Fortnum & Mason’s New Restaurant: Snails, Style and Inexpensive Wines
All-day brasserie 45 Jermyn St. succeeds a decades-old star in a prime central location. It is also one of the best new London restaurants of the year.
Some new restaurants scream for attention, throwing celebrity parties and gaining publicity more for their diners than their dinners.
And then there is 45 Jermyn St., which opened quietly in October on the site of The Fountain, which survived for 60 years at the back of Fortnum & Mason. This new brasserie is clubby and, while it is beautiful, it is understated. The focus is on the food and wine, and the culture is of hospitality, not bling.