L’Escargot

48 Greek St, London

A Greek Street institution has found new owners, who promise to bring back that je ne said quoi.

It is a stalwart of the Soho scene, its name a bastion of French dining, yet L’Escargot has felt a little neglected of late. Various incarnations over the last few decades have somewhat muddied its classic status, but with a further change of ownership earlier this year a fresh impetus has been injected and the signs are that the much-loved Greek Street destination is on the road to reclaiming its former standing.

London’s oldest still-functioning French restaurant, L’Escargot first opened in 1927, with owner M Georges Gaudin breeding his own snails in the basement. The Georgian townhouse soon became a favourite retreat of the French, the famous and the fêted, with Coco Chanel and Maurice Chevalier among the early patrons. After Gaudin retired, it saw various different owners, some more successful than others, and even closed for two years before the then enfant terrible of the London restaurant scene Marco Pierre White took the helm in 1994, the year he was garlanded with three Michelin stars for his eponymous restaurant at the Hyde Park Hotel. L’Escargot was never among White’s priorities, becoming a mélange of styles, and all parties seemed relieved when he sold it earlier this year to Laurence Isaacson, co-founder of Chez Gérard, and Brian Clivaz, founder of Home House.

The pair seem determined to return the restaurant to its roots as a source of classic, French bourgeois fare – albeit immaculately done – and the menu reflects this heritage, peppered as it is with staples such as sole meunière, moules frites, coquilles St Jacques and even a trusty old coq au vin. The highlights on our visit were a sublimely sourced and cooked steak, which fairly dissolved off the fork; and a scrumptious snail pie, its mushroom and garlic sauce soaking the butter pastry. Service was brisk and correct, and there already seems to be a certain conviviality returning among the historic walls.

Those walls are shifting slightly, with the gradual addition of six rooms to the main restaurant, to offer private dining and, eventually, a private members’ club. Reassuringly, the focus is on having the white-tablecloth ambience of a classic brasserie – complete with a ‘dog friendly’ emblem at the foot of the menu. Like Paris, then, but with Soho’s buzz. Long may it be so… GW.