The story
Gauthier, at 21 Romilly Street in Soho, London, is a modern French restaurant rated Very Good in The Good Food Guide for 2026. Ring the doorbell to enter the boutique townhouse, where the dining rooms are white and the tables are laid with heavy starched cloths.
Alex Gauthier has spent years developing vegan cooking, and he describes his aim as French gastronomy without using animals. The technique and inspiration are French, but the guide finds the results on the plate travel well beyond one tradition. The menu follows the season and changes often.
The kitchen has served barbecued loin of kohlrabi, charred and ringed with cucumber, samphire and sea broth, finished with a sake-infused beurre blanc. Desserts might include peach with green shiso and lime sorbet. Guests can choose the full grand diner tasting menu or the shorter petit diner, served from 5pm most evenings.
Recognition
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History
A serene haven on the streets of Soho, Alex Gauthier’s boutique townhouse (ring the doorbell to gain entrance) features dazzlingly white dining rooms, with heavy starched tablecloths and mirrors providing an apt backdrop for some genuinely progressive cooking. Gauthier has been exploring the possibilities of vegan cuisine for many years, creating what he describes as a vision of ‘French gastronomy without using animals’. His artistry, techniques and inspiration may be wholly Gallic, but the results on the plate speak of cuisine sans frontières . Guests now choose from the full ‘ grand diner ’ tasting menu or a shorter and cheaper ‘ petit diner ’ served from 5pm most evenings. The repertoire is emphatically seasonal and endlessly creative: a centrepiece entitled ‘barbecued loin of kohlrabi’, for example, involves charred slices of the bulb-shaped brassica ringed by cucumber, samphire and sea broth, with the addition of sake-infused beurre blanc. Other summer offerings could range from a serving of heritage Norfolk carrot – a ‘soft and crunchy composition’ scented with tarragon and served alongside a little cup of burnt orange cappuccino – to roast fennel splayed out atop a melange of Szechuan pickled blackberry, borlotti beans, fennel and blackcurrant leaf tea. As proceedings drift towards sweetness, Gauthier’s kitchen might create peach with green shiso and lime sorbet or a Norvegienne brûlée with English strawberries and sablé breton. Harmonious wine pairings complement the cuisine, with France as the main contender and a wholehearted commitment to vintages produced without animal products.
3 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence
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