In restaurant circles it would be a fair question to ask: having been the youngest chef ever to be awarded two Michelin stars (at the age of 26), where do you go from here? The career of Tom Aikens has certainly not been short of adventure. What diners can experience at Muse is a chef – now in his 50s – clearly having fun and being willing to push boundaries, even if overall execution was not always perfect.
Muse is Tom’s latest solo restaurant project. The choice of name reflects not only its location (in a Mews), but also a recognition of the childhood inspirations that inform the menu’s composition. With just 23 covers, there is an opportunity for the team to create a more novel experience with fewer constraints than might be imposed by a larger venue, where cooking to greater scale would be more necessary. The approach may not appeal to all. Additionally, diners must pay for their food upfront when booking – still very much the exception on the London scene – and are given only the vaguest clues what to expect. It’s a tasting menu or nothing. Dish three on it, for example, is called “rewind the reinvention” and comprises scallops, cauliflower, and cashew. Dish five, or “just down the road”, is a combination of ricotta, beetroot, and bergamot – obviously.
It might be churlish to criticise the approach, since there is an origin story behind each dish, which our servers did faithfully seek to explain to us. Diners, justifiably, might also like to be surprised, especially when stumping up £155 a head for food. On the topic of surprises, my comrade and I were somewhat stunned that our server brought and poured still rather than sparkling water despite us having requested the latter. In a busy restaurant this may be forgivable, but when fewer than 20 people are in your venue, it’s less acceptable. This wasn’t all. A mystery, unrequested glass of wine appeared randomly at our table – apologies, it was for someone else – and my dish and that of my vegetarian comrade were confused during one of the courses. Talking of childhood influences, these are schoolboy errors, not really befitting of a garlanded (and starred) venue.
Food-wise though, both my comrade and I struggled to fault Muse. From the outset, the bar was set high with some wonderfully delicate yet intense amuse-bouche options. The homemade bread was a sight to behold, as was the accompanying butter. Two days later, I am still salivating over my chicken fat composition, more like a paté than a pat and so delightfully addictive. Later, main event offerings impressed too, especially “from sea to shore” and “friendly intruder” – dishes centred on pollack and muntjac deer respectively. My vegetarian comrade also rated her options, although felt justifiably slighted to have a piece of unimpressive leek substituted for my fish in the “sea” course. We at least ended on a high with an artfully composed dessert of celeriac, truffle and chocolate – a rich, comforting and flavoursome combination. Presentation was superlative throughout. The wine choices also pleased, with the list offering a range of decent options both along more traditional and forward-thinking lines.
Three hours at Muse is, without a doubt, an experience for food lovers. If your reviewer were to gripe, he might wish to complain about the excessively bright (and hence far from intimate) lighting and the fact that there was only one bathroom for the whole venue, located a floor below where we ate. In the final assessment, however, were we to be asked whether we would return, then the answer would be a broad yes.