I have walked past Pied à Terre on Charlotte Street more times than I can count, always meaning to go, always finding a reason to leave it for another occasion. When I heard that London’s longest-standing Michelin-starred restaurant was turning 35 and celebrating with an amuse-bouche and two-course menu priced at just £35, I ran out of excuses. I booked and turned up not quite sure what to expect, and left two hours later wondering why on earth I had waited so long.
Thirty-Five Years on Charlotte Street
There is something quietly extraordinary about Pied à Terre’s story. David Moore, an Irishman from County Monaghan who trained under Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, opened it in December 1991 and has owned it ever since. A rarity these days. The restaurant earned its first Michelin star just thirteen months after opening. It has held one ever since, making it the longest-standing independently owned Michelin-starred restaurant in London. Restaurants come and go on Charlotte Street at a rate that would make your head spin, but Pied à Terre has never wavered. It has simply got on with being very, very good.
Walking through the door for the first time, I felt it immediately. The dining room is dark and considered, all deep wood tones and carefully chosen art, with fresh peonies on the tables and a chandelier in the private dining room beyond that I caught a glimpse of and immediately coveted. It is glamorous without being stiff, which is a balance most places spend years chasing and never quite find. David Moore, was of course, on the floor when I arrived. Of course he was. He has been doing this for 35 years and still moves through the room like someone who means every second of it.
A New Chapter in the Kitchen
The kitchen is in the hands of Aggelos Kassais, who returned to Pied à Terre as head chef late in 2025. His arrival continues one of the restaurant’s most pleasing traditions: a long line of former sous chefs stepping up to lead the kitchen, a roll call that includes Tom Aikens, Shane Osborne, Marcus Eaves, Andy McFadden and Asimakis Chaniotis. Aggelos was sous chef to Chaniotis here from 2021 to 2023, before going on to work with Claude Bosi at the two-Michelin-starred Bibendum and then as opening head chef at Chaniotis’s new restaurant Myrtos. He has now come back, and the cooking makes it very clear that his time away was well spent.
Born in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, Aggelos trained at a local culinary school and completed his apprenticeship at a five-star hotel in Crete before staging at one-Michelin-starred Hytra in Athens and working as commis chef at two-Michelin-starred Spondi. His food reflects all of that: Mediterranean warmth running through classical fine-dining technique, with an instinct for restraint that only comes from real training.
The £35 Anniversary Menu
The anniversary menu is available for lunch, Wednesday to Saturday, and for early evening sittings Tuesday to Friday from 5.30pm, and it must be mentioned when booking. For £35 you get an amuse-bouche, a choice of starter and a choice of main, with a fully plant-based option running in parallel throughout. I went straight for the candy beetroot with tofu, apple gel and pearl onion, partly because it sounded like exactly the kind of thing a chef with Mediterranean roots and classical training would do well, and partly because I was curious to see how a plant-based dish held its own in this kitchen. The answer, as it turned out, was effortless.
It arrived looking almost too beautiful to disturb: jewelled cubes of deep purple beetroot, translucent slips of pickled onion, toasted almond slivers and a constellation of edible flowers in orange, yellow and red, pooled in a vivid yellow-green oil. I sat looking at it for a moment longer than strictly necessary. The flavours were clean and precise, the beetroot earthy and sweet, the apple gel cutting through with brightness, the pearl onion bringing gentle acidity and the almonds giving everything a grounding nuttiness. It tasted of olive oil and sunshine. It tasted, in other words, of exactly who cooked it.
The Main Course
For my main, I chose the braised beef cheek with potato puree, thyme and port jus, and it was one of those dishes that makes you put your fork down mid-mouthful just to appreciate what is happening. The beef was yielding and dark-glazed, sitting in a port jus that had clearly been coaxed and reduced over a long time, alongside a cloud of potato puree smooth enough to be almost architectural and fragrant with thyme. Aggelos describes his approach as “clean” cooking: minimal intervention on the protein, with the technique channelled into the saucing and the vegetables. I understood exactly what he meant. The jus had the kind of concentrated savouriness that makes you slow down. The puree was a thing of its own. The thyme was present without being loud. It was the food of someone who understands that elegance is largely a matter of knowing when to stop.
The plant-based alternative, a grilled maitake mushroom with chestnut mushroom mousseline and pickled shallot, is exactly the sort of option that makes Pied à Terre genuinely worth visiting whatever your dietary requirements. This kitchen has long been regarded as one of the best in London for vegan cooking, and Aggelos has made clear he intends to uphold that reputation.
Extras Worth Having
I had the bread and butter and I do not regret it for a moment. There are optional canapés, including a steak tartare and an avocado cone, as well as dessert or cheese if you want to extend the meal. For something more indulgent, black winter truffle is available and N°25 Kaluga caviar too. I also took the advice of the sommelier on a glass of wine, which was the right call. Pied à Terre was named joint first in Wine List Confidential’s UK Top Restaurants for Wine 2024, and even a single well-chosen glass makes the whole meal feel really connected.
As well as the extras, they also do some really insightful masterclasses. One that caught my eye was the kitchen masterclass, whereby you will have an incredible insight into the working day of a high-powered, busy kitchen from deliveries to dressings. The other masterclasses include pasta, cocktail and plant-based experiences too.
Is It Worth It?
The room had filled by the time I was finishing my main. There were suited professionals from the offices nearby, a couple clearly marking an occasion, a group of friends who greeted the staff like old acquaintances. It had the feeling of a place that earns genuine loyalty, not just passing trade. By the time I left, stepping back out into the Charlotte Street evening, I was already thinking about when to come back.
The £35 anniversary menu is not just good value, though it is almost absurdly good value for a Michelin-starred kitchen. It is a statement about what Pied à Terre believes dining should be: generous, technically serious, and available to anyone who wants to experience it. Thirty-five years on, this restaurant still has everything to say.
The £35 anniversary menu is available for lunch Wednesday to Saturday and for selected early evening bookings Tuesday to Friday.
For more information and to book a table, visit Pied à Terre.
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All Images Courtesy of Pied à Terre.