Alexis Gauthier to open vegan restaurant in Mayfair

Described as a vegan cafeteria and accessed via the store's Brook Street entrance, 123 Vegan will open for outdoor dining on 12 April before opening fully in May. 

The small menu includes casual dining staples such as salads, bowls, burgers and quesadillas but with creative and the occasional high-end twist, although prices are approachable with most main dishes around the £12 mark. 

Dishes include California cheeseburger (Beyond Meat patty, house bun, vegan cheese, onion, lettuce, pickles, special sauce); Red yuzu bowl (watermelon sashimi, pineapple, wakame seaweed, spring onion, edamame peas, crispy shallots, sesame seeds, yuzu sauce, sushi rice).

In common with his flagship restaurant Gauthier Soho, calorie counts are given for all dishes.

Alongside this, a regularly changing fixed price menu is offered including the likes of Welsh asparagus with lovage, peas, thyme and almond crunch; Big Fat Tomato ‘Cosmopolito’ with black rice, smoked pepper and rocket salad; and poached rhubarb with pomegranate and lemon pepper broth (£22 for two courses/£26 for three courses).

Gauthier is well known for his vegan food having gradually transitioned his eponymous Soho restaurant to a completely plant-based menu over the last decade or so. 

On Romilly Street, Gauthier Soho is regarded as being among the best vegan restaurants in the country, offering a fully plant-based tasting menu that includes the likes of carrot tartar coriander, sesame and avocado, umeboshi and olive oil; and tempeh and corn with kaffir lime and popcorn with bean shoot salad. 

Gauthier Soho is expected to open in late June following the removal of all social distancing requirements.