Mount St. Restaurant is the jewel in the crown of genius hospitality company Artfarm’s latest project. We say genius, because what they’ve managed to achieve on the first floor of this grandiose building is a thing of beauty. Part of a revamped, five-story property just a few doors down from Scott’s in Mayfair, the modern restaurant is headed up by the highly-talented Jamie Shears who brings an unprecedented level of luminosity to well-known British dishes.
It’s a decidedly luxurious dining room, cemented by eye-watering prices and walls flanked by a priceless collection of artworks - Matisse and Warhol are both present. Art and design are central to the restaurant’s concept, although our favourite feature is its beautiful Palladian mosaic floor comprised of a cacophony of marble. It seems a shame to walk all over it.
However, the real artistry appears with the food. Sure, these are dishes we’ve had before – Portland crab, meaty croquettes, chocolate mousse - but as our plates arrive, each one more delicious than the last, any previous iterations of their sort we’ve ever eaten seem like mere shadows of the dishes that Shear’s produces.
A supremely crispy ‘mock turtle’ croquette filled with soft, pulled veal is emboldened by the umami hum of oyster mayonnaise. Elsewhere, two Wellington-like medallions of pigeon and duck liver are preserved in crisp, butter-rich pastry and served with velvety red cabbage puree. Chocolate mousse, dense and indulgent as our waiter described it, is exactly that and worlds more, heavy with cocoa and buried beneath a mound of chocolate shavings. Brilliance and playfulness appear in equal measure. Possibly the best thing we ate was a side of bubble and squeak, manifested as hash brown-like cubes of buttery potato, served with tangy HP hollandaise.
There’s some serious magic going on in Shears’ kitchen. Promptly post-dessert, our waiter had to politely ask for our table back to accommodate a heaving reservation list, which is proof in itself that Mount St. is doing something right.