APolish-Mexican love story to comfort the soul

That love is often irrational, illogical and inexplicable is one of the loveliest things about it; the strongest bonds are often forged from the unlikeliest matches. So it is with restaurants.

- L'Autre

Even so, here's a pairing rarely seen when dining out: PolishMexican, served in a French wine bar.

This is L'Autre, which means "The Other". I'll say.

L'Autre lives just off Shepherd Market, the only part of Mayfair that has a character all of its own. Implausibly five minutes walk from Berkeley Square, long monied into anonymity, it is an unrehearsed, lightly Bohemian muddle of streets. Admittedly, 5 Hertford Street lurks nearby, but balance is offered by L'Artiste Muscle (French, 1971), Da Corradi (Italian, 1978) and AI Hamra (Lebanese, 1984). You imagine developers sniffing around are given short shrift. Probably one of the regulars spots them and snubs a cigar out on their talons.

L'Autre is the eldest, here since 1942.