Fay Maschler reviews Folie: Daydreams of Riviera romance go sour on the wrong side of Regent Street

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Fay Maschler4 March 2020

Madness is the translation of the French word folie. How apt. I mean, opening on THE WRONG SIDE of Regent Street offering a main course of Dover sole for two to share at £92. Sheer folie, surely.

On the site of a former Pizza Express — autres temps, autres moeurs — restaurateur Guillaume Depoix, who has worked with Alain Ducasse and Thierry Costes (a relationship cemented when he became manager at Le Café Marly beside the Louvre), has involved designers responsible for Chiltern Firehouse and chef Christophe Marleix, who has worked at Annabel’s and The Dorchester. The publicity promise of Mediterranean zephyrs and the kick-ass charisma of the Côte d’Azur seems like so much blowing in the wind.

The deep, narrow dining space is inviting and comfortable with curvaceous, sinuous, milk-chocolate-coloured leather banquettes, shiny tabletops and light fixtures like questing microphones poking out from gilded lightwells. Guillaume with his aquamarine eyes is a handsome smiling presence on the floor.

I am in the company of the chap who bid most for my lot at Who’s Cooking Dinner? — a fundraiser for leukaemia research charity Leuka. He stipulates an early starting time, which is as well because long waits turn out to be part of the dinner. Richard is, unsurprisingly, deeply interested in food and challengingly knowledgeable about restaurants.

The meal kicks off with feeble Marseille-style panisse — batons made from chickpea flour — from the section Épicerie, and sea urchins in their shells, which are a gift from the chef, a chap who favours unexpected garnishes like slices of raw button mushroom on scallops sautéed and served in their shell with breadcrumbs, and uncooked leaves of Brussels sprouts, four to be precise, on a log of tuna tartare with pistachios.

Little impact: Crab on toast at Folie
Daniel Hambury/@stellapicsltd

Brissaouda is a Niçoise tradition of country bread rubbed with garlic and the first pressing of olive oil before toasting. Tricky to replicate in Golden Square, it impacts little on the crab that tops it. “Where is some brown crabmeat?” laments another of my companions. Inserting into the menu words in inverted commas like “Brissaouda” and “Bouillabaisse” — in fact a little cup of rapidly cooling soup that accompanies seared red mullet — does not succeed in whisking us to longed-for sunny climes or satisfy daydreams of Riviera romance.

Sasizzella di tonno, sometimes translated as marine salami, is pressed dried offcuts of tuna that can be grated like bottarga. Here it adds a sour, spiteful note to a heap of spaghetti described as coming with clams and mussels. We look over rather longingly to a table nearby where a generous hunk of lamb shoulder with confit garlic is being shared at £34 per person. Folie ”chichi”, a jam-filled doughnut with apple and blackberries, is some consolation.

I return for lunch another day to get a less expensive take on Folie but can’t persuade my chum that the somewhat punitive choices on the set menu are the way forward. “Why does it smell like an old people’s home here?” is her first question. “You know, that scent with a base note of urine.” Apparently there is indeed perfume pumped into the room, but it seems not to be having the desired effect.

A yielding chargrilled octopus tentacle is in an inappropriate relationship with butternut squash purée. A vigorously seasoned singular rendition of chicken, boned thighs pressed into an oblong topped with crisp skin, comes with little langoustine toy boys and a tiny jug of gravy.

I want to like Folie with its charming staff more than I do. Two things that might help would be a wine list capitalising on the region allegedly celebrated — in white wines by the glass only one from Ventoux gets close — and a relevant soundtrack. Brigitte Bardot for a start. And actually a third thing: less importunate prices. This side of Regent Street is more buskers than bankers.

Fay's Favourites - South of France

Cigalon

Christmas menu stars grilled goose breast with celeriac, quince and green peppercorns.

115 Chancery Lane, WC2A 1PP, cigalon.co.uk

Sardine

Gigot of lamb spinning above a wood fire is a fine thing.

15 Micawber Street, N1 7TB, sardine.london

La Petite Maison

Try the whole roast black leg chicken (order ahead), not for the customers.

53 Brook’s Mews, W1K 4EG, lpmlondon.co.uk

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