The Only Running Footman (Bar, Restaurant)

Top 10 things to know about The Only Running Footman gastropub and restaurant:
 
1) Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to avoid any display of loutish behaviour, ordering of cliché sausage and mash pub food, and drunken banter with local inhabitants.

2) Level of difficulty – 1 out of 10: this is, after all, Mayfair. If you are unfamiliar with the terrain, the comment from the server after handing me the menu should give you an inkling: “Apologies Sir, we’ve just run out of lobster for the evening.”

3) The décor hardly screams drunken and disorderly: elegant dark blue leather seating; pristine white table clothes; and framed photos of Mayfair’s previous famous residents, of which Jimi Hendrix features prominently.

4) Raucous revelry might’ve been more evident back in the days when this was the gathering point for the “running footman” – the manservants of the aristocrats who carried lights for them and paid toll keepers. Nowadays, it seems the aristocrats have invaded even the last bastion of entertainment for the proletariats in Mayfair.

5) Risk of failure – zero. There were actually only foreign dignitaries in the first floor dining room, mostly tables of Americans. Not a local footman in sight. And there were no pints being spilled on the floor, only civilised sipping of Champagne and top quality wine.

6) Just in case the uninitiated might stroll in by mistake, the wines are kindly divided into helpful sections like Ladies Corner and The World According to Sir Pinot. Note their clever use of Masterpieces Red/White instead of This Will Burn A Massive Hole In Your Pocket.

7) Obstacles to success – none. Their roast beef is a meat extravaganza for two: chateaubriand with béarnaise sauce. Stomach space permitting, this is a must-order, not just for the quality of meat, but the sheer showmanship of the presentation.

8) As befitting for the Mayfair clientele, there are also mains like bouillabaisse, cooked all day from morning. The intense rich flavour of the sea is hardly surprising with three types of fish, mussels and clams.

9) Not your normal drink of choice at a pub, but if you are ready to splash out, a bottle of Cristal will only set you back £335.

10) Mission accomplished. Although I must remember not to start requesting chateaubriand, bouillabaisse and Cristal at my local pub!...read more