London is awash with excellent dining options, and whatever type of cuisine you have in mind, you’ll likely find it here. But it’s rare that an eatery takes your breath away, and has you recommending it tirelessly to all your friends. Neapolitan chef Carlo Scotto’s new restaurant Amethyst, on Sackville Street in affluent and upscale Mayfair, is just that, and if you ask us, a Michelin star is incoming.
Carlo brings his inimitable culinary style to central London’s restaurant scene with an intimate and engaging gastronomic experience, centred around a sensational real amethyst chef’s table and an ever changing tasting menu, providing diners with a unique encounter that has got the whole city talking. And it’s for all the right reasons.
Of course, every memorable dining experience begins with a great setting, and the amethyst table, which sits at the heart of the ground floor and seats up to 21 guests is a statement, show-stopping feature that instantly draws diners in, allowing them full view of the pass and the creative flair with which Scotto and his team put together a range of mouth-watering dishes for lunch and dinner. This theatrical element is certainly one that serves to up-level the whole experience, so it’s perhaps little wonder diners are often clamouring to secure themselves a space at the table – if you’re lucky enough to do so, then rest assured that it’s all designed to ensure each diner has their own space and comfort.
Down on the lower ground floor, meanwhile, the Wine Cellar is a must-visit, and his home to an immense collection of fine wines and rare vintages sourced from around the world – with sommelier Filippo Carnevale on hand to make recommendations and match wines effortlessly and expertly with whatever happens to be on the lunch and dinner menus today. There’s the classic wine pairing, or the prestige – the choice is up to you. But if you’re someone who truly appreciates an excellent wine, then it’s a no brainer to go for the latter.
Dishes are bold and feature ingenious combinations of flavours and textures that can’t help but exude the wow-factor, drawing inspiration from Scotto’s own travels across Europe and Asia. The cuisines and ingredients of Japan and Scandinavia have been particularly influential, and it’s something that is evident throughout both Amethyst’s lunch and dinner menus.
For lunch, diners can choose from a three or five course menu. Dishes are ever changing and reflect the freshest seasonal produce, but we’ll give you a taster of what you might expect should you manage to secure yourself a table. There’s the liquorice, tarragon and parmesan croquette – a brave and intense combination that somehow seems to work, and is a tempting, melt-in-the-mouth sign of things to come. Then, you might move onto foie gras, but not in your usual iteration. This one is served, rather unexpectedly, alongside rose petal salmon, yuzu, Piedmont hazelnuts, and the result, in terms of both taste and aesthetic, is quite simply stunning.
Next, bite into a light gyoza, where with natsu nibitashi, myoga tea and sake, the Japanese influence is undeniable. Then, in a nod to India, it’s a rich and pungent green korma with naan bread and mahogany smoked butter, and black cod with burnt hay, caramel miso and naganegi dashi, before rounding things off with a suitably sweet and decadent ‘Amethyst Geode’, served with praline, feuilletine, white chocolate.
If it sounds irresistible, then that’s because it is – but the real star of Amethyst comes after dark, in the form of Scotto’s epic 12-course Chef’s Table experience. Dishes are of a similar vibe, fusing a diverse range of flavours for a taste sensation that will keep you guessing, talking and exclaiming in delight. The caviar tartelette, Scallops, galangal, matsutake, is a particular standout, but don’t be disappointed if it isn’t on the menu when you come to dine, because whatever it has been replaced with is certain not to disappoint.
On that note, the Chef’s Table – where everyone wants to sit – can be booked out for groups of up to 21 for special occasions and events, and promises to make for a truly special way to mark a birthday, wedding or any other day of note.
Scotto, who earned rave reviews for his creative and hyper-original tasting menus at Xier, Marylebone and has previously been described as an ‘alchemist of cooking’ is a new and very worthy challenger to the established Michelin star restaurants in Mayfair, such as Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester and Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, and it’s evident in every one of his well-thought out and intriguingly creative dishes.
Having started his culinary journey at a young age, when he regularly joined his grandmother in the kitchen to help her prepare tasty meals for the family, it wasn’t long before he landed his first professional kitchen job – and at just 13, it’s perhaps clear, in hindsight, that his passion for the art of cooking would take him far.
Working as an apprentice at Michelin-starred restaurant Don Salvatore, it was no doubt a baptism of fire, and Scotto went on to work in renowned and highly-sought-after restaurants in France, Sweden and Japan before eventually returning to home soil. From the moment he set foot back in London, his career has been on an upward trajectory and has seen him taking the helm at the likes of Angela Hartnett at Murano and Galvin at La Chapelle.
Amethyst, though, is a culmination of it all, and it seems almost inevitable that acclaim and recognition in their highest forms are just around the corner for Scotto. It’s a truly epic dining experience that’s quite unlike anything else we’ve seen in the capital, so with the waiting list ever lengthening, book now to experience it for yourself.
Factbox
Amethyst is open Tuesday to Saturday, offering six and 12-course tasting menus at £90 and £150 respectively with a three (£45) and five-course (£55) lunch menu available on both floors. Wine pairings are available at an additional £135 for the classic and £195 for the prestige based on the 12-course menu.
Address: 6 Sackville St, London W1S 3DD
Phone: 020 3034 3464
Website: amethystdining.com
All imagery used in this article credit: Lateef Photograhy
