The buzz on Pollen St

Pollen Street is an obscure single-track road that runs between Maddox Street and Hanover Street in Mayfair but it is about to become the unlikely battleground for a clash between two of the biggest names in the London restaurant scene.

Directly opposite at number 5 is the similarly named 5 Pollen Street, the brainchild of Livio Bisterzo, a partner in the nearby Maddox Club who was recently named one of London's most influential people by this newspaper. He is bringing in Stefano Cavallini, ex of the Halkin and the first Italian chef to be awarded a Michelin star in London for Italian food, and Eugenio Rolfo, who has spent the past 15 years managing the exclusive Harry's Bar.

5 Pollen Street and Pollen Street Social will open their doors - which are less than 10 feet apart - in February and March respectively.
Anyone who remembers the notorious 1997 bust-up between Gordon Ramsay - then running Aubergine on Park Walk in Chelsea - and his neighbour Salvator Soriano, the proprietor of tapas bar El Bodegon, will be familiar with the perils of two restaurants operating cheek by jowl.

On that occasion a row over where Ramsay put his bin bags ended up with the two men rolling around on the pavement.

Ramsay said at the time: "The boys came up from the kitchen, his boys came out of their kitchen and within seconds we had this western brawl going on. Bloody nightmare."

Atherton may be one of Ramsay's former protégés but he shows no signs of getting off on the wrong foot with the establishment across the street.
"When we took the site we knew someone was moving in across the road but we didn't know who," says Atherton. "But the more restaurants on this street the better, there's more footfall.

"I knew of them. We had never met but we've met since and we've discussed trademarks and names to make sure there's no problem there. They're great guys. They're spitting distance away and if we run out of scallops they'll give us some and the same the other way round."

Bisterzo, for his part, is equally upbeat. "The fact that such an established, high-profile chef such as Jason Atherton is now joining us on the same street is very positive indeed," he says. "With the openings of the two establishments, Pollen Street will become one of London's new hip dining destinations.

"I look forward to sharing the success with Jason and creating a genuine positive synergy between the restaurants."

Both establishments are fine-dining restaurants with 60 covers apiece but neither is relying solely on what appears on the plate to pull in the punters.

5 Pollen Street boasts wallpaper and specially commissioned woven silk panels designed by Gary Hume, the YBA who represented Britain at the Venice Biennale, while Atherton's place will boast an innovative "dessert bar".