In the former home of Le Gavroche, chef Matt Abé’s debut restaurant charts a new course of culinary creativity
I’m always intrigued by the music at fine-dining restaurants. Some, like The Ritz, opt for a live pianist. Others, like Claude Bosi’s now-closed Bibendum in Chelsea, go the other way, with ’80s power ballads that wouldn’t be out of place in a nightclub nostalgia night. At Bonheur, it is Ed Sheeran, with a bit of Tears for Fears and Goo Goo Dolls thrown in for good measure.
The overall effect is a restaurant that feels fun and relaxed, even with all the fine-dining flourishes (I am addressed as “Miss Young” at all times, and the service is a perfectly synchronised spectacle). And if you read no further, that’s what you need to know about Bonheur: it’s clever but chilled out, and never misses a beat.
The background
You can’t talk about Bonheur without first talking about Le Gavroche. The 43 Upper Brook Street site was, until 2024, the home of Albert and Michel Roux Sr’s Le Gavroche – the first UK restaurant to ever win three Michelin stars. After it closed, Gordon Ramsay – a chef who needs no introduction – took over the lease, creating an opportunity for his protégé, Matt Abé, to open his debut restaurant.
Aussie-born Abé worked at Ramsay’s flagship restaurant for 18 years, but Bonheur is the first time he’s had full creative sway over a restaurant. There are, obviously, big shoes to fill, given Le Gavroche’s place in London’s culinary canon. But Abé isn’t trying to redo Le Gavroche. He has created something entirely his own.
The upstairs bar at Bonheur: the perfect place for a pre-dinner martini
Bonheur's design features soft curves and warm lighting
The space
Bonheur feels soft – there are lots of curved edges and supple textures, all lit by a warm glow. The colour palette uses a lot of burnt orange shades, which intentionally reference the Australian landscape; the swirling texture of the carpet, in particular, reminds me of the Aussie outback as seen by air.
Upstairs is a chic cocktail bar that practically insists you order a pre-dinner martini. By the stairs down to the main restaurant, there are a stack of cookbooks by Abé’s mentors, including Ramsay. It’s a nice nod to the people who helped him get started – and an indication that the Matt Abé show is about to begin.
The food
There are two tasting menus at Bonheur, plus an à la carte if you only want a couple of courses (or, if you’ve been before, and know what you want more of). I’m having the “Journey” menu, which is five courses; the “Dream” menu adds another couple of plates, and ladles on the luxe with caviar, scallops and 125-day-aged sirloin.
The scene is set with a series of snacks – the beef tartare is a personal highlight – before the first course proper: a quiche. Naturally, we are in Mayfair, so this is not just a quiche; this is a flecked, savoury custard layered with buttery leeks, set on shortcrust and topped with pork belly and vin jaune sauce. It’s familiar, yet modern – which I quickly realise is Abé’s style.
Joe Howard Photography
Quiche Lorraine: a flecked, savoury custard layered with buttery leeks
Next is a dinky slice of turbot – flaky, and tender, swimming in hollandaise – followed by a sliver of Aynhoe Park venison. The meat, scarlet in the middle with a thin strip of seared edge, comes with pickled blackberry and beetroot, and a sauce you could slurp up and swig. It has a sweetness that reminds me of HP Sauce, or a (very bougie) burger – again, giving a sense of something familiar wrapped up in fine dining. It is one of the best things I’ve eaten recently.
As is the dessert, actually. Abé’s final flourish is toasted grains with smoked chestnut ice-cream, and a boozy Macallan caramel sauce that negates the need for an after-dinner whisky. It marries sweet with savoury in a “pancakes with bacon and syrup” type of way; the chestnut ice-cream, in particular, has a smokiness that is practically alchemic with that Macallan sauce.
The petit fours need a mention, too. If only because one of them, a negroni jelly, manages to briefly transport me to a summer night in Italy in a single bite. And that, I realise, is the power of Matt Abé’s cooking: it is food that can take you elsewhere in one mouthful.
Jodi Hinds
Venison with pickled blackberry
Jodi Hinds
Toasted grains with Macallan whiskey sauce
The verdict
It almost feels rude to keep mentioning Le Gavroche in the same sentence as Bonheur. Because Bonheur is something new and distinctive; Abé has created dishes that are both clever and classic, with a lick of nostalgia that makes even the most elaborate dish feel personal. Matt Abé is cooking from the heart and – between the plates and the playlist – it’s impossible not to feel it.
*Since publication, Bonheur has been awarded two Michelin stars
43 Upper Brook Street, London W1K 7QR; bonheurbymattabe.com
