Bouillabaisse

Kurt Zdesar, the restaurateur behind Chotto Matte and an early architect of Nobu's UK presence, brought a high-end coastal concept to Mayfair's Mill Street with Bouillabaisse — a whitewashed, theatrically lit dining room built around lobster tanks, a chef's table positioned directly beside the open kitchen, and seating for around 65 guests across two floors. The design leaned into a "luxury shack" aesthetic: deliberately bright and open, more Marseille fishing quay than formal London dining room, with provincial French influences running through both the menu and the atmosphere. The namesake bouillabaisse anchored the menu at £58, with fritto misto at £31.95 and a typical spend landing around £85 per head with modest wine. That pricing placed it firmly in Mayfair's premium tier, though critical reception was mixed. Andy Hayler, who reviewed the restaurant during its operation, described the experience as underwhelming, with executive chef Jordan Scare's kitchen drawing particular scrutiny. The whole monkfish cooked on a barbecue drew more favourable notice than the dish that gave the restaurant its name. The sustainability angle was central to the venue's positioning: sourcing was framed around coastal provenance, and the menu's construction reflected a conscious effort to align with the kind of responsible seafood sourcing that Architectural Digest noted in its coverage of the space. In practice, that framing sat in tension with the broader critical response, which questioned whether the execution matched the ambition of the concept. Bouillabaisse closed in early 2016, less than a year after opening, making it a short-lived chapter in Mayfair's competitive seafood scene.