Latest opening: Bébé Bob
What: A sleek and somewhat idiosyncratic rotisserie chicken restaurant within the Soho site that was once home to Folie. As the name suggests, Bébé Bob is the younger sibling of the very nearby Bob Bob Ricard Soho and its equally big-ticket Square Mile iteration Bob Bob Ricard City.
Who: Leonid Shutov is at the helm of the business. The former advertising executive well and truly shook up the capital’s luxury restaurant market in 2008 with the opening of the original Bob Bob Ricard on Upper James Street and followed up in 2019 with the launch of Bob Bob Cité (as it was then called) at The Leadenhall Building (AKA The Cheesegrater). While neither of his restaurants were especially well-timed - the first opened in the midst of the 2008 financial crash and the second opened just ahead of the pandemic - they have made an indelible mark on London’s restaurant scene with their push-for-Champagne buttons, OTT but beautifully finished interiors and by combining very high-end food and drink with a relaxed service style. The head chef at Bébé Bob is Bob Bob Ricard City alumnus Sherwin Mauro. She is overseen by the group’s executive chef Ben Hobson.
The food: Shutov wasn’t kidding when he said that his new menu offered “any main course the customer wants as long as it is chicken or chicken”. Guests can choose from Vendée chicken or Landes chicken which is priced at £19 and £29 per person respectively and served with chicken jus. Sides include truffled French fries, roast potatoes, and wild mushrooms baked in sour cream with caramelised onions and a cheddar crust. The choice of things to have before the chicken arrives is more expansive, taking in Bob Bob Ricard classics like caviar with crème fraîche and blinis and VSOP prawn cocktail with some new menu items including baked Saint-Marcellin and truffle honey.
To drink: The wine list is designed to complement the chicken, with head of wines Giacomo Recchia giving over half his list to Champagne and Burgundy and the other half to ‘classic favourites from around the world’. As with Shutov’s other restaurants, the wines are in general extremely premium but are priced competitively, in some cases undercutting retail. For example, a bottle of 2013 Dom Pérignon costs £175, a relative bargain.
The vibe: Shutov has shown a little more restraint here than he has at his first two restaurants - his city site was rumoured to have cost £25m - but Bébé Bob is still a seriously glam and reassuringly expensive looking place to eat. The design tips its hat to the roaring 1920s ‘conjuring a Gatsby-esque feeling’. Design details including velvet-covered banquettes, a yellow granite bar counter, monogrammed plates and bespoke glassware designed by Shutov himself. The restaurant has not been designed with groups in mind - the maximum table size is four.
And another thing: Bébé Bob is the latest in what can only be described as a flock of premium, chicken-focused London restaurants joining the likes of Story Cellar, LIMA CANTINA and Fallow’s chicken-shop-aping spin-off FOWL.
37 Golden Square, London W1F 9LB
www.bebebob.com
