When the AA Hospitality Awards bestow four AA Rosettes on a restaurant for the first time, it is probably worth taking notice. Especially when it is only one of three awarded the honour in London and the chef, Sofian Msetfi, is only 30. Welcome to Ormer.
A stone’s throw from Green Park, this old-school, art-deco beauty is nestled under the petite but luxurious Flemings Hotel. Marble, oak and white tablecloths set the tone as a silver-bowled trolley is whisked over to the table offering glasses of Champagne Delavenne, a small grower who uses only Grand Cru grapes and with whom Ormer has an exclusive relationship.
With its beautifully creamy bubbles and rounded brioche and red apple notes I felt no guilt at bypassing the English option, despite it being the rather wonderful Rathfinney rosé.
What followed was an eight-course tasting menu with various additional treats scattered along the way. The cured Cornish mackerel, fresh and salty in its kombu jus was precise and impeccably paired with Josmeyer’s “H” Pinot Auxerrois and I could have licked the Orkney scallop’s red cabbage beurre blanc sauce clean from the plate. The butter-poached cod, meanwhile, did decadent things to a piece of fish, incorporating razor clams, yuzu and heady fois gras.
The final main, a perfectly cooked roast chicken ‘de Bresse’ served with coffee and vin jaune was so comfort-food-perfect with its rich, dark meat and potato foam that I was tempted to go bowl in hand to the Chef and plead for more.
Settling into the sweet gateaux with a silky Dorgo Tokaji Aszu 2013, it was clear that Ormer harkens back to a time of old-fashioned glamour but with excellent modern cuisine.
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