Gauthier Soho

A Michelin-recognised vegan tasting menu in a Soho townhouse: worth your money?

At the £££ price point, Gauthier Soho is one of the more considered ways to spend a formal dinner budget in central London. You are paying for a classical French tasting menu that happens to contain no animal products, delivered inside a handsome Regency townhouse on Romilly Street by a chef who held a Michelin star for twelve years before converting his kitchen to plant-based cooking. The 2025 Michelin Plate recognition confirms the kitchen is still operating at a level that warrants attention. If a serious, technically grounded vegan tasting menu is what you are looking for, this is the address in London.

The Venue

The format here is deliberately formal. You ring the doorbell to enter, dining rooms are spread across two floors, tablecloths are heavy and starched, the room is dazzlingly white. The effect is closer to a private members' club than a neighbourhood restaurant. That formality shapes who turns up: most guests are marking a special occasion, which means the atmosphere leans celebratory rather than casual. If you are looking for a relaxed weeknight dinner, this may not be the right room. If you are marking an anniversary, a birthday, or a milestone meal, the setting does the work for you.

Alexis Gauthier's background is classically French. He trained in the Gallic tradition, earned his star, began moving towards plant-forward cooking as early as 1997, when he introduced a vegetable garden menu at his previous restaurant Roussillon at a time when that positioning was genuinely uncommon. By the time he opened this address in 2010, the emphasis on vegetables was already foundational. His vegan menu won the UK Leading Vegan Menu Award, in 2016 the kitchen converted fully. The result is a kitchen that applies the precision and logic of classical French technique to entirely plant-based ingredients; not as a compromise, but as the explicit design.

What You Are Eating

Guests choose between a full grand diner tasting menu or the shorter petit diner, the latter available from 5pm most evenings. The repertoire is seasonal and changes to reflect what is available. Documented examples from the kitchen include potato dauphinois with creamed morels, white asparagus with caramelised chicory, barbecued loin of kohlrabi with cucumber, samphire, sea broth finished with sake-infused beurre blanc, heritage Norfolk carrot prepared as a soft and crunchy composition scented with tarragon. Dessert compositions have included peach with green shiso and lime sorbet, a Norvegienne brûlée with English strawberries and sablé breton. The cooking draws on classical French architecture; the beurre blanc, the gratin, the brûlée, applies it to produce rather than protein. For a food and wine enthusiast, the interest lies precisely in watching that technical language translate across ingredients.

The Wine Programme

The wine list at Gauthier Soho is shaped by a clear editorial position: France is the primary reference point, the selection is committed to vintages produced without animal products. In practical terms, this means the pairings are vegan-certified, which is unusual at this level and removes a friction point that often goes unaddressed in tasting-menu formats. Fining agents derived from animal products are standard in conventional winemaking, so a list that has done the sourcing work on your behalf is a genuine piece of practical value, not just a marketing position. For the explorer-minded diner, this also opens access to a corner of the natural and biodynamic wine world that sits at the more structured, food-friendly end, wines that can handle the classical saucing and intensity of Gauthier's kitchen without disappearing. The harmonious pairing approach documented by critics suggests the kitchen and the cellar are operating in alignment, which at this price point is what you should expect. If wine-to-food pairing depth matters to you, the commitment to vegan wine across the list is a meaningful differentiator against peers where that question is often left to the guest to investigate independently.

Practical Details

Gauthier Soho opens Tuesday through Friday from 5pm to 9:30pm, on Saturdays for both lunch (12:30pm to 3:30pm) and dinner (5pm to 9:30pm). The restaurant is closed Sundays and Mondays. Saturday lunch is the only midday service available during the week, which makes it the lower-competition slot if your schedule is flexible. Booking difficulty is moderate, this is not a restaurant that requires a six-week wait, but it does fill, particularly on weekend evenings. Book at least two to three weeks in advance for a Friday or Saturday dinner. The petit diner from 5pm offers a shorter and less expensive entry point if you want to experience the kitchen without committing to the full tasting menu format. The restaurant is at 21 Romilly Street, W1D 5AF, in the heart of Soho, well-positioned relative to Tottenham Court Road and Leicester Square stations.

For broader London restaurant context, see our full London restaurants guide. If you are planning a wider trip, our London hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the broader picture.

Related Dining

If your interest in serious Modern French cooking extends beyond London, Schanz in Piesport and Coeur D'Artichaut in Münster represent the format at its finest in continental Europe. For destination dining elsewhere in the UK, The Fat Duck in Bray, L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, Hand and Flowers in Marlow, and hide and fox in Saltwood are worth the journey. For other London tasting menu options in the formal French and contemporary register, Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal, Jean George at the Connaught, The Cocochine, and July are the comparisons worth making. The Sketch Lecture Room and Library is the closest peer in terms of Modern French ambition and formality, though at ££££ and with a very different menu philosophy.

Quick reference: Gauthier Soho, 21 Romilly St W1D 5AF. Tue–Fri dinner from 5pm, Sat lunch 12:30pm and dinner from 5pm. Closed Sun–Mon. Price range: £££. Booking: moderate difficulty, two to three weeks advance recommended for weekends.