Last Updated on November 14, 2026
Fine dining with seasonal set menus
5.0 out of 5.0 starsOur Restaurant of the Month is Lunette, the much-anticipated new restaurant of renowned chef Florence Knight. Keen followers of her culinary talents recall her work as head chef at Polpetto (one of the late Russell Norman’s restaurants) and later, in 2021, at Sessions Arts Club. Lunette is her first solo restaurant. Eleven stories up, it is located on the top floor of the newly built St Clement Hotel. Floor-to-ceiling windows afford vistas over the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and the Thames.
In an era where the Japanese omakase menu is fashionable, the chef decides what diners will eat; Knight has introduced this chef-led approach at Lunette. This gives Knight the freedom to focus on seasonality, with dishes we found both complex in their creation and beautiful to behold. It also results in a no-waste kitchen.
Not all potential diners will appreciate the set menu, but London is not short of restaurants with à la carte options. Lunch service at Lunette comprises a four-course tasting menu (£70), while dinner offers an 8-course menu. Guests can opt for the additional wine pairing (£60) or the non-alcoholic pairing (£40). We were told that if we wanted to supplement the lunch menu, we could order two additional courses from the dinner menu. As it turned out, there was no need for additions, as we were very satisfied with the Lunette menu as it was presented.
While the view is expansive, Lunette itself is intimate with 30 covers. That might suggest a small space, yet Lunette occupies a sizeable area, with furnishings including comfy sofas and capacious armchairs. The sofas separate the dining tables into two areas. One is close to the bar, while the other has tables with more space between them. It feels like walking into a minimalist private club, where you should ideally be dressed in a monochrome palette.
With Lunette, Knight has selected every beautiful item in the room, from the table settings to the voile curtains that make this space so luxurious. Designer Alex Eagle has done a great job creating a space that is gentle and soft despite a lot of steel – the sculptural steel bar, some table tops and black steel window frames. The metallic wall panels are vintage Jean Prouvé (a 20th-century French architect and designer whom Le Corbusier called a ‘constructuer’).
Ceiling track lighting is accompanied by square wooden speakers around the room that look like bird boxes. Throughout lunch we enjoyed a wide-ranging collection of hits from my youth – from Ode to Billy Joe to You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman. As we left, Van Morrison was starting to croon.
Outside is a terrace overlooking London’s landmarks where, no doubt, stylish parties will be held in the summer. When we visited, it was a misty autumnal day, the Thames slate grey as was the sky. The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben were shrouded in Turneresque light. The vista had an understated beauty, as does Lunette.
We were seated side by side, so that both could enjoy the view. Behind us, tables along the back wall had guests side by side on sofa-style banquettes. If you prefer the traditional face-to-face seating arrangement, ask to sit near the bar where there are a few small, round tables for two as well as larger tables. The best views are from the tables closer to the bar. Flowers are scattered around the room in vases and appear in some of the dishes, all adding to a fresh lightness and feeling of natural wellbeing.
Our table, light wood with a stainless steel top, was simply laid with the menu and a napkin. Soon a covetable hand-blown glass water carafe and bijou matching glasses arrived. The glasses required constant refilling as they are so small, but looked so gorgeous that it was no matter. They are created by Danish designer Alexander Kirkeby. The cutlery was noteworthy too, with beautiful detail on the back of each piece, as any small artwork should have. The steak knives hail from a town in France and are perfectly balanced, with even the rivets having individual patterns.
We began with a drink each – one from the wine-by-the-glass section, Casa Catillo, Jumilla Spain Monastrell 2024 – and one from the House Serves non-alcoholic cocktails. These were the sort of drinks I like to have in a restaurant: a sparkling Jasmine and Yunan had a soft orange hue and was floral, gently smoky and not overly sweet. The non-alcoholic wine pairing was similarly interesting, with Jasmine and Oolong teas featuring, along with a lacto-ferment of golden beetroot and apple, plus a Chinese Dawn Dusk tea blended with muscat grape juice. The wine list leans towards French but includes a selection of Italian, Spanish, and German wines.
The whimsical amuse-bouche was a reminder of how colourful early autumn flowers can be. On a round ceramic disc sat a pomme soufflé filled with smoked eel and crème fraiche, topped with trout roe and a bright orange nasturtium, upside down, like a floppy summer hat worn with jaunty élan. Eaten in one mouthful, the crisp potato case gave way to creamy smoked eel, pops of salty roe, and the gentle texture of a flower. Delicious on the eye and to eat.
The first course was a delicate dish of squid, marinella, and marigold. Here was a puddle of tomato water, conveying the very essence of the marinella tomato (a Sicilian variant that appears in the autumn). Draped on the side of the small, cream coloured ceramic bowl were thin strips of tender squid interspersed with very thinly julienned French runner beans, adding crunch and a pale yellow hue. Tiny bright yellow marigold petals were strewn on top.
