paired wine once the food has been placed on the table? Cloches are off, the food's on the table now getting colder and the sommelier only then approaches the table with the wine. A quick description follows and he goes around the table pouring each of us a glass before we eat; everybody seems to feel uncomfortable by this as the food sits there growing stale. It's totally the wrong way round but was the pattern on each and every course so clearly done with intent. It's simply an odd choice.
Entering Gauthier Soho is quite charming in its own way: press the doorbell, wait to be admitted and enter the narrow hallway of this lovely Soho townhouse. With the rain now beginning to fall though, standing and waiting on the doorstep has lost some of its appeal but the wait is mercifully short and on stepping inside, we're formally welcomed to Gauthier. Being a townhouse, there's not a singular dining room but rather dining rooms darting off the main passages and stairs and today, ours is located on the upstairs level.
The interior has met with some criticism in both the professional and blogging world. There's clearly been a lot of attention towards the look (every table has one and only one chair with a red cushion to offset the beige(!) upholstery) while walls are unoffensively white with little adornment. Overall though, while there's little to interest or challenge you, it's comfortable enough. The toilet decor meanwhile provide a strange contrast with (in the male toilets at least) pictures of well ripped naked male torsos, bathed in golden auras. There must be story behind this but I don't know what and not sure that I want to. It is though a curious contradiction with the understatement elsewhere.
Indeed, throughout the meal itself there are contradictions and clashes that result in something of a disjointed experience, a reflection of Gauthier's standing perhaps - a restaurant in waiting for (and expecting of) its first Michelin star. Most likely, they're aiming for two in due course.
It is presumably the prospect of a star that allows them to confidently offer a tasting menu and here, to their credit, it represents very good value at £68 for eight courses including a cheese course for which so many places so readily attach a £10+ surcharge. Against the backdrop of this value, the service remains incredibly formal throughout, almost as if they're trying too hard to represent the star they don't yet have. It feels like as a restaurant that they haven't found their own voice yet and so have invoked the upstairs-downstairs habits of the townhouse as it would have been back in the days of Queen Vic. In short, it has no funk and no feeling of the contemporary.
On top of that, there were just some outright curiosities. A number of the dishes came to the table complete with cloches though they stopped short of a simultaneous ceremonial lifting at the table itself. In some sense, fair enough, the kitchen is in the basement and they're worried about the food retaining warmth. So why then do they choose to serve the paired wine once the food has been placed on the table? Cloches are off, the food's on the table now getting colder and the sommelier only then approaches the table with the wine. A quick description follows and he goes around the table pouring each of us a glass before we eat; everybody seems to feel uncomfortable by this as the food sits there growing stale. It's totally the wrong way round but was the pattern on each and every course so clearly done with intent. It's simply an odd choice.
foie gras, pasta, Parmesan veloute
half tempura Shetland's langoustines with marinated tofu, crispy ginger and langoustine and basil dressing
Black Winter Truffle Risotto
The star of the food was the Black Winter Truffle Risotto which was very good indeed. The truffle, shaved at the table, was extremely generous and delivered what a truffle should - huge aroma with a follow through of earthy flavours in the mouth. The risotto too was rich and creamy and the dish worked fantastically well. For a menu at this price, this was a generous dish indeed in every way.
The first course, probably the next best dish following the risotto, was a foie gras dish served with pasta, a Parmesan veloute and Chervil jus. It made for a nice start to the meal and a nice change from the usual foie gras 'slab on a plate'. On a rainy January day, it offered warm comforting flavours that nicely eased us into the meal. The next course though of 'half tempura Shetland's langoustines' with marinated tofu, crispy ginger and langoustine and basil dressing was more underwhelming with the ginger dominating the flavour and the tofu feeling somewhat out of place. The langoustine tails themselves also had no real impact in the dish.
The first course, probably the next best dish following the risotto, was a foie gras dish served with pasta, a Parmesan veloute and Chervil jus. It made for a nice start to the meal and a nice change from the usual foie gras 'slab on a plate'. On a rainy January day, it offered warm comforting flavours that nicely eased us into the meal. The next course though of 'half tempura Shetland's langoustines' with marinated tofu, crispy ginger and langoustine and basil dressing was more underwhelming with the ginger dominating the flavour and the tofu feeling somewhat out of place. The langoustine tails themselves also had no real impact in the dish.
soft filet of Dover sole, clams and baby squid
cuts of wild Scottish venison, Williams pear, celeriac cream and black winter truffle
Two main courses were then offered up: soft filet of Dover sole, clams and baby squid first and cuts of wild Scottish venison, Williams pear, celeriac cream and black winter truffle following. Both dishes suffered from being less than hot by the time we started eating them, and both the fish and the venison were a little overcooked rendering the sole a touch dry and the venison past medium. And whilst it's a small point, the menu says 'cuts of wild Scottish venison' leading us to believe there would be more than one cut so we were a little disappointed when 'cuts' merely seemed to mean 'cut'.
glazed orange tartlet
Golden Louis XV
We started running late for our next appointment at this stage which was mostly our fault rather than the restaurant's so with the exception of one, we skipped cheese hoping to make up some time. The first of the desserts, a glazed orange tartlet had seen the moisture from the orange seep through to the biscuit base so instead of having a crunch on eating, it was disappointingly soft throughout. The next dessert seems already to have gained a degree of fame, the Golden Louis XV, dark chocolate and praline. This was good and offered up exactly what you would expect from the description, big chocolate and praline flavours. But what it is not is terribly complex. Some people have got excited by the gold leaf top and it adds a nice visual contrast but is it sufficient to make the plate sophisticated? While it belongs in the 'good chocolate pud' category, it needs to develop into something more interesting if it is to go beyond merely pleasing a sweet tooth and achieve greatness.
Finishing up, we greatly enjoyed the petits fours which I'd rate as good and probably better than the actual desserts themselves.
Finishing up, we greatly enjoyed the petits fours which I'd rate as good and probably better than the actual desserts themselves.
At one level, Gauthier offers a remarkable amount of food - eight courses plus an amuse bouche and petit fours - for the lowly sum of £68. What's more, one can only think the ground rent on a prime Soho townhouse must be simply enormous. They can hardly have a margin. But we can't help but also feel that they're trying to cross a finish line in a race they're not yet running and in doing so missing what they should in fact be achieving. The environment generally feels contrived, the service excessively formal and rather than deliver so much food with so few genuine highs, a smaller offering of more brilliant food would have been better received at our table of four: of that, we all agreed.
We understand the commercial imperative to get the Michelin star but Gauthier Soho needs to find depth of soul rather than a text book approach or they risk being only an also ran.
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We understand the commercial imperative to get the Michelin star but Gauthier Soho needs to find depth of soul rather than a text book approach or they risk being only an also ran.
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