An off-shoot of the legendary two Michelin star (once three) Paris restaurant, Le Taillevent – where my husband swept me off my feet when he was wooing me – the opening of Les 110 des Taillevent on Cavendish Square was understandably anticipated due to it being the first time the brand have made the brave journey across the Channel to tantalise us Londoners with their own unique take on simplistic, yet exquisite, French fare. Somehow, I don’t think the Parisians would be so keen were it the other way around.
Les 110 des Taillevent is an almost identical replica of their first brasserie concept, located on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris, featuring a masculine interior design by Pierre-Yves Rochon that is actually far from informal and keeps wine very much at the forefront; everything from the illuminated bottles above the bar to the green velvet banquettes and disposable place-mats with circles for your wine glasses is intended to evoke the vine. Appropriate when you consider that the ‘110’ in the name signifies the number of wines available by the glass.
Nor are you encouraged to choose a wine willy-nilly, this is connoisseurship in its purest form and a choice of four wines have been expertly selected for every dish on the a la carte menu. Couple this with the easy-to-follow colour-coding and a menu in a green jacket and you feel like your almost ‘studying form’. With glasses ranging from £6 to in excess of £34 for a 125ml, 7ml tasters are also available and will suit diners using this as the perfect opportunity for discovering new varieties – this has to be the ultimate bespoke wine experience. But quality rather than quantity is clearly the message, explaining why there is no 175ml option, nor was it obvious whether or not you can order wine by the bottle.
While the well priced set menu (£35 for three courses) is tempting, I’m not sure this is the venue for those who want to either be virtuous or pay their mortgage on time. It isn’t without its irony that this premises used to be a Coutts bank – if only it still were diners could quickly draw down on their trust fund before heading back for another glass. That said, Mr Lipkin’s Argentinian Malbec was a reasonable £9 for 125ml, and a fitting choice for the hearty, game-rich pâté en croute he selected to start; featuring precise layers of tongue and foie gras, enclosed within a dense pastry crust and accompanied with a simple dish of cornichons.
Meanwhile, my langoustine ravioli couldn’t have been more feminine in comparison; ultra fine pasta enveloping sweet, perfectly cooked langoustines, concealed beneath a light, foamy bisque with basil and citrus notes which proved the ideal partner for the fresh yet buttery Chassagne-Montrachet 2010 (an eye-watering £34 for 125ml) which was probably the single most expensive glass of wine I have enjoyed since holidaying in the South of France.
For main, we shared a whole roast turbot with beurre blanc (£59 before sides), paired with the priciest option of wine, Blanc Fumé de Pouilly 2010 (£30 for 125ml), but although the fish looked divine when the waiter presented it to us prior to filleting, the surgery was less than successful as, not only did it reappear looking rather scruffy, with my husband’s fillets having been broken, I was 7 bones away from being left a wealthy widow by the end of the night. Luckily, the wine, with its grassy, passion-fruit notes, meant that the overall flavours deserved to be salivated, although I’m not sure its particularly gastronomic to say that the element I most enjoyed was the side order of macaroni cheese. If they had it as a main I’d go back for that alone.
It was impossible not to have high expectations for dessert, so I didn’t mind the fifteen minute wait for the Grand Marnier soufflé which the sommelier recommended we team with the Tokaji “Edes Szamorodni” 2013; almost reminiscent of a Mead due to its lip-puckeringly sweet and honeyed notes, yet insanely good when tasted alongside the boozy orange of the well risen soufflé. Each wine comes with a card collar stating the name and year, along with the index number on the wine list; perhaps just as well or you might forget how many you’ve sampled, great for when you find a wine you want to remember for your next dinner party, and a novel souvenir of an enjoyable evening.
Les 110 des Taillevent, 16 Cavendish Square, London W1G 9DD. For more information and reservations visit the website.
