Five steps to an instant club classic

There is a vogue for restaurants that resemble traditional dining rooms. The best I have tried recently is called Firehouse on the Cromwell Road opposite the Natural History Museum.

The 1862 property - formerly nefarious drinking dives Bratts and the Hudson Club - has a bar, restaurant and, pretty soon, a nightclub called Chloe's. It will be the new Boujis, but more exclusive I hear.

The club and bar are members only, but the restaurant is not. This is good because it's the best bit. The success is down to five things.

First, there are eight first courses, mains and puddings simply described on one side of A4. Second, there is something for everyone.

The sashimi with courgette tempura to share is divine but there is also spicy steak tartare with Melba toast, rock oysters, roasted scallops with carrot and ginger or buckwheat blinis with smoked salmon. The mains include black cod with sticky rice, Dover Sole, Scottish Cote du Boeuf, roast duck, pan-fried sea bass and poussin with black truffle.

The beef was heaven and I have eaten beef three times a week, worldwide for 20 years. It went very well with a Gevrey Chambertain 2000, Domaine Louis Boillot. The fries are proper ones, just like McDonald's, and the puddings range from a trio of crème brulée to caramelised crepe with chocolate sauce.

Third, it's £35 for three courses. Fourth, the roomitself is almost edible. Ripe red walls, black glossy window frames, ornate architrave, a roaring fire and comfy club chairs.

The table cloths are starchy, the cutlery heavy and the glasses unfussy. Fifth, the chef is the modest Alexander Baillieu, 34, a former insurance broker who thought that was boring but cooking was fun.

"I tend to cook things my mum has taught me," he says. "We never really had pork so I don't do that." The young man who runs the joint is Louis Buckworth. He could keep Boots in business with the amount of hair products he uses but he is a talented host. Welcoming without being obsequious and clearly up for a good time himself. I can see him becoming the Mark Birley of his generation.

Talking of Birley, there is a whiff of his clubs - Mark's, Annabel's, George and Harry's Bar - in The Firehouse. In fact, Chloe's is named after Chloe Delevigne, Louis's fiancée. Annabel's was named after Birley's wife. The Firehouse has a rarefied, clubbable air but is a place, like the wonderful Bellamy's, that all can enjoy.