A first look around Mount St. Restaurant in Mayfair

Those who might enjoy dining next to a Matisse and one of two Freuds – one being his Plate of Prawns – should visit Mount Street restaurant, an airy space above The Audley Public House.

It is a pristine dining room, with red curvy chairs, vast windows, and a colourful, ‘broken floor’ by the artist Rashid Johnson. No onyx in sight.

To dine at Mount Street, the hospitality group Artfarm’s latest restaurant, is to eat in a Mayfair art gallery. It is quite majestic and somewhat of an education, at least for unlearned lads such as me.

Walk up the burgundy staircase slowly so as to take in the pieces; enjoy Subodh Gupta’s Wash Before Eating, where plump mangoes rest haphazardly inside something like a Tuscan sink; and then sit down and order an omelette Arnold Bennett. Hey, I could be outlandish here and declare it better than The Savoy’s. I think I will: it is, because it’s more luscious. Well done head chef Jamie Shears.

The menu is far detached from The Audley’s downstairs, which focuses on pub classics like Scotch eggs and half pints of prawns.

In the restaurant, an a la carte swerves between Portland crab and smoked eel and potato salad before rolling tirelessly toward a lobster pie for two, or dishes such as Dover sole with hollandaise, and a loin of Highland venison. Prices are staunchly Mayfair, but not vajazzled Mayfair.

Ewan Venters, the CEO of Artfarm, said he wanted to create a neighbourhood restaurant to accompany the neighbourhood pub below.

Even the rooms upstairs on the second, third and fourth floors – various velvet-clad bars and themed private dining rooms, as well as a vaguely obscure drinking corner hidden behind a curtain – are bookable: it looks and feels like a members’ club but isn’t.

‘The pub opened in the 1800s and it is extraordinary to be its custodian,’ Venters told CODE. ‘We have a proper pub downstairs. It’s there for the community.

‘London is made up of villages and Mayfair is one of them. Every village needs a pub.’

As far as the food is concerned, Venters said the idea is to lean into classics, but, as with the art, signal a feeling of fun and revelry too.

He added: ‘There’s a need for good restaurants in Mayfair. We’ve put a lot of thought into the design, we’ve taken ownership of the space and made it something beautiful, I believe. With the rooms upstairs, it’s quite a place, and I hope our customers feel a sense of ownership and loyalty.

‘We’ve tried to move away from what a lot of venues are doing at the moment. You won’t see burrata on the menu, there’s no tuna tartare. We’re focusing on heritage and tradition while still trying to be contemporary.

‘Mostly, we just want the restaurant to be well frequented; a place people can go to have good food in happy surroundings.’