Underneath was a tiny scoop of startling red that tasted like a confit of marinella tomato, providing deep contrast with the pale hues of the rest of the components. The dish looked like a watercolour still life with a slash of red making a late appearance.
The second course was cock crab, pepper, yolk. This dish was sweetcorn yellow, and coincidentally, as we began to eat, the sun broke through the heavy clouds. Its rays beamed through the glass windows, as if it was not going to be outshone by the sunshine in our bowls. The rice was cooked in crab stock and tossed with yellow pepper diced so finely that the crunch was discernible without each piece being larger than the grains.
The rice sat alongside a puddle of crab shell butter, with a welcome note of chilli. Nestled in was a slick of fudgy egg yolk; on top perched two small pieces of crab. This dish was a pleasing exchange of textures and rich flavours of butter, egg yolk, and crab. If the restaurant served an à la carte menu, this would make a fabulous main course.
The third, and main, course was guinea fowl, beetroot, and hazelnut. Once again an artwork of a plate – circles, colours of emerald green, cream and deep red – a complex plate with a lot going on. A slice of tender guinea fowl breast was served slightly pink, sporting a skin with a delicious char. Alongside a ball of pulled leg meat wrapped in a mustard green leaf and topped with sprigs of tarragon, which imparted a marvellous aniseed flavour.
On the plate was a circle of celeriac and hazelnut sauce as silky as cream, a bright green slick of tarragon oil, a purply red wedge of beetroot purée, and a circle of guinea fowl jus. This was served with a small side salad – a sharply dressed mélange of interestingly bitter leaves, peppered with crunchy popped wheat and concealing nuggets of deeply roasted beetroot, so vegetal, sweet, and fudgy. To complement this marvellous course was a sharing choux bun, which felt like a playful touch, a sweet treat that was both light and slightly crunchy.
Dessert brought a chocolate feuilletine tart of utter loveliness. Alongside the tart, which was so glossy as to almost be mirror-like, was a small quenelle of salted cream and a tinier one of caramel. The feuilletine base had an excellent crackle – the waiter told us there were raisins incorporated into it; the dark chocolate hails from Colombia while the white chocolate from Ecuador. It was as elegant as a dress on a fashion shoot.
A final dish of candied fruit was presented as petit fours – one was a half Chardonnay grape with a thin brittle sugar coating flavoured with aniseed; it was like a very elegant grape toffee apple. The second piece was a segment of salted plum. It was a local plum, salted, not as I had expected a mouth-puckering umeboshi plum, but nevertheless a nod to Japanese cuisine.
We took to the sofa to rest awhile after a splendid lunch. Here we enjoyed an espresso and a Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong tea from Guangdong, served on silver coasters, in more hand-blown glass that felt so tactile in the hand. A scented candle wafted over us, set on a marble table with a range of coffee table books. We watched the clouds begin to subtly change colour over the Thames as the afternoon drew on. Eventually, I had to remind myself we were in a restaurant, not relaxing on the sofa at a friend’s house. We could not stay endlessly, although we were certainly not hurried to leave.
This is the level of cooking so refined that you wish the lunch would not end. From the ambience to the view, the well-informed and friendly staff (elegantly dressed in outfits designed by Alexa Segal and sporting bright yellow Tigers), to the food – it was a top-tier experience. The only thing left to do is to book in for dinner.
Although I visited Lunette within days of its opening, it already felt settled in, with excellent service, faultless presentation and quality of the dishes, and a relaxed vibe. The only surprise was that the room was not full on its first Saturday lunch service. This is the calm before the storm. Book now, because once word gets around, tables will be hard to come by.
Lunette is open Tuesday – Saturday, 12 – 1.30 pm and 5.30 – 9 pm
Level 11, St Clement
Temple
London
WC2R 2NF
Tel: 0204 6326750
Other openings that have caught our attention this month
B Penhale opens in Farringdon and is from the Camille team, whose French-focused restaurant is very popular at Borough Market. The new restaurant will focus on British and Irish culinary traditions. Located near Smithfield, the nose-to-tail cooking will use lesser-known cuts of meat and offal, putting a contemporary twist on some Victorian-era dishes. Expect items on the menu such as pigeon pie or stout-battered oysters with bone marrow and horseradish.
B Penhale, 57 W Smithfield, EC1A 9DS
PAM
Another restaurant sure to become a Farringdon hotspot is PAM. Chef Karla Knowles was previously head chef at Kiln in Soho, but is now moving across town, where she will be heading up a live-fire Thai restaurant. If her popular dishes at Kiln are anything to go by (they are), PAM (People Around Me) should be a hot opening this November.
PAM, 61 Charterhouse Street, EC1M 6 HA
Looking for something different? Last month’s restaurant of the month was the reopening of Quaglino’s. Check out our review.
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