NOTE: The Greenhouse has sadly now closed.
If the word ‘greenhouse’ conjures up images of a place filled with extraordinary fresh produce that just so happens to be one of the hottest places in the area at any given time…
…then clearly the people who named The Greenhouse knew what they were doing.
After laying down its roots in Mayfair just over 40 years ago, it’s gradually climbed the culinary ladder, gaining its first Michelin Star in 1996 (while Gary Rhodes was in charge of the kitchen), then being acquired by MARC Restaurants in 2003, and gaining a second Star in 2013. Now they’ve enlisted new executive chef Alex Dilling – fresh from overseeing Hélène Darroze at The Connaught – to help push the envelope even further.
Set in a verdant, secluded space set back from a quiet side street in Mayfair, you’ll walk into the venue through a ‘garden path’ surrounded by plants and sculptures. Inside, you’ll notice the greenery continues, but in a subtle and understated way with the occasional glimpse of ivy or wood to liven up the white tablecloths.
THE MENU
Going à la carte, you’ll find there are four courses, rather than the standard three (with cheese on top of all that should you find the space). Starting small, you can when your appetite with some duck foie gras from Landes (with some marinated Cévennes onions & champignon de Paris and lemon thyme); or a little bluefin tuna with artichoke consommé.
Going larger, there are veal sweetbreads with puffed wheat, or a cep tart with 24month Comté; – while the main course will yield the likes of a lemon sole with charred leek; or a roast grouse from the Rhug Estate. And for dessert? There’s a soufflé with Chartreuse & lime; or a coconut with white chocolate & hazelnut.
THE TASTING MENU
This is really the main event here; 9 courses of straight-up decadence, spanning every ultra-luxe ingredient you can list. After the trailers (spheres of gazpacho, Caesar salad in a cone, etc.) things start casually with a little caviar sitting atop smoked sturgeon mousse with Dorset crab, before moving onto the likes of foie gras (arrives accompanied by a little onion-filled ‘toastie’ to eat it on); oeuf noir (an egg blackened with truffle); wagyu beef (perfectly marbled, and served with a cigarillo of yet more beef), plus turbot, Vietnamese chocolate, madeleines, and more.
Just don’t brag about it.
People will be green with envy.
NOTE: The Greenhouse has sadly now closed.
The Greenhouse | 27A Hay’s Mews, Mayfair, W1J 5NY
Want to get more Michelin-ey goodness? Check out ALL the Michelin Starred restaurants in London…