July 15, 2026
Chez Rose restaurant in London is the sort of Mayfair opening that arrives with a pedigree but, thankfully, not too much pomp. It is the first bistro from Spencer Metzger, the chef best known for his years at The Ritz and, more recently, for his work with Jason Atherton at two-Michelin-starred Row on 5. This, though, is not Row on 5 in smaller shoes. Nor is it another room chasing tasting-menu grandeur.
Instead, Chez Rose wants to be a French bistro with better manners than most. It sits on Pollen Street at the former Little Social site and takes its name from Metzger’s late grandmother, Rosemary. The restaurant is not being sold as a chef’s ego project. It is being pitched as something warmer, more personal, and more grounded in the pleasures of proper cooking.
Chez Rose Restaurant At a Glance
Best for: Lunches, date nights, polished dinners, Francophile comfort food
Cuisine: French bistro cooking with British seasonal produce
Location: 5 Pollen Street, Mayfair, London
Price: High-end bistro; starters around £13–£22, mains around £36–£62
Signature dishes: steak tartare with pomme gaufrette, Dover sole with brown shrimp and Menton lemon, poulet rôti with vin jaune, morels and Jersey royals
Drinks to try: Madame Roth, Chez Rose Spritz, Champs-Élysées
Booking tip: Go early while the room is still bedding in. Lunch may be the cleverer reservation.
What Is Chez Rose Restaurant?
Chez Rose restaurant in London is Spencer Metzger’s first restaurant under his own name, opened in partnership with Jason and Irha Atherton. For anyone who follows London restaurants, that already gives the place a certain charge. Metzger spent more than a decade at The Ritz, where classic French technique was not a vague influence but the house language. He then moved into a very different register at Row on 5, Atherton’s ambitious Savile Row restaurant.
Chez Rose is meant to be the counterpoint. Less ceremony and more appetite. The restaurant’s own description talks about seasonal British produce and the spirit of classic French cooking, which is usually the kind of phrase that can mean everything and nothing. Here, at least on paper, it seems to mean brown butter, morels, vin jaune, steak tartare, Dover sole, gougères and proper sauces.
This is not a radical restaurant, and that is probably the point. Mayfair has enough theatrical dining rooms where the lighting does more work than the kitchen. Chez Rose looks as though it wants to feed people rather than dazzle them.
The Atmosphere and Design
Chez Rose has taken over the former Little Social site, a room with history and useful bones. It is small by Mayfair standards, which already gives it an advantage. The grander restaurants nearby often feel as though they were designed for hotel lobbies, brand dinners and people waiting to be recognised. A bistro needs proximity. It needs elbows, mirrors, clinking, tables that feel close enough to overhear but not close enough to regret.
The mood here is cosy and romantic, with a smart casual dress code, which sounds about right for Pollen Street. This is not the place for trainers and a half-hearted shirt. Nor should it require full theatre. The ideal Chez Rose guest looks as though they came for lunch and somehow allowed lunch to become dinner.
There is also something interesting in the restraint of the concept. Metzger has spoken about wanting to create the restaurant without pouring absurd money into it. In Mayfair, that almost counts as rebellion. A bistro with a budget may sound unglamorous, but it can also produce a better kind of glamour.
The Menu
The menu at Chez Rose speaks fluent bistro. Not the lazy kind, where steak frites does all the heavy lifting, but the sort built on butter, wine, shellfish, careful sourcing and sauces that have clearly not come here to apologise. It starts well: Maldon oysters, red prawn with tomato and Amalfi lemon, Comté gougère with lardo di Colonnata, Devon crab pain perdu, saucisson sec, and pâté en croûte with Dijon mustard and cornichons. The gougère is the obvious first order. A good one tells you whether the kitchen has its fundamentals in place.
From there, the room moves into familiar but pleasing territory: wild sea bream with Charentais melon and almond, oeuf meurette with wild mushroom, Orkney scallop with Café de Paris butter, steak tartare with pomme gaufrette, and Hampshire asparagus with brown butter hollandaise. The tartare feels like the bistro benchmark. The oeuf meurette is the more romantic choice.
Mains are reassuringly serious. Dover sole comes with brown shrimp and Menton lemon. Cornish cod is paired with mussel and sorrel. There is veal T-bone with sauce moutarde, lamb rump with olive and confit garlic, tournedos au poivre, and grilled native lobster tail with sauce à la nage. For two, the poulet rôti with vin jaune, morels, and Jersey royals may be the dish that best explains the restaurant: domestic and quietly grand. Finish with île flottante, crème caramel with Cognac, crêpe Suzette or the 70% chocolate soufflé for two. Add a Normandy Old Fashioned if dinner is going well and nobody wants to leave.
Who Is Chez Rose Best For?
Chez Rose is best for people who want Mayfair without the circus. It suits a long lunch, a grown-up date, a dinner with friends who actually care what is on the plate, or a client meal that does not need to shout. It is polished, but not icy. French, but not trapped in aspic.
It is probably not the restaurant for someone who wants a scene in the Bacchanalia sense. There are no gods on the ceiling. No great mythological drama. No sense that dinner has been designed for Instagram first and hunger second. Chez Rose is more discreet than that. It wants you to notice the sauce.
Is Chez Rose Worth Booking?
Chez Rose is worth booking if you like classic French cooking, proper sauces, small rooms, and restaurants with a personal touch. The Metzger name will bring people in. The question is whether the restaurant can become more than a chef-world curiosity. Based on the opening menu, it has a strong chance.
There is confidence here, but not much swagger. That is refreshing. London has plenty of restaurants that want to be landmarks before they have earned a regular clientele. Chez Rose feels like it might prefer the reverse.
Book for lunch, order the tartare, share the chicken, get the soufflé. That should tell you most of what you need to know.
Practical Information
Address: 5 Pollen Street, Mayfair, London W1S 1NE
Area: Mayfair
Cuisine: French bistro
Price guide: High-end bistro
Reservations: Available via Chez Rose
Private hire: Available through the restaurant
Dress code: Smart casual or elevated eveningwear recommended
Best for: Lunch, dinner, dates, Mayfair dining, French comfort food
Chez Rose Restaurant London Bookings
Capital A List members can make bookings for Chez Rose below.
