MAYFAIRTIMES.CO.UK 41
PHOTO BY INDIRA FLACK
ACT ION
MAN
If running a restaurant empire across the
globe wasn’t enough, Jason Atherton is in a
primetime BBC series and is set to launch a
“huge” new restaurant in Mayfair. His pledge?
Affordable luxury and a side order of funWORDS REYHAAN DAYI
t’s 10am and the tables at Pollen Street
Social are already immaculately laid out.
Sitting in the corner of the Michelin-
starred restaurant, its founder and
one of Britain’s most respected chefs:
Jason Atherton. His rapid-fire directions
to assorted team members drift across the
clunk and whir of the coffee machine.
He strides over and sits down at the table,
apologising for the delay. He rattles off one
last email from his phone, before placing it
face down on the white linen.
Atherton is London’s busiest chef-
restaurateur. Within his Social Company,
he operates six restaurants (three with a
Michelin star) and two bars in London alone- alongside a Michelin-recognised restaurant
in New York and sites in Shanghai, Dubai and
Doha among others.
The latest addition to his restaurant empire
is The Betterment – perhaps the summer’s
most anticipated gastronomic launch.
Opening at The Biltmore, on the other
side of Grosvenor Square to where Atherton
first made his name some 15 years ago at
Maze, The Betterment is one of the chef’s
grandest projects to date. Encompassing
an all-day restaurant, a cocktail bar and
offering banqueting and room service, it is
an ambitious vision, even for someone who
has provided London with some of its boldest
culinary destinations.
“I’ve got 270 staff on the books waiting for
it to open. It’s huge,” laughs Atherton, as he is
reminded of the magnitude of the project.
The restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch
and dinner with the action revolving around
Basque wood-fired grills. Main courses will
see Atherton’s team (including Paul Walsh,
who helped City Social achieve its Michelin
star) prepare healthy proteins including
fish, shellfish, chicken and veal, arranged
simply on the plate. Uniquely, the fun comes
with the accompaniments, which are the
antidote to the usual duck fat chips or a
green salad. “The star of the show will be
the side orders. There are 16 and I’ve had
a lot of fun with them. There’s Mexican,
Middle Eastern, South American, Texan,
southeast and northern Asian and European
inf luences. Every time you come, you can
have a different experience. Nobody has done
that before.”
Afternoon tea will be served in the hotel
lobby, as well as in The Betterment’s garden- another feather in the restaurant’s cap