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Description: A striking relaunch of the St James's site formerly known as Shumi (RIP), Alan Yau's Japanese newcomer has inspired much positive commentary for its ethereal design and -- in some press reviews -- for its cuisine; not everyone, though, is convinced the very high prices are justified.
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Phone: awaiting tel
Website: http://www.sakenohana.com
Open: Open from 12:00 to 15:00 and 18:00 to 24:00, Monday to Saturday. Open from 18:00 to 24:00 on Sunday.
Dress code: Smart
Payment options: All major cards accepted
Pleasant surprises: Sake No Hana's head sushi chef Noboru Ishii (left) and head chef Maskazu Kikuchihara
Alan Yau moves in mysterious and languid ways. Those include creating Wagamama (sold on), the Chinese restaurant Hakkasan and dim-sum emporium Yauatcha.
The new Japanese restaurant Sake No Hana, which Yau operates and manages for a Russian owner, was supposed to open in February. Last Tuesday saw the first paying customers through the discreet curved-glass automatic doors.
The site is an interesting one, a building in The Economist group designed in the early 1960s by architects Alison and Peter Smithson, and later listed.
In historic St James's Street, home of gentlemen's clubs Boodles, Brooks's, The Carlton and White's, the three irregular concrete towers set around a plaza allow lustre to attach to the Modernist movement. The building now housing Sake No Hana - translating roughly as flower of sake - was originally a bank.
Pecuniary discretion is reflected in the teeny-weeny lettering that announces the new business. From the street outside it is just possible to make out a sushi bar at ground-floor level. Once inside the customer is faced with two escalators, up and down, now glamourised by their setting of highly reflective black panelling with detail picked out in gold.
The constraints of a listed building seemed to defeat the previous two restaurants at this address. Che, named after the cigar-loving revolutionary, was shortlived. Shumi, which followed, perhaps wrote its own suicide note by deciding to showcase Japanese-Italian fusion. Think spaghetti with chopsticks.
In design terms, neither enterprise overcame the sober intent of the interior and succeeded in making fiscal fabulous, but Japanese architect Kengo Kuma has cracked it. He has done so in all but one area, but we will come to that.
Clean-limbed wooden and bamboo struts and beams are arranged and lit within the lofty spaces to resemble an enchanted forest - a forest designed by an architect. On the first floor, where you are decanted by the moving staircase, the unusually tall windows are shaded by vertical reed blinds set at an angle. Tatami matting surrounds tables which are set into wells. Customers must remove their shoes before venturing onto the platform. There are some conventional tables as well but the deep space around the "traditional" seating creates agreeable pools of intimacy.
Posh Japanese restaurants are by nature expensive and I went to Sake No Hana prepared to dig deep into my credit card. It was a pleasant surprise to find tsuki dashi, which you could translate as salads or appetisers, ranging from £3.50-8. Of the four items we tried, nasu iridashi, peeled braised aubergine in savoury juices topped by dancing flakes of bonito, took first prize.
Goma tofu, a slab of curd made from sesame served with a dab of wasabi on top, was a substance that true tofu mavens would doubtless exclaim over but we found weirdly drab. Before these little dishes, only just big enough to share, we had ordered the special of sashimi - no sashimi and only two sushi are listed on the menu - and received exceptionally pristine fish beautifully presented and just the right quantity for the three of us. The price was £12.
From the yakimono (grilled) section we chose Chilean sea bass wrapped in houba leaf and paired it with chanko nabe, a soup of fish balls, tofu, Chinese leaf and spring onion in dashi broth from the mushimono (steamed) section. The fish had the coating of sweet miso which we have come to know and love and benefited from accompaniments of shimeji mushrooms and gingko nuts. As for the fish balls, they are an acquired taste.
The section takiawase meaning, maybe, braises - the menu could use more explanation but I suspect the lack of it is deliberate, necessitating interaction with the staff - includes some dishes cooked in beautiful black clay pots. Poulet noir simmered with soya bean, carrot, sugar snaps and yuzu pepper was served with bones intact which were extricated by the waiter at the table. The meat was delectable, the vegetables cooked down to their essential sweetness. The pot, costing £24, held enough for at least four to share. It was just luck, really, but our other order from this section, mizuna usuage ohitashi, a cold salady assembly, was the perfect foil for the chicken, thanks to the peppery quality of mizuna leaves.
For various reasons none of us was drinking anything more stimulating than water and sencha tea. It is the cocktails, Champagnes, whiskies, sake and shochu where the bill mounts up. No wine is offered. Sake No Hana's pouring Champagne is NV Krug Grande Cuvée at £30 a glass. A sake flight of six varieties is £65 but it would be a great way of embarking on a study of the drink categorised on the list as bold, creamy, fresh, fruity, funky and more.
Willowy girls in spike-heeled boots threatened the health of the tatami matting until coaxed into taking off their shoes. Male managers in designer suits and shoes look on while barefoot waitresses dart about wiping tables clean.
At about this time in the meal you need a pee. The only access for customers to the lavatories in the basement is from a tiny, slow lift. It is manned, or, in fact, womaned, by an attendant. So you make this protracted journey huddled together wondering what small talk is appropriate. I'm absolutely dying to go? Do you like living in a lift?
It is the only design fault and doubtless due to the building's listed status. When you reach the loos you are in another bamboo grove with heavy doors with hidden handholds. But difficulties in spending a penny are a small price to pay for spending a lot more for a sensuous, revealing experience.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
