Social dining with Jason Atherton

WORDS DOUGLAS BLYDE / PHOTOGRAPHY PAUL WINCH-FURNESS

 It may have just opened but Pollen Street Social has already made a huge impact on London’s furiously competitive restaurant scene. Executive chef Jason Atherton explains why

Pollen Street Social. Image: Paul Winch-FurnessClad in whites, Jason Atherton has taken 10 minutes from deftly trimming Cornish soles at his restaurant opposite to give an update on its running.

‘I came to London with nothing,’ says the Worksop-born son of a Skegness hotelier who went on to work with Pierre Koffmann, Marco Pierre White, Ferran Adrià and Gordon Ramsay.

Pollen Street Social. Image: Paul Winch-FurnessDespite Pollen Street Social being half the size of Maze, where Atherton garnered awards from Michelin and Tatler, he believes customers and critics have greater expectations. ‘One food blogger booked in at 6pm on opening day and posted a review at 7:23pm,’ he recalls. ‘That’s strange. There are more important things than Pollen Street Social!’

However, when working 6am to midnight, six days a week, it must be hard to maintain a broader view. Indeed, it transpires that Atherton just received an obnoxious critique in a broadsheet. ‘What makes me laugh is that journalists build chefs up,’ he says. ‘But the minute one puts their name on the menu, it’s like “what’s happened?”’

Pollen Street Social.. Image: Paul Winch-FurnessOver at Pollen Street Social, carpenters smooth final niggles with the fit. Connected to the restaurant is the Social Room bar with scarlet Arne Jacobsen sofa and pre-prohibition cocktails.

The crisp dining room features floral splays, Carl Hansen chairs and dark double banquettes seating 60. And representing a first for the city is the restaurant’s dessert bar where patrons are served by pâtissiers in tunics by tailor, Nick Hart. ‘He’s the bad boy of Savile Row,’ says Atherton.

Pollen Street Social.. Image: Paul Winch-FurnessSo what is Atherton’s style? ‘I’m cooking good, simple food with a bit of a twist,’ he says, modestly.

Inspired by international roaming, including a stage as first British chef at Ferran Adrià’s elBulli, dishes include ‘English breakfast’ (quail egg, bacon, truffle duxelle, tomato), Toro tuna with avruga, and ‘back to front risotto’ of squid, ink puffs and roasted consommé.

Pollen Street Social. bar. Image: Paul Winch-Furness5,000 secured reservations when lines opened. ‘We’ve 110 booked in on a Monday night,’ reports Atherton. ‘Go round London and you can count on your hands places doing that.’

Pollen Street Social, 8 Pollen Street, London, W1S 1NQ, pollenstreetsocial.com.