What: A new 80-cover neighbourhood restaurant located on Chelsea’s well-heeled Kings Road serving a menu of modern European food ‘with an eye on Asia’.
Who: Fantômas is the creation of chef Chris Denney, who has previously impressed in the capital with gone-too-soon Notting Hill restaurants 108 Garage and Fiend. Denny’s most recent project before this restaurant was a residency at Golborne Road restaurant Caia. To open Fantômas he’s partnered with George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev, the duo behind London restaurants Goodman, Beast, Wild Tavern, and Belvedere as well as their most recent launch, Lita in Marylebone.
The food: Denney’s Europe-by-way-of Asia menu means his cooking is hard to pigeonhole but also makes for an exciting meal that rings the changes. Dishes are designed to be shared with the menu kicking off with a hefty slice of sourdough focaccia, to which you can add a supremely silky chicken liver parfait and cornichons; and BBQ lamb breast with sheep’s yoghurt and mint. Standout starters include a wax tip pear salad with pecan and crema di pecorino; and a diver scallop with Kent mango and suitably fiery-yet-fruity scotch bonnet sauce. Denney’s sweetbread game has always been strong and here his dish of crispy veal sweetbreads with a punchy Bulgogi sauce and sour cabbage didn’t disappoint in terms of originality or flavour. Mains of red mullet with caponata and Thai basil; and a beef fillet with peppercorn sauce, Roscoff onions, and a suet dumpling were equally strong.
To drink: Much effort has gone into creating a cocktail list that can more than stand up to the globetrotting nature of the cooking, evidenced in creations such as the Capri Cooler, made with Ocho tequilla, tomato water, peach wine, and herb oil yuzu; the Tsipouro Sour, which blends the unaged Greek brandy with lime sherbet, aquavit, and shiso; and the Pandan Iced Tea made with El Dorado rum, coconut, pandan, fig leaf, and Genmaicha tea. The wine list is serious with sparkling options from England, Hungary, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Australia, and Germany besides a weighty selection of champagnes, while wines from France and the US dominate what is a pretty hefty wine offer that tops out at £12,000 for a 1989 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac premier grand cru.
The vibe: In short, Fantômas is a beautiful restaurant, with a relaxed and informal dining room that has upscale features, which is very much a trademark of Bukhov-Weinstein and Demichev’s other projects. The dining room combines plain concrete walls, large concrete pillars and bistro style wooden chairs with white linen covered tables and atmospheric lighting, and feels a million miles away from the retail-heavy King’s Road outside. The front part of the room is dominated by a large open kitchen in which Denney and his brigade cook at pizza ovens and Josper grills on full view and which helps create a buzzy vibe, while the part of the restaurant to the rear of the building – which can be curtained off to create a large private dining area – provides a more serene dining atmosphere. There’s also a private dining room proper with adjoining courtyard that seats up to 18 people and a beautiful wine cellar.
And another thing: Fantômas is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre in 1911. A ruthless criminal, he is described as being a master of disguise, regularly appearing under an assumed identity, often people he has bumped off. Makes a change from naming a restaurant after a vegetable or its location.
300 King’s Road, London, SW3 5UH
www.fantomas.co.uk