London's Texture Focuses on a New Sensation

London's Texture restaurant.

PHOTO: Joakim Blockstrom

When was the last time you thought about the texture of your food, from the bubbles in the Champagne to the chunky density of that chorizo? Texture, a new restaurant in London's Mayfair neighborhood, celebrates that element in all its forms—in the scuffed wooden floors and suede chairs right down to the fried-cod-skin appetizer.

Owned by chef Agnar Sverrisson and sommelier Xavier Rousset, who met while working at celebrity chef Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, this serene spot focuses heavily on seafood (don't miss the Scottish scallops with cauliflower couscous), but there are plenty of other entrées to choose from, such as slow-roasted Lancashire suckling pig served with squid-and-bonito sauce.

In an era when culinary experimentation so often goes wrong, Texture finally gets it right. Portman Square; 011-44-20-7224-0028; texture-restaurant.co.uk.