Anyone with a working knowledge of London restaurants over the past 30 years will have chanced upon Le Pont de la Tour on the South Bank, formerly owned by Terence Conran. At one point in history, “going down Le Pont” was synonymous with low-key luxury: it was a reassuringly expensive French restaurant in a converted tea warehouse, serving lobster thermidor and, more importantly, offering on-the-ball, high-calibre French-style service. This was a rare treat in those days, because, for almost the entire 20th century, the British idea of front-of-house involved a woman with a Rothmans kingsize in her mouth lobbing a pork-tongue ploughman’s in the general direction of your table.
So, it was interesting late last month to hear that Le Pont had expanded and opened an exciting new bistro next door that offered more pocket-friendly versions of French classics such as comte gougeres, duck confit with peas à la française and plats du jour such as rabbit parmentier and ray wing au poivre. Escoffier recipes at Ivy Brasserie prices, it seemed to say.
