Arnaud Bignon, Executive Chef & Partner at The Greenhouse restaurant in Mayfair.
Where would you pay money to eat and how often? Since moving to London I have been to The Ledbury (127 Ledbury Road, W11, 020 7792 9090, theledbury.com) and The Square (6-10 Bruton Street, W1J, 020 7495 7100, squarerestaurant.com) and very much enjoyed both of them.
Why? I was keen to see what other Michelin-starred restaurants in London were doing and how they differed from restaurants in Greece and Paris where I previously worked.
Who would you take? Next time I would like to take my wife to The Ledbury. It is a very romantic restaurant and the cuisine is creative with a warm atmosphere that I think she would enjoy. At the moment I don’t take much time off as there is a lot of work to be done on getting the menus at The Greenhouse exactly as I want them, so when I do I think she deserves to be spoilt… I think it will be even more difficult to get a reservation now that they have done so well on the 50 Best List, however.
What
do you eat there? A mackerel dish really stood out because it was cooked
perfectly with very subtle seasoning. I also had seabass with cauliflower and
broccoli. As is often the way with the best dishes, it sounds incredibly simple
but to cook well is actually a real challenge. Cauliflower is a very strong
vegetable but the chef had managed to create an elegant balance between all the
ingredients which gave it a very soft and flavoursome taste. I have the
greatest respect for what Brett Graham is doing at the moment - I would love to
cook for him at The Greenhouse.
