Perfect family planning

PATTERSON'S in Mill Street is a quite different kind of newcomer - family-run restaurants serving topquality classical French food may be occasionally found in France, but they are as rare as hen's teeth in Mayfair.

Raymond Patterson won his spurs during a 14-year stint in the kitchens at the Garrick Club, and somehow he has persuaded his son Tom to become manager of the new venture, and his wife to work in the restaurant each evening - by day, she is a nursery school teacher.

This place is still finding its feet (it has only been open for eight weeks), but the food is most impressive. After all those frustrating years cooking for clubland folk, it must be exhilarating for Patterson to be in charge of his own menu.

A three-course dinner is priced at £35 and you get to choose from eight starters and eight mains - this is remarkable, because the menu is littered with those satisfying classical dishes that are so very difficult to do well. A smoked haddock soufflé served with a chive caviar sauce comes to table towering and quivering, the beurre blanc concoction in a jug to pour into its depths - a stunning dish.

One starter, trio of pork with an apple sauce, brings a courgette flower stuffed with a light pork mousse, a piece of belly with stellar crackling and a chunk of fillet cooked in a pancetta jacket. Not to mention good, sharp, apple sauce.

Other starters include quail with a citron ravioli and pea purée; foie gras ballotine with Sauternes jelly; roast scallops, cauliflower purée and Noilly Prat velouté. It is these dishes that put the kitchen through its paces.

The mains continue the theme - Dover sole comes with lobster tortellini and a champagne sauce, while venison is served with poached pear, celeriac rosti and game sauce. Accurately cooked meat, savoury rosti, dark intense sauce - just the thing now that there's a chill in the air. There's also Tournedos Rossini, and what a grand old dish it is - a lump of good fillet topped with a slice of foie gras and a traditional sauce. Delicious. Dishes such as this have slipped off many modish menus because they are difficult to create properly.

The puddings are also good - a textbook tart Tatin, and an epic chocolate fondant pudding. As for the wine list, it seems unaggressively priced - £28.50 gets you a sound bottle from St Emilion.

The service is charming, and there is plenty of both ambition and technical ability in the kitchen. At lunch, prices shrink still further - there is a choice of three starters, mains and puds which changes daily. Three courses will set you back just £16 - it's worth a visit just to luxuriate in a new restaurant with a genuine passion for food.

Patterson's
Mill Street, London, W1S 2AX