Sketch is the London outpost of multi-starred French chef Pierre Gagnaire. The Mayfair venue has different rooms with different names and offerings, and it’s only the first floor Lecture Room and Library restaurant which has been awarded 3 Michelin stars for 2021.  Despite its rise from one to two and then to three stars, Sketch has somehow stayed under my radar; I just haven’t read articles about it.  But once on my radar I then found Sketch’s website to be the most confusing and least informative website ever!  But I was still keen to try it, not least because I hadn’t yet been to a Pierre Gagnaire restaurant.  Sketch is hard to get a table at, so Amex’s concierge got me on a waiting list, and then personal contact with the restaurant closer to the date secured me a table for dinner in the first week of June 2021.  I really had no idea my mind was going to be blown away by the experience!

When we arrived our taxi driver pointed and said “there’s the club you want”, which we found amusing, but when we entered the venue it was like entering a very cool club, with muffled bass beats, UV lights and an urban feel. Because we were eating in the Lecture Room & Library, we were treated like club VIPs and taken behind a giant paperclip barrier across the beginning of a staircase with designer spilled paint.  On the mezzanine we were introduced to a lady dressed as a nursemaid, who showed us where the toilets were located.  Regardless of the state of your bladder I urge you to visit the toilets, because you won’t have seen their like!

Dark and covered in mirrored tiles, with neon blue designs and spider webs apparently made from bright gemstones, the toilets are a very trippy experience.

At the top of the stairs, facing us as we came up, was a mannequin looking like a sparkly space girl.  I’ve never been to a restaurant like this before!

We entered the brightly coloured and sumptuously appointed dining room and were shown to a good-sized table in the corner of the Lecture Room. The adjacent Library has a similar style, and doesn’t have lots of books.  The Lecture Room has 2 large white canvasses on facing walls, which I first took to be like projector screens for a lecture, but later in the evening I realised they were portraits, in various shades of white against a white background.

My golden yellow chair looked fantastic and was very comfortable for the three hours of dining ahead of us.  Mr A’s chair was pink.

We had a handsome small moorish stone table to set my ‘man bag’ on; this always tickles me in high end restaurants, and I really do appreciate it, but I was surprised we only had one to share, and most tables didn’t seem to have one at all.

We wanted to start the evening with a glass of Champagne so a friendly lady sommelier talked us through the list, which was pretty expensive.  I chose to “blend my own” from 2 glasses of different Charles Heidsieck vintages.  I remember feeling quite confused at this time, like I was in a strange dream, maybe at a mad hatter’s tea party!

Then we studied the dinner menus.  Only the ‘host’ has a priced menu, which is very civilised and something I’d only seen before at the Waterside Inn.  Essentially there was a choice between a multiple course tasting menu at £165 each or three courses a la carte, also at £165. Interestingly, our waiter told us the a la carte best demonstrated the prowess of the kitchen brigade.  And even more interesting was that each of the items on the a la carte actually contained up to four dishes.  Crikey there’s so much novelty to get ones head around at Sketch!  We chose to go a la carte; my 3 courses would all be savoury: starter, fish and meat courses, while Mr A went for starter, fish and dessert.  It was pretty cool that they let us take different approaches.  We both went for a wine flight at £145 each, but we’d be getting different wines because we were eating different things.

A selection of 5 canapés each arrived.  I can’t recall what they were, in fact I don’t think the information was received by my brain because I struggled to comprehend the all French team’s accents with them wearing face masks, apart from a shot glass of well-balanced strawberry and tomato gazpacho, but all five were delicious, light and delicate 10/10. BTW the item in the bottom right of the picture above isn’t one of the canapés, it’s a little Sketch-branded bottle of hand sanitiser!

Next we were given a small selection of breads and three butters. Wary about getting too full, I limited myself here, but what I had was very good indeed, and Mr A loved them. 10/10

My starter was simply titled “Scottish Langoustines” but it consisted of four dishes. The first was called “Chaud-Froid” which was a light and summery plate of a whole freshly poached langoustine tail with an apple, radish and cucumber salad.  I can’t recall what the mayo-like dressing was, but even though the photo shows quite a lot of it, everything was actually well-balanced.

The second plate had lightly smoked then poached langoustine in a beurre rose, with British seaweeds, which tasted fresh and sweet, like the ocean.

The third Langoustine plate featured a tartare with grapefruit, chervil and a Somerset cider granita. This was fabulously refreshing in the mouth; cool, light and fruity.

My final langoustine plate was spheres of langoustine mousseline in a langoustine bisque, which I really enjoyed.

Combining my scores for each dish, I score this Langoustine starter 10/10

My seafood course was called “Turbot”, and it incorporated three plates. The first was a pave of turbot roasted on the bone and served with a foaming mushroom bouillon.  A good piece of fish, cooked well and handsomely supported by the mushroom sauce.

The second and third turbot plates didn’t have any turbot in them!  Firstly I had Sicilian Gambero Rosso on a roasted carrot puree, with sea aster on top.  A pleasant dish, but I don’t think the kitchen got the best out of the gambero rosso.

The final dish on my “Turbot” course was a single spear of British asparagus with some hazelnuts and lardo di colonnata.  It was good, but it was ‘just’ a spear of asparagus.  Overall I found this ‘course’ to be less connected to its name, because turbot only appeared in the first plate. But it was still tasty and refined cooking. 9/10

The kitchen and front of house teams afforded us decent pauses in between courses, which was very welcome, as I became full, and I still had to face my main meat course – “Duck”.  This course only comprised two plates, the first of which was duck marinated then roasted “en bateau”, sliced and served with Japanese turnips and radishes coated in a foie gras sauce.  To me, that sounds delicious, but I didn’t find the appearance of this dish at all appetising.  Taste-wise it was good, but it was very rich. I’ve no idea what “en bateau” means as a method of cooking, and neither dies Google!

On the side was a beautiful and intricately made Savoy cabbage leaf stuffed with duck meat “a la landaise”.  I found the duck meat a little dry, so I would have liked a sauce to go with it.  When I finished this course we had been in the restaurant for 3 hours, so I’m not sure if I was getting tired (or tipsy), or just to full to enjoy rich food, but this course was definitely my least favourite.  8/10

Whilst I was having my duck course, Mr A had his dessert, which was called “Pierre Gagnaire’s Grand Dessert” and once again comprised several different sweet treats.

We rounded off our dinner with a cup of “honey black tea” which is made from a bush which has produced a certain chemical response to being attacked by insects. I would never have suspected, it was just a nice cup of tea.  Tea was served with a selection of 5 petit fours each, which were all very delicious. 9.5/10

From the moment we entered Sketch I was giddy with excitement over how radically different and flamboyant everything was; I really felt mind-blown.  However, after sleeping on it, I began to wonder if it really was so magical after all.  That’s not quite true; negative afterthoughts started when I got the bill; it was the most expensive meal for two I’ve ever had, at £853!  Was it the best dinner I’ve ever had? No. In the top 10? Possibly.  The overall experience of the venue and the front of house staff was absolutely amazing, 10/10.  The food wasn’t consistently marvellous, and didn’t always reflect the lightness of seasonal produce, and although I gave out several tens, overall I would say 9/10

Would I go again?  I’d like to try one of Sketch’s other restaurants/spaces to see if I can get the same visual and emotional bang for fewer bucks.  This meal, and its cost, really did, for the first time ever, make me think twice about the amount of money I’m spending in high end restaurants. It made me feel ashamed.  My mind had been blown, but also altered.