Now that all but the last few leaves have fallen, Glass is on the search for restaurants that reflect the mood of the changing seasons by not only constantly re-imagining their menus, but also in their approach to relaxed dining in the big city.
Flat Three is tucked away in an unassuming doorway on Holland Park Avenue. Stepping downstairs into the subterranean high-end eatery the first thing that catches one’s eye is the inviting view of the immaculate kitchen.
Following this one is led to a table by a staff member, who’ll walk you through the broken-up segments of wall structures that make up Flat Three and also help create the impression that the underground space is a lot larger than it actually is.
Founded by Juliana Kim Moustakas and head chef Pavel Kanja in March earlier this year, Japan was the main inspiration for this culinary duo, but not without a little Swedish design fusion on the side. This adopted theme doesn’t dominate, however, and the à la carte and tasting menu options, along with a range of cocktails and small producer wines, are also welcome additions to what is on offer.
Prior to opening Flat Three, Juliana hosted a limited run of supper-club evenings at her home to trial the dishes that are now on the menu, hence the providence of the name – Flat Three. As such, quality is first and foremost to the team and is delivered in an intimate setting that can probably be closely likened to Flat Three’s supper-club origins.
A dish at Flat Three, Holland Park
Cleanliness and order is also a stand-out feature, so much so that you’ll find yourself respecting the artfully led out table setting much more than needs be. In addition, the comfortable interiors exhibit a chic far West restraint that is a welcome change from the hoo-ha of most spots in Knightsbridge and Mayfair.
The interior of Flat Three, Holland Park
At £33 per head the fully stocked lunch menu, served on Friday’s and Saturday’s, makes for a fine and financially savvy lunching option. Glass’ choice of the Diver scallop and sardine velouté to start, the 28 day aged sirloin, jus with soured cream and baby aubergine and the Runeberg cake, wild damsons and geranium ice cream to finish went down a treat.
If you are, all in all, looking for somewhere very well-executed to dine in one of London’s affluent and most well-presented boroughs, this is the place. Bonus points also have to go to the air of the Orient that isn’t at all overplayed, but perhaps it comes with the area code; with the equally exquisite Kyoto Gardens only a stone’s throw from Flat Three’s door.
Glass spoke with the founder Juliana to find out more about her plans for Flat Three.
There is a great attention to detail to every element here from the table settings to the toiletries you have in the bathrooms – is that artful detail very important to you?
Yes. We’ve tried to emphasise something different. The overall aesthetic here is understated, very subdued and hopefully elegant. Our aim is to combine what we see as symmetry in the lines of Scandinavian, Japanese and Korean cultures as it’s reflected in the food as well as in the ambience of the place.
Albeit we are a lower ground site, the aim of here was to have a lateral space because the open kitchen is integral to the dining as you saw when we were trying to bring the food to a certain temperature which is more challenging to places that are split level where you find kitchen in the basement or the use of a dumbwaiter.
We really do try to emphasise on the precision of the cooking and a result of that we want to share the sense of openness so you’re welcome to see how we prepare everything. There’s not even a glass window so sometimes that’s to the diners’ benefits and other times you may expose you to some of the colourful phrases as kitchen crew are prone to. In essence that is part of who we are.
This is our view of fine dining, though I’d rather not call it that as that carries connotations of a certain level of stuffiness in my view. Our aim is relaxed but we do want to make it nice for people, a welcoming, homely environment.
The aesthetics from a design point of view really are mid century. The mid century actually comes through with our furniture which is all vintage as well as our art which is all from Japan from a similar era in terms of the screens, to even the cutlery which is Mellors iconic prized line from 1952.
We’ve played on that because we feel it’s a nice period and something which is, obviously, coming back to a certain degree but we also hope we have our own touch on it. Of course, all of this is secondary to the real experience which is what you eat.
A dish at Flat Three, Holland Park
Going back to what we were eating, I was reading up on the background of Flat Three and its origins. I believe it began as a sort of private supper club in the evenings.
To say supper club would imply we would charge which we didn’t. The aim was to be more experimental and to try to test the concept on various individuals, some influence makers, bloggers, people in the food industry and other chefs.
We did that for a year out of my bachelorette pad which happens to be the third one in the building which is how Flat Three came about. It had been our home for a year and we thought let’s keep that because in essence what we are trying to do here isn’t too different except with a little more elbow room and a more workable kitchen but conceptually from a hospitality point of view, the way we want people to feel is no different
You opened the doors in March 2015.
April 1 actually. I have a sense of humour and wanted that day (laug
hs).
How wonderful. And since then, how’s it been going here?It’s been going good. It’s a very competitive environment
Especially in this area?
This area is one where it’s a word of mouth process and we’re slowly, hopefully, becoming a restaurant the locals come to more often. We’ve certainly had diners come in not once or twice but on a number of occasions. I can count one gentlemen who has been here six or seven times in the space of six months.
So that’s really something because with so many choices you don’t have to come back to the same places. For someone to do that is really gratifying
The interior of Flat Three, Holland Park
Do you think you have remained competitive in the market?
Well our menu changes on a weekly basis and even is subject to changes on a daily basis depending on what ingredients we have but it also changes because we evolve. So where we were on day one to where we are now is different. Maybe one or two dishes have stayed but every day is a new experience to us so we hope if you come in a month or two months or a year from now, you won’t have the same experience but it will be better
Some of the Japanese-inspired food on offer at Flat Three, Holland Park
And, finally, there is this very in depth focus of what’s being put into the food, from the ingredients, the precise temperatures and the whole culinary experience altogether. Where did that passion come from for you?
I’m a big eater and, in the name of research, I have eaten through some of the major cities of the world. It’s not my original background in life but I am very humbled that I can participate in this industry at this stage. I spent a year cooking in other people’s kitchens.
Ironically, now that we have our own kitchen I spend more time on the other side of the pass entertaining the diners. The expertise of the cooking I leave to Pablo, who is in the driving seat with the food, because at the end of the day, it’s his signature on it. We have worked together long enough that I know inherently where his thinking is.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Flat Three