It might surprise you to learn that the modern concept of a restaurant - that is to mean a place where you're served food at a table, after you've ordered from a menu - didn't really exist until 1782. And while it might not feel particularly astonishing to discover that this nascence occurred in Paris, this Londoner found it slightly gratifying to discover that the world's first restaurant, opened at the very heart of France, was in fact called La Grande Taverne de Londres. Much has been made in the last few years of British food making a comeback in the Republic, after this apparently nearly 250-year hiatus. And French champagne houses have even been buying up English vineyards. But all is not well in the other direction. Post-Brexit, Gaulish restaurants here in Britain are struggling to attract French staff prepared to navigate the complexities of the UK's new visa rules, and that's only if they can meet the income thresholds on a waiter's salary. All this offers a fitting moment to visit the cradle of modern British cuisine inspired by traditional French cooking.
What's the catch? That was my first thought on receiving an email that London's longest-held Michelin star restaurant is offering lunch or dinner for £35. It then occurred to me that the last time I visited Pied à Terre was February 2020, those halcyon evenings out before the pandemic was about to turn London's restaurant trade upside down. It certainly seemed as if this was an offer one shouldn't really pass up.