French bistro restaurant Maset channels the ease of the Mediterranean in London

Restaurateur Melody Adams has already proved her southern European culinary credentials with two of London’s best Spanish restaurants, Donostia and Lurra, at the Marble Arch end of Marylebone. Now she’s moved a little further afield, not only in terms of location (nearby Chiltern Street) but also inspiration: Maset specialises in the coastal cooking of the Occitanie region of southern France, which stretches from Montpellier to the Spanish border.

Wallpaper* dines at Maset, London

The mood: southern comfort

A ‘maset’ is a small stone building, originally used by vineyard workers to take shelter from the weather, now often converted into holiday boltholes. Parisian design studio Haddou Dufourcq has interpreted that as a pared-back home-from-home amidst the boutiques of Chiltern Street. Light bounces off mirrors in an off-white space designed to look like a southern French bistro, complete with walls hung with works by French artists.

‘The cuisine places great importance on using real, well-sourced ingredients,’ Adams says, ‘and we wanted to follow the same philosophy by working with authentic materials and references that have meaning and history. For example, the chairs are made in France from solid wood, based on an iconic 1950s model that was widely used in seaside cafés and brasseries in the south of France. We hope it will evoke memories for guests who have spent time on those terraces.’

The food: a Mediterranean voyage

The southern French food displays Spanish, Italian and North African accents, too: think whole monkfish tail, marinated in preserved lemons and cooked on the bone and served sliced with sea beets and draped with lardo. There are also some Provençal interpolations – bouillabaisse croquettes, and pâtes au pistou, the Niçoise spinach pasta dish – plus breakfasts of socca pancakes and anchovy butter sourdough.

But it’s not all about the food. ‘As in a typical French bistro,’ Adams says, ‘the bar is the heart of the restaurant. We wanted to reinterpret the classic zinc bar, modernising it with stainless steel while preserving its sculptural and imposing presence, making it a true signature of the space.’ Knock back lemon martinis and southern French wines, though a cloudy glass of pastis is the most authentic thing to drink here. Santé!

Maset is located at 40 Chiltern St, London W1U 7LQ, UK