Restaurant Petrus    February 2003


Restaurant Petrus
33 St.James Street
London, SW1A 1HD
England
Tel.  +44 207 930 4272
Fax. +44 207 930 9702
Petrus Site

Note: the restaurant at this address now has the name 'Fleur' - Petrus having moved around the corner - you can find where by clicking the link to their website above

So, imagine; Romanée-Conti and Petrus on the same day - well almost, I followed the tasting of the 2000 release from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti with lunch at the Michelin starred Restaurant Petrus. This is a Gordon Ramsay establishment, though I doubt whether Gordon (a 'celebrity' chef in the UK) cooks here himself as he seems to be responsible for a number of other establishments too. Apparently Petrus is due to move to a new location in 2003 - I don't know whether the Michelin star is allowed to follow.

The decor is nicely done in a relatively sombre if not sleep inducing way, and is dominated by large paintings of food items in the manner of a 16th century 'still life'. Unfortunately my lunch for two became lunch for one when my lunch partner became indisposed. I phoned ahead to let Petrus know (though only the same morning) and to my surprise they were very sorry, but still happy for me to dine alone. They were also very efficient; I arrived 10 minutes early as it was too cold for window shopping and was immediately shown to my table - beautifully set for one. Not really surprisimg that I was shown direct to my table, there is very little available space for reception, perhaps the reason for the move.

As to the food, there was an extensively mouthwatering menu, any three items for £60. I decided this was a little over the top for lunch so chose one of the two menu's du jour :

Ravioli of crab and salmon on braised pak-choi, served with
a lemongrass infused sause and basil purée
* * *
Rump of Welsh lamb, crushed new potato and marinated
tomato tian, roasted garlic and rosemary jus
* * *
French cheeses
or
Praline and roasted hazelnut bavarois with citrus filo
crisps and red berry sauce

The food and presentation were exquisite, several days later I could still taste the contrast between the slightly crispy rim of the Welsh lamb and its red centre. Service was of a very high standard, with something approaching 8 serving staff for (up to) around 30 diners. By 2:00pm I think there were only around 18 people eating and despite the high staff to diner ratio, I never felt that I was being crowded by them - a good sign. In fact the dining experience was only spoiled by the other diners, on one occasion Mr Perfect at the next table gave the staff a roasting for not having the label of the bottled water facing in the right direction, fortunately he was waffling on in Belgian the rest of the time; and the second occasion was when I came to seriously test the wine with my main course, all I could smell from the first sniff, was the cigarette smoke from the woman at the table on the other side of me - actually I find this inexcusable for a restaurant of this standard.

I suppose it is time I talked about the wines; the list, despite the name of the restaurant, does not focus on just one small patch of land on the right-hand bank of the Gironde - though (of course) multiple vintages of said wine are available at a price! The list is nicely diverse though the concentration is Bordeaux. Regardless of the type of restaurant, I'm quite prepared to drink only water and coffee if I'm being taken for a ride on wine prices, given the type of restaurant and its location, I though the pricing here was reasonably restrained - provided you avoid the Petrus of course. There's also a quite reasonable selection of around 20 wines in half bottles, from which I chose the following :

1991 Marius Delarche, Corton Renardes
From a half. Deep ruby colour showing just a little amber at the rim. The nose has deep, cooked black cherries and much soil and undergrowth. Still tannic with refreshing acidity, there is nicely concentrated fruit which finishes reasonably long, ending on a note of licorice. This is a rough, tough Corton - just how I like them, but is spoiled a little by a consistent astringency. Still pretty good though.

So a memorable experience. The fixed lunch menu was a very reasonable £26 and the wine a little less reasonable £49. Water and coffee were of course extra, so the bill (without service) came in at around £85 for one. Still worth it though and I guess that's the true measure!
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