Last year, Gauthier Soho was awarded - and then retained - its first Michelin Star. Just reward for such impeccable dishes as their truffle risotto with parmesan, seared foie gras with confit apricot and crispy & soft piglet. There was so much to be happy about, for both the restaurant and for me in that I was unintentionally siding with the Michelin Guide.
I love Soho for many reasons. In one sense, strolling down Old Compton Street or Brewer Street is akin to being on holiday somewhere on the continent. In another, the cobbled yards of Rupert Street seem indelibly old England. It's a district of great contrast and wonder, even in these times of massive redevelopment and corporate adjustment across London. But the restaurants are something else.
Soho is about the most concentrated area of restaurants in London. Chinese, Asian in general, Italian, vegetarian, English and French restaurants are all well represented in the area, and that's excluding all the bars and coffee shops. There is so much to eat and drink and see here that it remains a vital part of London's cultural fabric.
Gauthier Soho was a welcome addition to the area in that it was somewhere you could get genuinely good French cooking at not wholly unreasonable prices. They had the quite sensible idea of allowing you to choose between the options of three or five courses for differing price levels. And their set menu always looks appealing. There was never much to dislike about Gauthier Soho, right from the minute we stepped inside it for the first time. Until we stepped inside for the second time.
In August, Gauthier Soho decided to echo their first year promotion by offering two for one on the tasting menu which we felt was too good an offer to miss. Remembering the quality we had experienced previously, it was a no-brainer, in fact. Unfortunately we could only get a table very late on in the evening, so by the time dinner came around, we were ravenous.
The worst possible start for a late evening meal is to be further delayed. Sadly, we were directed to a bar on the lower ground floor to wait for ten minutes or so before our table was ready. I say "bar", but the reality is it was more of a wine cellar with chairs and a lectern inside. It was rather uncomfortable and dimly lit, probably an attempt to disguise the fact that it was not a bar. A couple was also ushered in with us, which took up all the chairs in the room. Then a guy on his own was told to hover in the corner.
After about ten minutes, two ladies were brought to the cellar holding cups of coffee. This was the first real sign of alarm bells during the evening. These poor people had obviously been asked to leave their table early so it could be prepared for other diners. Shockingly poor for any restaurant, let alone a Michelin-Starred one.
Some fifteen minutes after we had arrived, we were finally shown to our table in less than impressed moods. We were sitting in the topmost room of the place which was a bit cramped, a bit uneven and a bit sluggish, but as we knew from our last visit, that was part of the charm of this place. A few minor hiccups out of the way, this was surely the part where our evening was set to right itself and everything was going to be wonderful.
The food was, to be frank, hideous. The evening was a write-off from the moment our first course came out - an hour after our booking time - and I will attempt to summarise why. Of the eight dishes we ate, only one was of any sort of high quality. That was the truffle risotto which remained from last year's tasting menu, albeit this time with chicken jus on top (left). It was possibly not quite as stunning as the first time around, but that may have only been down to the newness of the experience one year prior. It's still a great dish, happily.
The rest was garbage. Expensive (albeit half-price) French nonsense which was so terrible it made me re-think my love for Gallic food. Compare last year's succulent and smooth sautéed foie gras with this year's Royale. One was a stunning reminder of simplistic French grub, the other a pointless, pathetic attempt at modernising a classic. Insipid, bland and bitter, the tepid foie gras was morphed into some sort of soup, served over raw (supposedly fondant) beans and some sour red wine (right). A waste of time.
Last year's scallop was a thick, rich, stunningly-cooked vision with delicious and flavoursome mushrooms. This year's was one third of a scallop served with red pepper marmalade and parsley jus (left). This was a frustratingly meagre and overcooked piece of flotsam that deserved to be sneered at by hosts of critics. It was an outright disaster compared to the impressive scallop on last year's menu.It got worse with the fish. Contrast last year's succulent sea trout with this year's rubbery sea bass & squid. Coming in after the outstanding risotto, it had a lot to live up to but I didn't expect much. Mind you, by this point in the meal you could've served me passable food and I would have jumped for joy. It was an appalling dish, possibly the worst of the lot. The fish was overcooked to the point that you'd be embarrassed to serve it in a college canteen, while the squid was an ill-devised and overcooked compliment. The confit tomato and black ink dressing were amusing annoyances to sit alongside.
The meat was, by contrast, fantastic. Though that's not to say it was good if you follow me. The duck breast was well-cooked, prettily sliced and served atop some duck jus (right). Sadly it was as insubstantial as the dross we'd eaten so far and the courgette and baby turnip that were plonked on the plate next to it were as boring as the long delays we continued to suffer. A poor dish for sure, but depressingly one of the best we sampled all night.Desserts were sadly as disappointing as last year's had been. Even before we could get to them we had to endure cheese. Nothing served at the table this time, only a small, pathetically presented sample trotted out. Sweets were essentially the same - unpleasant cherries and a bunch of nut-ridden dog toys, but they seemed worse because of what had preceded them. It's amazing how you can forgive the odd poor course if something has - in the main - been quite good, but if it's another disappointing course in a sea of rubbish, the knives come out double-quick. Why bother with desserts when they're only going to depress you more? We asked for everything post-cheese to come at once because we were in danger of missing the last tube.
I have one further complaint about Gauthier Soho, and unfortunately it's the most serious one of all. The next day, I did something I've never done before: I complained. I sent an e-mail to the restaurant summarising what I have written above and kindly suggesting to them (really, I was actually quite nice) that they should up their game and return to the place they were in during 2010. Then something really interesting happened: Alexis Gauthier himself sent me an e-mail back. (At least the sender purported to be him. I went with it...)
It was gracious, apologetic and very sincere. I was massively impressed. Even more so as he offered me a complimentary food and wine evening to make up for it. There was certainly no call for this. I was very touched as he wrote "I would like to have the opportunity to restore your faith in my brand". What a guy. What a gent. What a generous, humbling message to receive from a Michelin-Starred chef who has been a guest judge on MasterChef.
The meal has sadly never materialised. I have been in contact with people from Gauthier Soho (though never again has Alexis deigned to e-mail me back) and they have fobbed me off at every opportunity. I wouldn't be as upset as I am if they had not offered in the first place, but now I am highly doubtful I will ever go back. In terms of restaurant shocks, bad meals and sheer daylight robbery, this was the outright winner of last year. I hope I never experience this sort of disappointment again.
Gauthier Soho
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