5 Charles Street, Mayfair, London
W1J 5DE 0207 499 2988
themeredithgroup.co.uk
It was suggested recently in The Guardian that Punch head honcho Giles Thorley's checked shirt and designer glasses might mean he's a little over-dressed to blend in at one of the company's East End hostelries. That suggestion did, of course, smack of some kind of inverted snobbery.
Applying The Guardian's crude and grossly unfair stereotyping, however, would place Thorley entirely at home at the Only Running Footman, a Punch pub set in deepest Mayfair, just round the corner from Berkeley Square. The pub has re-opened under the aegis of entrepreneur Barnaby Meredith, known for his top-drawer gastro-boozers, the House in Islington and the Bull In Highgate. The pub's quaint moniker refers to the days when aristocrats' carriages were preceded by manservants on foot, whose duties included carrying lights after dusk and paying tollkeepers.
Appropriate, then, that I took in its delights with my boss, who tends to rail against any pub that has forsaken its "pubbiness" by embracing an overly formal and restauranty approach to food service. The Only Running Footman certainly comes with top-drawer foodie credentials. Jeremy Hollingsworth, who spent six years working for Marco Pierre White and picked up a Michelin star at Quo Vadis, is behind the stove. Andre Vazquez, who has spent periods with White and Terence Conran, is heading up operations. Given its position in hedge-fund alley and its small square footage, there may well have been a temptation to catapult the Only Running Footman into rarefied, non-pubby territory.
Commendably, it manages to have its cake and eat it. The ground-floor area follows the Gordon Ramsay-style route of updating pub classics. There's an artery-clogging farmhouse breakfast as part of a breakfast menu running between 9am and 11am. Main courses include South Coast potted shrimp (£7.95), Welsh rarebit and watercress (£6.50) and Footman quiche of the day (£6.50). There are enough traditional puddings to make any former-public-school-boy-turned-master-of-the-universe tingle with nostalgia - warm chocolate pudding (£6), Eton mess (£5.50) and a tart of the day (£5) are all on offer. Just to bang home the pubby point, diners can nosh at the bar and there's a good range of cask ales - Red Squirrel, Young's and Bombardier.
There's a smattering of tables clutching the pavement outside and, on a warm evening, you can imagine the gilded drinking groups of Charles Street cluttering the area in the post-work mode of hundreds of London beer houses. Having ensured the ground-floor space carries the imprint of enough authentic pub trading traits to keep pub purists happy, Meredith cleverly uses the upper floors to squeeze out more trading potential. The first floor heads straight for the discerning restaurant trade, with main-course dishes priced at about double the downstairs menu.
There's native lobster and clam spaghettini with slow-roast tomato (£23.00), pan-fried sea bass, shallot and coriander mash (£17.95), scallop and crab sausage, and baby spinach and Champagne sauce (£15). The decor, not surprisingly, provides a contrast with downstairs, with patterned carpet, rich gold velvet chairs and a higher head-count of solicitous waiters. But there's a real emphasis on upping the comfort levels while keeping pretension tethered. Average spend per head in the restaurant is £25 to £30 per person (not including wine) compared to a range of £10 to £15 in the pub (not including drinks). I tried Gloucester Old Spot slow roast pork, apple sauce and marjoram jus (£13.95), which was cooked to perfection. There are also second floor and third floor dimensions to the business.
They offer a private room for events and launches, and a chef's table for 10 where customers can, no doubt, get a proper view of bandana-clad chefs shouting orders at each other (or does that only happen in Hell's Kitchen?). Last but not least, there's a chance to take in a culinary class at the cookery school, launching in a few weeks' time and offering space for five people at a time.
All in all, it's a convivial, welcoming kind of place. My group enjoyed drinks downstairs in the pub before moving upstairs, passing three hours so pleasantly that we ran out of time for a pudding.
Nice to have an excuse to go back, though.
The PMA Team
Pub facts
Owners: Meredith Group
On the menu:
Starters: South coast fish soup with saffron rouille (£10); Dorset blue vinney, pear, walnut and endive salad (£6.95).
Mains: Running Footman mixed grill - Irish fillet beef, Elwy Valley lamb cutlet and kidneys, Saddleback sausages, Woburn Estate bacon, Frontman black pudding (£19.95); scallop and crab sausage, baby spinach, Champagne sauce (£15).
Puddings: Bakewell tart with vanilla ice cream (£5.50); Valrhona chocolate pudding with vanilla ice cream (£6.00).
Menu innovation: Home-made ice cream (£5); a selection of three cheeses (£8) or five cheeses (£9.50).
Wine list: Starts humbly and soars right up into the stratosphere, ranging from £13.50 to £250.
Standing out from the crowd: Offers breakfast from an incredibly early 7.30am during the week and from 9am at the weekend. The pub has its own cookery school and chef's table. The Sunday brunch menu offers kedgeree and Welsh rarebit on toast. There's also a takeaway menu with Melton Mowbray pork pie and piccalilli for £3.50; bacon butty with brown sauce, and sausage sarnie for £2.95.