London brasseries rarely merit a fine-dining label. Sardine-tin seating, harsh acoustics, uncomfortable chairs and production-line cooking typify the genre, which was seemingly created to speed the customer on his way. Not so Scott's. Opened as a fish shop in 1851, this aging seafood institution in Mayfair was rejuvenated two years ago when Caprice Holdings — which owns Le Caprice, the Ivy and the J. Sheekey restaurants — spared no expense in redoing it as the apotheosis of a brasserie. Unlike many cafés, Scott's coddles its customers with flattering lighting and seating for 130 on padded burgundy leather banquettes and upholstered bentwood chairs, affording space in which you can not only breathe but also stretch out and take in the most surprising aspect of all: the decor.
Mark Hix, art collector and former chef director of Scott's, cut a series of brilliant art-for-food deals with Brit-art icons Gary Hume, Tracey Emin, Gary Webb, Matt Collishaw and Damien Hirst. You are not just eating in what is essentially an opulent art gallery but dining amid the artists themselves. Hirst, for one, has been known to turn up three times in a week.
The menu covers every angle on seafood—oysters, caviar, fruits de mer, smoked and grilled fish, lobster and other shellfish — and also offers meat and game. The food aims at what I term post-sophisticated palates: those of us who have eaten our way around the world at acclaimed restaurants but find that the more we dine out, the more streamlined our tastes become and the less impressed we are by frivolous culinary legerdemain. Instead we seek out simple food done to perfection, food that enhances the party without dominating it. And we want to be able to eat with just a fork. Scott's hits the post-sophisticated G-spot with the most delicious piscine comfort food. Take the shrimp, which is seasoned with anchovy essence, cayenne pepper and mace and served with land cress and Melba toast: the dish tastes and looks divine. Sampled in this space, which is neither a foodie shrine nor a stack-'em-high brasserie, it is the ideal deluxe-canteen experience. 20 Mount St.; 011-44-20-7495-7309; scotts-restaurant.com.
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