Jameson, who joined MAD from Mayfair live-fire restaurant HUMO, will continue to oversee Soho’s ALTA while also taking the reins at the group’s MOI restaurant, which is also in Soho.
He will work alongside MOI head chef Gustavo Tavares and head sushi chef Lubo Haponik to direct the food offer across its main restaurant and downstairs sushi counter.
Jameson’s new menu, which launched yesterday (1 September), is intended to encourage a more informal style of dining, with a wider range of snacks, small plates and skewers served alongside a weekly changing selection of maki, temaki and nigiri.
Dishes include octopus skewers with gochujang sauce and lime; lamb belly with curry emulsion; agedashi tofu with leek, myoga and ginger; and Iberico pork tonkatsu.
Some dishes from MOI’s launch menu will remain, including its popular wild mushroom rice pots.
MOI’s standalone sushi counter on the lower ground floor will continue to host omakase nights on Thursdays and Fridays, offering 11 courses for £95 per person.
“With Robbie Jameson shaping the menu, expect MOI’s food and atmosphere to move closer towards Japanese izakaya culture – a style of dining centred around relaxed drinking, sharing and socialising,” says MAD founder Artem Login.
“The philosophy of MOI hasn’t changed; the cooking remains rooted in open fire while drawing on Japanese influences and techniques.”
MOI’s in-house cocktail and hi-fi bar has also been reimagined and renamed Room 86.
Open Tuesday to Saturday and accessible through MOI or via a dedicated entrance on Wardour Street, the music-led bar will offer cocktails, sake and wine alongside a nightly programme spanning old-school hip-hop, funky house, deep house and groovy house.
Room 86 will also host one-off events and collaborations across art, fashion and music, including guest DJ takeovers, artist showcases, workshops and exhibitions.
“Room 86 is about creating a unique place in Soho for creative people to meet, listen to great music and be part of the community,” says Login. “We want to create the kind of night you’ll still be talking about the next morning.”
Earlier this year, Scottish-born Jameson oversaw the launch of Bar Alta, a more casual ground-floor offer inspired by the pintxos culture of Northern Spain.
Its menu combines smaller bites with larger sharing plates, maintaining ALTA’s focus on live-fire cooking.
MOI and ALTA were launched last year as the first two venues from MAD Restaurants. The group was founded by Login following the success of his family’s upscale café and patisserie business L’ETO, which operates more than 40 sites across London and the Middle East.