It’s rare to chance upon a hidden gem in Soho. Long gone are the days wherein you can stumble upon a small eatery, nestled in some unexplored nook. Chez Antoinette is perhaps the closest thing you can find within the untrodden realms of ‘I found this first.’
Located in the heart of Covent Garden, this French-brasserie is unassuming. It would be easy to gloss over it in choosing a spot to eat: corporate set lunches of French food has made the concept of brasseries in London feel tired. Anyone with a passion for good food avoids these copy and paste establishments like the plague.
Yet Chez Antoinette is a very different experience from your half-seasoned steak avec frites. The main reason? It is run and owned by husband and wife duo Aurélia and Jean-Baptiste Noël-Delclos, who infuse the walls with a warm French charm. This is no cash-pig: instead, it’s the child of gastro-love making, a restaurant that, despite all odds, remained independent and true to family cooking.
Rustic antiques, art deco table lamps, oak and brass hues characterise Chez Antoinette with an approachable style of glam. It is both upmarket and unapologetically rustic, without being gimmicky. That being said, there is a dessert table, clad with delightful looking sweet treats. It screams of the 1980s, or very expensive hotels. I want to brandish this as tacky, yet its effect casts a domestic glow over the dining room. It feels indicative of Aurélia’s motherly affection as she guides us through the dining room.
The menu at Chez Antoinette is unassuming. It’s as if a Lyonnaise-café wed a Parisian bistro. The food is simple and surprisingly light: if you’re expecting whole cuts of meat to be plonked at your table, smothered in butter, then you’re in the wrong place. Good French gastronomy focuses more on utilising simple, high quality ingredients.
Take for example, the Sausage & Lentils. It is, indeed, just that: one large, juicy Morteau sausage with gently cooked lentils. Or the Duck Confit Salad – shredded crispy confit duck tossed in a tangy salad dressing. And, whilst there are some classically identifiable French items – snails in garlic butter, or beef bourguignon, the menu hasn’t been written to fit any mould.
Chez Antoinette doesn’t cater to diners shopping for pretentiousness. This is refined home cooking, at its best.
Review by Ella Mapes @lrmapes
Images supplied
