It’s almost impossible to arrive at Sketch Gallery restaurant without some preconceptions; tales of £70 starters have run rife since Pierre Gagnaire’s London venture first opened its doors. These days the prices have come down to earth a little but this extraordinary venue continues to polarise opinion.

The Venue
A large high-ceilinged white room with a huge domed skylight, The Sketch Gallery has lost none of its glamour since its days as Christian Dior’s London showroom. An idiosyncratic mix of modernist and rococo styles sees Bauhaus sofas rubbing armrests with repro Louis XIV chairs, while overhead a rubber sphere looms like a Deathstar over the diners.

The disarming mix of old and new continues in the toilets where futuristic egg-shaped pods share floor space with heavy Victorian-style washbasins.

The Atmosphere
Oddly enough given its film set chic, Sketch’s midweek clientele aren’t nearly as cool as they could be. The Gallery at Sketch is populated largely by businessmen, post-work groups and wealthy Mayfair mother-daughter duos, although things do crank up a notch at weekends, when the Midnight Feast sitting is accompanied by a DJ.

The service is outstanding, the chirpy, trainer-clad staff models of tact and affability.

The Food
The menu is traditionally French, but avoids the charge of being stuck in the past that can be levelled at many other by-the-book Gallic establishments. Familiar dishes are given a modern twist with hip, international ingredients; surprising flavours sit alongside simpler tastes (for example chocolate with fillet steak) and while it may not be to everyone’s taste, Sketch Gallery certainly puts your taste buds through their paces, and in thoroughly enjoyable fashion.

The Last Word
Sketch Gallery is, right down to the last detail, unique. Neither as expensive nor as exclusive as some would have you believe, this is event-dining of the highest order; inimitably cool, impeccably turned out and perfectly prepared. Get your boss on side, sweet-talk the in-laws or drop in for a special date: just go, just once and be proud London can boast somewhere this chic.

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