Mayfair Foodie Newsletter

Welcome fellow Foodies,

This is the first Mayfair Foodie email newsletter, many many thanks for subscribing, it means a lot. The website is now over 2 months old & I have been overwhelmed by the support firstly from you guys & the readers, also from the hospitality sector in Mayfair, they seem to get what we are about.

Our visitor numbers are increasing at a rate we could not have predicted, we beat our target for 6 months a few days ago. Anyhow that’s enough of that let’s get down to business, this newsletter aims to give you a little bit extra info regarding news views and any little snippets I pick up along the way.

Coming up

On the 4th of May, we reviewed the Mayfair Chippy, it was a great lunch & hopefully, our thoughts will be on the website in a few days. I can tell you that the manager told me they are full 7 days a week, 364 days a year. We left the restaurant at 3 pm and they were still queuing outside for walk-ins. An amazing restaurant business

I’m posting a new Interview with Langan’s general manager Samuel Bernard, it’s an interesting insight into the new Langan’s & how they see the future of this iconic restaurant, a far cry from Peter Langan’s days. I was taken on a tour of Langan’s and they have opened a club upstairs, which won best bar design 2022. I was told on the tour that they are putting in a secret exit so famous guests can avoid the paparazzi, it will be interesting to know how many use the secret exit.

Please check out my first review, Maddox Tavern, this is a new project from Enhanced Hospitality & based on the style of a New York tavern. They spent fortunes renovating a former tailor’s shop (Winston Churchills Tailors no less). The result is a stunning bar & restaurant. A little tip … currently, the 3-course lunch menu is £29, which is excellent value for this standard of restaurant in Mayfair. I get the feeling this might increase once the restaurant is fully established.

Reviews & Interviews

On the 18th of May, we are reviewing Veeraswamy the Michelin-starred Indian restaurant. Reputed to be Britain’s oldest Indian restaurant, owned by the MW Eat group which also owns Sister restaurants Chutney Mary, in St James’s, and Amaya in Belgravia (also Michelin-starred) and the Masala Zone chain. It should be a good one, after the meal we are interviewing Co-owner Namita Panjabi.

More exciting news we have a review planned with Hedonism also on the 18th of May, if you have not set foot in the Hedonism store please do, it’s described as the best wine shop in the world. Trust me when I say this is not a bold boast, it’s a fantastic shop. We are also planning to review Michelin-starred Hide, Hideaway & the recently opened White Horse pub all part of the Hedonism stable

In early June, we are going to review Hush (the secret restaurant & bar) hidden off Avery Row. They are currently working on a makeover of the garden area in time for the summer

Date TBC, Review of Langan’s, having completed the interview I’m interested to see how the food stacks up from my last visit 2018

In the pipeline…

Sketch, a review & interview looks like being agreed soon so watch this space, I will update you as soon as I know more.

Kitty Fishers, I met with Co-owner Oliver Milburn recently and we are planning an interview to delve a little deeper into this famous Shepherd Market restaurant. When I met Oliver I was shown the famous dining room at Kitty’s, it’s such a lovely space, with only 9 tables. They are also planning a new upstairs private dining room.

Latest News

New restaurants

Sheesh opened recently on the corner of Piccadilly & Dover Street. They have spent a small fortune on the renovations & the restaurant looks exactly what you would expect considering the popularity of the first Sheesh in Chingford, famous as a celebrity haunt serving fantastic kebabs & grills. I did ask for an interview, but they refused my first & only refusal.

Socca -The collaboration between Two Michelin-starred Chef Claude Bosi (Bibendum )and restauranteur Samyuta Nair (Jamavar 1 Michelin Star) is an interesting one; the cuisine is French Mediterranean bistro playing homage to the coastal towns & flavours of the Riviera( I did copy the last sentence from their website-Ha-ha)

It seems a strange collaboration, but I’m hoping to review Jamavar soon, so hopefully, we can find out a little more about Socca at the same time

Qwant (pronounced quaint) is led by the former head of The Savoy’s American Bar, Erik Lorincz. Is an award-winning bar relocated to Stratton Street from its former home in Heddon Street? Once an entry, “Best bar in the World“ I can’t wait to see “Qwant” open its doors in its new home.

St Mary’s Gate Inn

Please forgive me here but I want to give a quick plug & recommendation. One of my dear friends Scott Wilson, has recently taken over a pub in Arundel, West Sussex, called St Mary's Gate Inn.

The pub is a lovely traditional pub located next door to the cathedral & 5 minutes from Arundel Castle.

Scott (affectionally known as Willo) & manager Sam has worked wonders in a few months in setting up a new pub menu, with the ethos based on using quality Sussex-based food suppliers. Cheese, eggs, meat, bread & even the Biltong come from Sussex suppliers & enhanced with great beer from Dorset-based brewers Hall & Woodhouse.

I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in sitting in on supplier meetings and also I put together the n wine list all of which has been great fun for me.

If you are in the area please pop in, I can guarantee you will receive a warm welcome. The pub does have 5 rooms available at a very reasonable £85 per night; they are very popular so do try to book well in advance.

Foodie Walking Tours

Finally, a quick update on the foodie walking tours, they are up and running however, the success of the website has meant I have less time available with the tour side which is a pity as I think the tour is a great way to spend a few hours in Mayfair. Perhaps, I was a little optimistic to start both projects at the same time. I am currently looking for somebody to share the workload on the walking tours side; however, if you are interested in a tour please feel free to contact me.

Well, that's it for now so thanks for taking the time to read. Please feel free to get in touch.

Until next time,

Martin, The Mayfair Foodie

mayfairfoodie.com