Restaurant Review: Tempo

It's Italy, Mayfair style at Tempo. With a Japanese chef, obviously. This review was originally written for Blue Tomato magazine.

Expectations
 A grand sounding Italian venue nestled in the heart of Mayfair, the thought of Tempo evokes ideas of luxury and extravagance. This is perhaps partly due to the association with owner Henry Tonga, a former hotelier and regular on London’s elite scene, who ran the now closed hotel 22 Jermyn Street. These high expectations are complicated by the knowledge that Tempo’s chef is not Italian at all, but Japanese. Are we in store for a touch of fusion?

Experience

There’s certainly no shortage of luxury on entering Tempo. The downstairs restaurant pulls off decidedly high-end dining in a light, spacious atmosphere that is as far from stuffy old-school Mayfair as could be. There’s an opulent operatic feel that befits the restaurant’s name, particularly in the smaller upstairs bar area, with hanging drapes, plush sofas and a grand fireplace bestowing a homely mansion-like charm. We can’t help but imagine that this would be the ideal site for a wild house party, the likes of which Mayfair squatters and members of the Skins crew have thrown over the years. We wouldn’t encourage it, though – as the food comes out it seems unlikely that any wannabe squatters could knock up dishes of quite the same standard.

Interview - Silvena Rowe

On the day that Quince opens in the May Fair Hotel, I go to meet the self-acclaimed mad woman Silvena Rowe, the driving force behind this little bit of East in W1.

Walking into Quince on its opening day, there’s a tangible buzz in the air and the unstoppably enigmatic Silvena is making her presence known. Before I even reach the restaurant though, I’m turned away. I came via the May Fair Hotel’s main entrance, which is apparently the wrong thing to have done.

Around the corner on Stratton Street is Quince’s own doorway, which leads to a passageway lined with what must be close to eighty of the restaurant’s namesake fruits. I see now why my route in is important. The heady, rose-like perfume of the quinces immediately evokes only semi-comprehendible notions of exoticism, sun-kissed orchards and vast spice bazaars. Silvena explains it more simply: “That’s the smell of my childhood.”