Alastair Little

Alastair Little was a key player in the reinvention of modern British cuisine back in the 80s & his eponymous restaurant remains one of Soho’s most feted venues – even though the man himself moved on a long time ago (he now runs a deli in Westbourne Grove). Juliet Peston has overseen the kitchen for close on 20 years, & she has maintained the tradition of mod-Med cuisine. Starters such as Tuscan chestnut soup enlivened with a swirl of Tuscan olive oil, or wood pigeon with a wild mushroom & faro risotto, might precede mustard- & herb-crusted rack of lamb, or sea bass with white bean purée. There are occasional nods to fashionable Asian cuisine, too, with soy-braised scallops (served with fennel purée) & stem ginger crème brûlée also on the regularly changing menu. Service is ‘kind & unobtrusive’ & the atmosphere ‘relaxed & unpretentious’.