Telephone: 020 7590 9999
Address: 3 Yeoman's Row, London SW3
Dinner for two, including wine and service, £75
Max Renzland knows one end of a French restaurant from the other, as well he should. He's run enough of them. He began, with his twin brother, knocking out bourgeois French food from a bistro in southwest London which, by day, was a greasy spoon. Of such things are legends made. After his brother died, he moved on to a set of highly regarded restaurants with names like Le Petit Max and Monsieur Max, where he would do everything from welcome guests to clean the silver. He can cook, though that was really his brother's forte. Max was always the king of front of house.
Now he has a new kingdom, and by God, is he desperate to rule it. A year or two back, Marco Pierre White took over a basement site in Knightsbridge and set up a brasserie called the Parisienne Chophouse. It was meant to be the first in a chain of quality places, all dark wood and brass and French Art Nouveau advertising billboards. Despite a few Mexican waves from the Marco fan club in the media, it really didn't do. Now he has renamed it Chez Max and installed Renzland as the 'restaurateur'. Which is a way of saying that, while it's not his financial muscle, it is his baby.
On the night we went, Renzland - a comfortingly built man with a ponytail and a low centre of gravity - was everywhere: seating punters, taking orders, clearing plates, picking up coffee orders, delivering drinks. Doing everything, in fact, other than playing mein host. He simply hadn't left enough time for that. It was, I'm afraid, all rather wearying; eagerness to please had given away to something rather more intense. It was also unnecessary because, while the room is large, his white-aproned staff seemed more than capable of coping.
What's more, the restaurant they are running can easily stand up for itself. The wood-lined basement room has a rattling buzz to it and the food is hugely appealing in proposition, price and delivery. Only one dish that we tried, a gratin dauphinois made with undercooked potato, was a failure. All the rest hit the spot. From the starters, all at £6.50, I tried wild mushrooms with French toast that contained, hidden within, a layer of sweet caramelised onions. It pretty much defined the term comfort food. A salade gourmande was a fine piece of assembly with generous portions of smoked duck breast and pté de foie gras.
Main courses run from £12.50 - the majority - to £18.50. My confit shoulder of lamb with haricot beans and roast garlic was a smartly deconstructed cassoulet. The sweet, tender meat had a crisp breadcrumb topping and a rich garlicky stew of the beans. Slow-roast lacquered 'Bresse' duck à l'orange made a virtue of all the words in its title. It was well rendered and the skin was intensely flavoured without having that overwhelming confectionery-orange hit you get in Home Counties restaurants that are trying too hard. We finished with the pure cocoa blast of the chocolate pot and a few scoops of prune and Armagnac ice cream - not to be recommended to anybody who is driving.
There is a three-course 'Menu Petit Max' with four choices at each course, available both at lunch and dinner. At £16.50 all in, it looks like spectacular value for this part of London, and this kind of cooking. There is also a sensible wine list with lots of choice below £20.
The Chez Max concept will definitely be rolled out, first into the site occupied by Gary Rhodes's restaurant City Rhodes, on the edge of London's Square Mile. When that happens, Max Renzland will realise he can't be in two places at once and he will be forced to relax. His restaurants will benefit from it.
