The proprietor of a handful of restaurants, a cooking school, a deli, and with a number of cookbooks to her name, it is clear that Anne-Sophie Pic – one of the few female chefs to hold three Michelin stars – does not do things by halves.
Which is why, for her first London outpost, she chose to set up shop within the grand Grade II-listed former headquarters of the Port of London Authority, now home to the new Four Seasons hotel, one of the city’s most anticipated openings.
Inside the restaurant, designer Bruno Moinard has been guided by the Beaux Arts bones of the building, dressing the original sculptural embellishments with tactile, toffee-coloured leather and tinted mirrors; while a central chandelier, designed to evoke the French card game La Dame de Pique, is a nod to the restaurant’s name.
Divided into sections – possibly to counterbalance the room’s soaring ceilings – the arrangement is arguably more isolated than intimate, all the more pleasant to savour the finer points of Pic’s elegant cooking. A concise menu celebrates her signature dishes, from ‘Berlingot’ – a light-hearted take on the tetrahedral-shaped candy – presented as delicate, triangular pasta parcels filled with gooey smoked Pélardon cheese and served with wild mushrooms; to Challans chicken, marinated in sake and dressed with hispi cabbage and diced razor clams.
These dishes form the backbone of the tasting menu – an obvious option especially when paired with matching wines, that include a few surprises such as Spanish ice cider, suggested by the informed and upbeat, leather-aproned sommelier.
Finish off with the rightfully celebrated mille-feuille, which arrives shrouded in a sweet white edible cloche, followed by a postprandial tipple in the hotel’s lobby bar under the dome of the building’s rotunda.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
Four Seasons
10 Trinity Square
London EC3N 4AJ
-
Seven designers rethinking wood at London Design FestivalAt this year’s London Design Festival, wood proves itself anything but static. We highlight seven designers shaping, colouring, and engineering it in surprising ways
-
Inside Kazakhstan’s brutalist Tselinny cinema – now a hub for contemporary cultureTselinny Center of Contemporary Culture, a modernist landmark redesigned for its new purpose by Asif Khan, gears up for its grand opening in Kazakhstan
-
Oliver Spencer’s orbiting installation offers a meditative shopping experience during London Design FestivalAt Oliver Spencer’s Shoreditch store, a sensory light installation by Studio Rhythmics offers a calming moment during LDF
-
A first look inside Kudu Marylebone, where South African dining meets contemporary designA beloved South-African restaurant relocates to central London, featuring Fabled Studio-designed interiors that thread in African tones and textures
-
Carmela’s joins London’s pizza renaissanceA Little Italy-inspired pizzeria lands in Islington with 13-inch pies, pepperoni heat and big flavour energy
-
Has the ice cream parlour come of age?A global wave of architecture studios is treating the scoop as spectacle, turning parlours into immersive social spaces
-
Legado brings a bold Spanish legacy to ShoreditchMichelin-starred chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho’s second venture marries design-led interiors with regional Spanish flavours rarely found in London
-
The Macbeth, an icon of indie sleaze, goes from grotty to gastroAn East End legend meets Portuguese small plates in Jamie Allan’s ambitious revival of a beloved Hackney watering hole
-
A complete collection of Phaidon’s ‘Contemporary Artists Series’ is on display in LondonA 30-year project reaching 100 volumes is being celebrated with an exhibition at the 45 Park Lane hotel, including limited-edition works by Kaws and Dana Schutz
-
London’s best pizza restaurant gets a new home in MayfairSecure a slice of New York-style pizza in central London as Crisp Pizza teams up with the Devonshire pub to set up shop in the relaunched The Marlborough
-
At this east London listening bar, mezcal-fuelled cocktails hit as hard as the basslinesIn Bethnal Green, Little Fires pairs vinyl grooves with mezcal margaritas and Oaxacan sharing plates
