Margot is the name on everybody’s lips this autumn, because this classy Italian off Drury Lane is the result of years of impressive networking from co-founders Nicolas Jaouën and Paulo de Tarso. First announced in February, the restaurant opened on Monday and we headed to Covent Garden to check it out this week. Here’s what we thought…
Words: Neil Simpson
The pair behind Margot met while working at Scott’s, and they certainly know their hospitality: de Tarso (above left) spent nearly six years as maître d’ at Bar Boulud, while Jaouën was the first general manager of Balthazar. Attention to service is the top priority here – from the bowler-hatted doorman and white-suited bar staff, down to the ornate silver jugs for olive oil.
But on our visit, the kitchen wasn’t yet comparable with the cossetting ambience. The fairly priced menu follows the classic Italian route, incorporating interesting salumi and cheese, raw cuts (carpaccios and tartares) then starters, pastas and hearty mains. We began our meal with an antipasti of crab salad served with pickled cucumber and avocado smears: a muted experience for the eyes and palate. To follow, gnocchi in Amatriciana sauce was fine and filling, if unmemorable. In contrast, the steep price attached to a secondi of baked veal osso buco was wholly justified, the jus-drizzled meat submitting to the fork with melting supplication, atop bright-yellow saffron risotto. And if you can judge an Italian by its tiramisu, then Margot’s petite, light, creamy version points to a kitchen with loads of potential.
The premises formerly housed Indian restaurant Moti Mahal, so what was that restaurant’s sunlight-blocking bar area has been removed, permitting a more illuminating view of the ground-floor’s jumble of patterns and artworks. Several surfaces covered in sea-coloured, circular lumps primarily catch the eye, leaving the more restrained basement dining room to conjure up the restaurant’s classiest, more subdued moments. There’s much to enjoy here, but the food needs to dazzle as much as Jaouën’s smile if Margot wants to become Covent Garden’s next grande dame.
Find out more and book a table at Margot here
This article was published 14 October 2016