Ramsay's top dog conquers Le Gavroche

Food is the great stirrer of memory. Madeleines for Proust, toad in the hole for me. It follows that restaurants are vehicles of a kind, both Concordes and DeLoreans: they take us across the world, but also through time. Pubs summoning the splendour of the Victorians; wine bars that recall Paris in the 1950s; brasseries with a touch of 1960s cool. Rarely, though, are the early-2000s exhumed, as in Bonheur. “Ah, the great mediocrity of the Noughties,” I didn’t think. “Thank God someone’s brought it back.”

- DAVID ELLIS RESTAURANT CRITIC

Bonheur — happiness in French — is the new opening from Matt Abé, who spent 18 years at Gordon Ramsay's still-terrific flagship on Royal Hospital Road, five as top dog. Ramsay is involved here too, having financially backed the place. Tough year for Ramsay, this one, with his empire's losses in the millions. Snide columns suggest he’s stuck in the past. You might say 2025 has been his very own Kitchen whatsitsname.

For my money, Ramsay remains mostly of the moment, but the looks here hardly back me up. Bonheur is built from cream fabric panels, leather table tops, an oyster shell carpet. Call it cruise ship chic. On the other hand, it was never much of a looker when it was Le Gavroche, which always had a touch of the bric-a-brac about it. What felt cramped is now luxuriously spacious.