Those of us who eagerly make a reservation at Yannick Alléno’s new restaurant Pavyllon London – his first in the UK – will inevitably do so with certain expectations. After all, chef Yannick is a culinary heavyweight, having amassed no fewer than fifteen Michelin stars across fourteen restaurants worldwide and having been credited with modernising French cooking with his pioneering techniques. We will expect an experience, and though Yannick will no doubt deliver one, he is reluctant to label Pavyllon as such – instead, he likens it to a luxury bistro where, whether you are working, dining solo, celebrating an occasion or catching up with friends, you’ll feel at home.
‘People can expect to have a good time,’ he smiles. ‘I don’t want to say it’s an experience restaurant, though. I want to have a simple place, a very comfortable place. We work for the neighbourhood – that’s what the restaurant is made for, it’s made for the neighbourhood. I want people laughing, drinking. If you are alone you can speak with the team, if you are with friends you can have seats at the counter to talk to the chefs or if you want to be quiet you can have a spot for that, a table in the corner to ensure no-one can disturb you. It will be, I hope, a fantastic place to go.’
With restaurants in cities including Paris, Dubai, Monaco and Seoul, it feels long overdue for Yannick to be opening his first venture in London, but he says, now fifty-two, he feels ready to tackle the market. ‘London is a very competitive place and there are so many good chefs in the city, so many good restaurants and they are all fantastic,’ he says. ‘It’s one of the best levels of food you can have in the world, so you have to be sure that you come with the right concept, with the right partner and at the right time – and that is now.’
So, with the stage set, the much-anticipated Pavyllon London will open in the Four Seasons Hotel London in Park Lane, and will, Yannick says, champion laid-back luxury. The room will be dominated by a counter facing the open kitchen, seating thirty-six people, while the design – led by renowned decorator and designer Chahan Minassian – will ‘marry the chic conviviality of Parisian apartments with the louche feel of a British club’, a press release promises. The menu will be shaped by French gastronomy and share similarities with Pavyllon Paris, but will draw inspiration from seasonal British produce. ‘You are lucky in Britain to have so much good produce, including fish, vegetables, lamb and so on,’ Yannick says. ‘So of course we will work in that direction to make a local restaurant, but the style of Pavyllon will be there.’