We can't really fault the food at Petrus, it achieves its goal, but as a restaurant whose patron not only lives in LA but lives the LA lifestyle, the place badly needs someone within the restaurant to stamp their character on it for the feeling is otherwise sterile. No one, as far as we could tell, has yet stepped up to the plate in that respect (and we really can't blame them for we're sure they risk the wrath of Gordon) but the result is simply another Ramsay cookie-cutter restaurant.
Many of those writing on new Petrus when it opened in March 2010 felt that everything here was done solely to appeal to Michelin. If so, it worked, for the restaurant got its star in the 2011 guide, tick. Business-wise, we're not sure we can even fault that approach: open classic French restaurant in Knightsbridge, ensure it gets a Michelin star and people will come. And indeed they have, for on two previous occasions that we have sought to book a last minute lunch here, no can do, they have been full. So why not then, after all, Ramsay has three stars at Hospital Road, is friends with the Beckhams and has even appeared in Hollywood movies, why not then run another restaurant where the bottom line is what it's about? Labouring on new dishes and new trends (or creating new trends) must seem dull in comparison.
With our business hats on we can't fault it, but with our food hats on, that's a different matter. Why? Because fine dining doesn't have to be stuffy, excessively traditional or without character. We certainly have no fine dining axe to grind, it's very much our thing, so Petrus should be right up our street, especially as the food is well cooked but...
Whatever names you might throw up, whether it's The Square, The Ledbury, Alyn Williams at The Westbury (ex original Petrus), Dabbous, Bubbledogs KitchenTable or newcomer Five Fields, each of these very different in their own right, they nevertheless carry the hallmarks of varying degrees of modernity, but more than that, an enormous dollop of someone's individual character within the restaurant who cares about the day to day service (above and beyond their quarterly performance appraisal with head office HR). Even classically trained French chefs like Bruno Loubet have shown at The Grain Store that they understand the British food scene is not where it was ten years ago. To eat at Petrus is to step back in time to when an amuse bouche, a French accent and crumbing the table was positively avant garde.
For my starter, I couldn't resist ordering 'lobster and salmon ravioli with peas, broad beans, Champagne and chive veloute': I couldn't resist it because the last time we were at Hospital Road my starter was 'ravioli of lobster, langoustine and salmon with a lemongrass and chervil veloute', and that was back in December 2010. It wouldn't be the last time on the menu that Hospital Road would pop up. Of course, there's no shame in bringing his three star food from Hospital Road and dropping it in to Petrus (business hat), but it's boring (food hat). To Petrus's credit, the ravioli was very good indeed, with pasta so thin you wondered how it could hold its filling without tearing apart. The filling too played its part in the dish, textured and flavourful.
For mains, there's the best end of lamb with black olive gnocchi together with pan fried fillet of sea bream with confit potato, sprouting broccoli and oyster beurre blanc. Add to that too, two deep fried oysters. It was textbook cooking, classic French, good to eat and all credit to their head chef Sean Burbridge; given his brief, he nails it. Please Sam, if you're reading this review, you can really really cook and you have our total respect for that and when you open your own restaurant, we'll be beating down the door. But...
It is somewhat ironic that this is a restaurant born of a feud with the Berkeley Hotel but as a restaurant is aimed squarely at people staying there: people who don't read food blogs, people who have never heard of The Clove Club and people for whom buying a bottle of Petrus at a restaurant is a distinct possibility. Whether your table does need crumbing or not, it will get crumbed, and in every respect it is a textbook performance: but who after all reads textbooks for fun?
Many of those writing on new Petrus when it opened in March 2010 felt that everything here was done solely to appeal to Michelin. If so, it worked, for the restaurant got its star in the 2011 guide, tick. Business-wise, we're not sure we can even fault that approach: open classic French restaurant in Knightsbridge, ensure it gets a Michelin star and people will come. And indeed they have, for on two previous occasions that we have sought to book a last minute lunch here, no can do, they have been full. So why not then, after all, Ramsay has three stars at Hospital Road, is friends with the Beckhams and has even appeared in Hollywood movies, why not then run another restaurant where the bottom line is what it's about? Labouring on new dishes and new trends (or creating new trends) must seem dull in comparison.
With our business hats on we can't fault it, but with our food hats on, that's a different matter. Why? Because fine dining doesn't have to be stuffy, excessively traditional or without character. We certainly have no fine dining axe to grind, it's very much our thing, so Petrus should be right up our street, especially as the food is well cooked but...
Whatever names you might throw up, whether it's The Square, The Ledbury, Alyn Williams at The Westbury (ex original Petrus), Dabbous, Bubbledogs KitchenTable or newcomer Five Fields, each of these very different in their own right, they nevertheless carry the hallmarks of varying degrees of modernity, but more than that, an enormous dollop of someone's individual character within the restaurant who cares about the day to day service (above and beyond their quarterly performance appraisal with head office HR). Even classically trained French chefs like Bruno Loubet have shown at The Grain Store that they understand the British food scene is not where it was ten years ago. To eat at Petrus is to step back in time to when an amuse bouche, a French accent and crumbing the table was positively avant garde.
For my starter, I couldn't resist ordering 'lobster and salmon ravioli with peas, broad beans, Champagne and chive veloute': I couldn't resist it because the last time we were at Hospital Road my starter was 'ravioli of lobster, langoustine and salmon with a lemongrass and chervil veloute', and that was back in December 2010. It wouldn't be the last time on the menu that Hospital Road would pop up. Of course, there's no shame in bringing his three star food from Hospital Road and dropping it in to Petrus (business hat), but it's boring (food hat). To Petrus's credit, the ravioli was very good indeed, with pasta so thin you wondered how it could hold its filling without tearing apart. The filling too played its part in the dish, textured and flavourful.
For mains, there's the best end of lamb with black olive gnocchi together with pan fried fillet of sea bream with confit potato, sprouting broccoli and oyster beurre blanc. Add to that too, two deep fried oysters. It was textbook cooking, classic French, good to eat and all credit to their head chef Sean Burbridge; given his brief, he nails it. Please Sam, if you're reading this review, you can really really cook and you have our total respect for that and when you open your own restaurant, we'll be beating down the door. But...
It is somewhat ironic that this is a restaurant born of a feud with the Berkeley Hotel but as a restaurant is aimed squarely at people staying there: people who don't read food blogs, people who have never heard of The Clove Club and people for whom buying a bottle of Petrus at a restaurant is a distinct possibility. Whether your table does need crumbing or not, it will get crumbed, and in every respect it is a textbook performance: but who after all reads textbooks for fun?