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Pollen Street Social
Pollen Street Social was a restaurant in London, England, run by chef Jason Atherton.
It was Atherton's first UK solo restaurant, and in 2011 was named the best new UK restaurant by the Good Food Guide, and the best new fine-dining restaurant in London by Time Out. It held one Michelin star, which it gained within a year of opening and maintained until its closure. Elements in the restaurant such as the dessert bar were subsequently included in Atherton's other restaurants.
On 22 March 2024, Atherton announced on Instagram that the restaurant would be closing permanently on 31 July 2024.
Atherton had previously worked for Gordon Ramsay for ten years before opening his first restaurant, Table No. 1 in Shanghai. In 2011, he opened his first UK-based restaurant, Pollen Street Social, which became his flagship location. The name came from the location of the restaurant, and Atherton described the "social" name saying, "I spend quite a lot of time in New York, and places like Stanton Social are popping up; and it's based around people being able to use a fine-dining restaurant for anything they want, not just for the food, but for the atmosphere, for the Champagne, for the private areas, for the bar. So it's a social place."
It was funded by twenty years of Atherton's savings, as well as several minor investors in addition to a single private investor who owned 25%. He was relieved that there was a reasonable gap after the opening of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, due to the buzz caused by Blumenthal's restaurant. The restaurant was located at 8-10 Pollen Street, London, where previously a Pitcher & Piano public house was located. Prior to opening the restaurant, he opened a pop-up restaurant for two days in October 2010 to preview the menu to be served at Pollen Street Social.
The interior of the restaurant was split into two separate rooms, with the bar located away from the main dining area which seated sixty diners. The tables in the dining room were located around a central service area, while the kitchen was at the back of the room, near the dessert bar. The dessert bar allowed diners to watch the pastry chefs prepare the desserts.
Elements from Pollen Street Social were subsequently introduced to other restaurants run by Atherton. These included the dessert bar, which has been replicated in Atherton's Singapore based Pollen restaurant. Atherton described the most-used piece of equipment at the restaurant as a Thermomix, a blender which also heats the food which is used for purées and making hollandaise sauce.
The initial menu was criticised by critics for being overcomplicated. Due to Atherton's history of working at Maze, there was confusion over whether certain small plates were starters and which were sharing platters. Within a month of opening, this was reduced down to eight starters and eight main courses. The desserts included the signature "PBJ", which features peanut butter mousse, cherry jam and rice puffs.
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Pollen Street Social
Pollen Street Social was a restaurant in London, England, run by chef Jason Atherton.
It was Atherton's first UK solo restaurant, and in 2011 was named the best new UK restaurant by the Good Food Guide, and the best new fine-dining restaurant in London by Time Out. It held one Michelin star, which it gained within a year of opening and maintained until its closure. Elements in the restaurant such as the dessert bar were subsequently included in Atherton's other restaurants.
On 22 March 2024, Atherton announced on Instagram that the restaurant would be closing permanently on 31 July 2024.
Atherton had previously worked for Gordon Ramsay for ten years before opening his first restaurant, Table No. 1 in Shanghai. In 2011, he opened his first UK-based restaurant, Pollen Street Social, which became his flagship location. The name came from the location of the restaurant, and Atherton described the "social" name saying, "I spend quite a lot of time in New York, and places like Stanton Social are popping up; and it's based around people being able to use a fine-dining restaurant for anything they want, not just for the food, but for the atmosphere, for the Champagne, for the private areas, for the bar. So it's a social place."
It was funded by twenty years of Atherton's savings, as well as several minor investors in addition to a single private investor who owned 25%. He was relieved that there was a reasonable gap after the opening of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, due to the buzz caused by Blumenthal's restaurant. The restaurant was located at 8-10 Pollen Street, London, where previously a Pitcher & Piano public house was located. Prior to opening the restaurant, he opened a pop-up restaurant for two days in October 2010 to preview the menu to be served at Pollen Street Social.
The interior of the restaurant was split into two separate rooms, with the bar located away from the main dining area which seated sixty diners. The tables in the dining room were located around a central service area, while the kitchen was at the back of the room, near the dessert bar. The dessert bar allowed diners to watch the pastry chefs prepare the desserts.
Elements from Pollen Street Social were subsequently introduced to other restaurants run by Atherton. These included the dessert bar, which has been replicated in Atherton's Singapore based Pollen restaurant. Atherton described the most-used piece of equipment at the restaurant as a Thermomix, a blender which also heats the food which is used for purées and making hollandaise sauce.
The initial menu was criticised by critics for being overcomplicated. Due to Atherton's history of working at Maze, there was confusion over whether certain small plates were starters and which were sharing platters. Within a month of opening, this was reduced down to eight starters and eight main courses. The desserts included the signature "PBJ", which features peanut butter mousse, cherry jam and rice puffs.