What: Located across the way from five-star hotel The Beaumont Mayfair, Pearl sits in a bijou space at one end of Brown Hart Gardens, a raised 950sq metre garden space that has reopened following an architectural and horticultural redesign.
The food: Pearls’ Mediterranean menu is overseen by Lisa Goodwin-Allen, who is culinary director at The Beaumont Mayfair as well as chef patron‑director of Michelin‑starred Northcote Hotel and Restaurant in Lancashire. Open for breakfast through dinner, early morning options include croissants filled with either smoked salmon and scrambled egg; chorizo, feta, and rocket; and truffle brie, mushroom, and mizuna as well as a selection of focaccia sandwiches and healthy breakfast bowls. It is from lunch that the menu gets serious, with a well-chosen range of small and larger plates that ooze Mediterranean sunshine. Crudo of Chalk Stream trout with tomato, olives, and whipped feta; or tuna loin with citrus fruits, shallots, and chives set the scene perfectly for a meal that can include dishes such as glazed octopus with ‘nduja aioli, apple, and lime; a rather naughty carbonara croquette filled with smoked guanciale and topped with grated parmesan; lamb chops with sumac, tzatziki, and dill; grilled swordfish with preserved lemon; and glazed pork meatball in a romesco sauce with aged pecorino. Given the breadth of savoury dishes on offer, the sweet section is surprisingly small by contrast, with Seville orange polenta cake; pavlova; and crema Catalana sitting alongside a gelato selection and aged manchego. The drinks list echoes the food’s Mediterranean influence with a range of spritzes and classic cocktails and a concise wine list covers Italy, France and Spain as well as Greece, Croatia, Sardinia and Turkey.
The vibe: The bright dining room inhabits a circular pavilion with wrap around curved glass windows at the front that afford views over Brown Hart Gardens and the red-brick tenement buildings of Mayfair beyond. The design is plush plus, with deep comfortable chairs, large marble-topped tables and pearlescent finishes inspired by the coastal regions of Southern Europe. The room has two striking features: a three-metre light set into the parabolic roof, and a five-seat bar clad in gold located to the rear of the room.
And another thing: Pearl is actually located atop a Grade II listed working electricity substation. In the early twentieth century a grand Baroque-style electricity substation was built on the communal site, but to compensate locals for the loss of their space, the Duke of Westminster insisted that a paved Italianate garden be placed on top of the substation.
Brown Hart Gardens, London W1K 8UH / www.pearlmayfair.com