Long live elegant dining

The first time I visited a gastro pub was in 1994. I knew it was a gastro pub because I couldn't get a pint for ages and everyone was sitting around eating polenta. The trend for ruining our pubs by turning them into half-baked restaurants has been insidious. But I have discovered a pub that has taken the trend forward and made it work beautifully.

The Thomas Cubitt was formerly The Joiner's Arms, a murky place originally built to give sustenance to the joiners who worked for the legendary builder Thomas Cubitt, who created Belgravia. It has been bought by local developers Barry Hirst and Stefan Turnbull and renovated by Gabriel Bernardi.

On the ground floor there is the pub, with a good-length bar to stand at and simple wooden tables and chairs. You can have a pint of Abbot Ale or Old Speckled Hen quite happily. Upstairs are the dining rooms, inspired by Georgian symmetry and Regency elegance. It's the sort of space most of us would love at home, with fireplaces and cornicing. It is the most elegant place I have seen in a long time.

The food, like the pub itself, is split in two. Downstairs they have great organic burgers, chips and salad for £10, good for lunch, while upstairs is grown-up. Grilled halibut with wilted spinach and garlic leaf (£19.50) is sublime and there is a good selection of game in season (braised Barbary duck leg with duck liver salad, £15). There's truffle jus here and caramelised shallot mash there (both £3.50 as a side order).

It's not cheap (£40 a head, without wine) but you don't feel cheated, as you do in some gastro pubs, because you are in such lovely surroundings and the food is far superior. The chef, Brian, was nabbed from Brasserie Roux at Sofitel St James.

The gastro pub is dead. Long live The Thomas Cubitt.

The Thomas Cubitt
Elizabeth Street, London, SW1W 9PA