The Biltmore

Jason Atherton’s return to Grosvenor Square is not without drama. The chef made his name at Maze, the restaurant he launched with Gordon Ramsay at the Marriott in 2005 and left five years later to go solo. He and Ramsay haven’t spoken since and now the two chefs are facing off against each other on opposite sides of the square: Ramsay with Maze’s reincarnation as Lucky Cat, and Atherton with this approachable (if not approachably priced) dining room within the new Biltmore hotel.

Starters focus on raw fish and meat in the likes of king crab with zingy yuzu and lime or a more subtle Orkney scallop with pear and sorrel, though the best thing we began the meal with were the gorgeous beef dripping croutons – like squishy chips made from fried bread – that accompanied a loose-textured, ruby-red steak tartare.

To follow, native lobster with white port bisque and rib-eye steak with bone-marrow both showcased well-sourced – and lusciously sauced – ingredients, though a side order of New Forest wild mushrooms with smoked egg yolk was so rich it would have been better served on toast as a starter.

In fact, so much of what we ate produced a sort of mouth-coating richness that we were grateful for our ultra fresh-tasting vegetable dishes of iceberg lettuce and snow peas with blue cheese, and a Caesar salad of cos lettuce and nori. A deconstructed Victoria sponge, meanwhile, made us think that afternoon tea here would be a good punt.

The Biltmore is part of LXR, whose properties are billed as the ‘one-of-a-kind’ wing of the Hilton empire. In truth, though, there’s no escaping you’re in a multinational hotel chain; the Betterment may have its own entrance, but the creamy, grey-ish decor feels very corporate, and efficient staff don’t do much to inject personality to proceedings.

The restaurant does, however, have a trump card in a heated terrace which allows year-round alfresco and would be an especially welcome sight in the morning over something bracing from the Wellness section of the breakfast menu (there’s lobster scrambled eggs and a full English, too).

Speaking of Trump: POTUS makes an appearance in what is destined to be this year’s most-Instagrammed cocktail, The Orange American, served in a Toby jug modelled on the President and topped with a comb-over of candy floss – presumably not on the menu when Atherton cooked for Trump on his recent State Visit.

Trump was right: the American Embassy should never have moved out of Grosvenor Square. Jason Atherton, at least, is a welcome return.

This glamorous hotel restaurant marks a return to Grosvenor Square for Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton, who first rose to fame launching Gordon Ramsay’s Maze on the square in 2005.

The all-day restaurant is part of The Biltmore Mayfair hotel, the first European property within the LXR Hotels & Resorts collection. The kitchen is headed up by Atherton’s long-time colleague Paul Walsh, who launched City Social with Atherton back in 2014, and led the kitchen to gain a Michelin star less than a year after it opened.

Expect seasonally inspired cooking, including meat and fish dishes prepared on the rustic wood-fired grill that takes up the centre of the space, bringing the kitchen into the main dining room and adding a sense of theatre.

Elsewhere on the menu, there are fresh seafood dishes, signature salads and plant-based options for vegan diners. Cosy banquettes, glass-panelled walls and ornate finishes, meanwhile, live up to the chic opulence of Atherton’s other restaurants. The chef is also responsible for the food and drink offering at the hotel’s Terrace and Tea Lounge, as well as its Pine Bar.

Atherton might be best known for his Social restaurants (Pollen Street Social, City Social, Social Eating House) but is no stranger to hotel dining, with Berners Tavern at the London Edition and the Clocktower at the New York Edition part of his global portfolio. Mayfair is hardly short of hotel restaurants from big-name chefs, but Atherton's knowledge of the local scene is likely to make it into a smash hit.