M GRILL, Threadneedle Street
After a full decade travelling the globe, dining at the finest restaurants, visiting vineyards, drinking in cocktail bars and staying in hotels in the search for inspiring hospitality, Martin Williams’ inspirations germinated into the creation of M. The resources and energy expended ended up being shrewd investments. All of the places he’d spent time in contributed to the story, making it compelling. M, in short, is borne on the shoulders of its inspirations and Martin’s imagination.
Ask Martin and the philisophy of M is quite simple. It is to bring the highest quality food, beverage and hospitality offerings possible to his guests. At M, this goes as far as being able to use the M website to chose your own table in ‘airline style’ before you dine – an industry first.
On a local scale, Martin is passionate about the multiculturalism of London and wanted to create a restaurant that is a true mirror of cultural liberalism. M draws inspiration from international cuisines, but it’s also supported by an international team of staff, many of whom learned their trade in some of the foremost eateries and venues across the planet. M isn’t simply a restaurant or a bar, it’s closer to a private members’ club or hotel in feel, and the type of venue that you’d use for a range of purposes. The success of M has been predicated on fostering relationships with regulars who return almost daily.
M GRILL
M GRILL, Threadneedle Street
During his time working in London, Martin noticed that there was a specific brand of badinage taking place between guests. He’d have people from all corners of the world visiting, and each would insist that beef from their country was the best that you could get. It dawned on Martin: restaurants tend to focus on one type of beef. You have British, American and Argentine steakhouses in London, but it’s very rare that you find a restaurant that specialises in serving the best steaks in the world. From there, the concept of M quickly unspooled. Martin decided to open a restaurant that specialises in steak and wine from the top six nations in the world: the United States, France, South Africa, Australia, Argentina and Japan.
Each steak on the menu has its own specific character that requires a certain preparation. The kitchens were installed with two types of grills: a wood-fired parrilla like you’d find in Argentina and a Josper charcoal grill. The wood-fired grill is a more delicate means of cooking, perfectly suited for cuts like rump and fillet. These same cuts would be overpowered by the Josper, which suits fattier steaks like rib-eyes and almost any cut from Wagyu or Kobe beef.
M GRILL is also one of the few restaurants in London to have its own ageing chamber, on display from the dining room. The kitchen staff take sides of beef that have been flown in, trim them and age them for up to twenty-eight days to give the meat a deeper, nuttier taste.
The six-nation theme extends beyond the steaks. There are six starters on the menu and six non-steak main courses, each one reflecting the cuisine and ethos of the represented country. Australia, for instance, is plated in the form of crocodile fillets with slow-cooked hen’s egg, pear, onion powder and bone marrow. Executive Chef Michael Reid spent a long stint working in the thriving culinary city of Melbourne, and brings a talented hand to both the sourcing and preparation of Australian ingredients. There are also six dishes from M RAW which have crept onto the menu, with lighter, punchier flavours that stimulate the palate and prepare it for the robust mains.
M GRILL, Threadneedle Street
M RAW
M RAW was inspired by trips to Japan and the great Asian cuisine that can be found in restaurants in the major cities – New York, London and Paris. The motto of RAW is ‘the natural purity and simplicity of ingredients’ in world gastronomy. When dining at seminal international Japanese eateries like Zuma, Morimoto and Sukiyabashi Jiro, you never leave feeling as if you’re bloated or you’ve overeaten. You always leave feeling as if you’re sated and on a protein high. This is recreated at M with a menu that focuses on the ingredients sourced by Michael and Martin, which are notably light on the carbohydrates and heavy on the fish. The restaurant showcases Asian classics like nigiri, sashimi, tartars and ramen.
There’s also a playful element on the menu gleaned from travelling around some of Tokyo’s most famous restaurants, such as Chikuyotei Honten and Bird Land at Marunouchi. There’s finger food in the form of chicken karaage and Chinese bao, and the kushiyaki served on hot stones always entrances diners with its theatricality. Guests then have the opportunity cook their own Wagyu beef, Iberico pork and yellow fin tuna at the table, or watch as their server does.
M DEN
The theatricality of restaurants has always excited Martin. Once, in a bar, he happened upon a wardrobe teeming with fur coats. The words ‘To Narnia’ were scrawled on the back panel of the cupboard. After pushing on the wardrobe, Martin was disappointed to realise that it didn’t lead anywhere in particular. He decided that he would create his own version of Narnia, tucked away behind a secret entrance, when he launched his own restaurant.
This, of course, became M DEN. It’s the kind of playroom that you’d create in your own home if you had an unlimited budget. It’s set back from the restaurant and quite effectively hidden, so that you wouldn’t know it was there, and is reserved for guests who frequent the restaurant and really appreciate what M offers. Alongside a raft of luxury items running the gamut from foosball tables and state of the art sound systems to artwork by Miles Aldridge, M DEN also offers private bottle lockers and a humidor where members can store cigars, imparting a sense of ownership similar to a private members’ club, but one so secret that few know it exists.
M DEN
M BAR
M BAR, Victoria Street
It’s hard to nail down inspirations for a bar, particularly when you’re operating in one of the best markets for cocktail bars on the planet. Three international bars that figured into the psyche of M are the Bar & Courtyard at the Setai in Miami, Floreria Atlantico in Buenos Aires and a strange little bolthole in Tokyo that Martin can only nebulously recollect. The bar at M is eminently adaptable: guests can pop up and have a glass of wine – or indeed a flight – be led on a wine tasting by a sommelier, enjoy a cocktail, a pint of lager or open a bottle of champagne. It’s both accessible and aspirational; diners can choose to eat the big M burger or caviar, as well as anything in between. The only important benchmark is that the dish is playful.
This extends to the cocktail list which was put together by Martin’s friend Lance Perkins, who helms the bar at the London Edition Hotel. Together, they constructed a drinks list that consistently subverts expectations. Just as in M GRILL and M RAW, guests will initially be struck by the flavour of the drink, before the cocktail’s texture, mouthfeel or garnish supplies a secondary surprise. M BAR also shares common blood with the restaurants in that it uses the finest ingredients. All of the house spirits are premium brands: the vodka is Belvedere; the gin Tanqueray 10; rum is Ron Zacapa; even the vermouth is top-shelf – Cocchi Americano. No punches are pulled in assuring that drinkers are sipping the best.
M BAR, Threadneedle Street
M WINE
Fine wine can be an intimidating and off-putting field to get into, which is why so many diners will leave their bottle up to the sommelier’s discretion – this can, in turn, feed into upselling bottles and compromising trust. The mission of M WINE has always been to open doors for guests to enjoy fine wine and make it more accessible, and the wine dispensers are the perfect vehicle for that. At M, wines like Screaming Eagle, Opus One and Petrus are not only available by the bottle and glass, but by a 50ml tasting measure. In some restaurants it’s quite common to be spending over £3,000 on these wines, which puts them out of reach for most people. You’re paying for its authenticity, its storage and for a sommelier who can explain the terroirs, producer and history behind the wine.
Zack Charilaou, the Wine Director at M, is a virtuoso. At the tender age of twenty-four he has already won a slew of accolades, winning the Harpers Award for Sommelier of the Year 2015, serving on the panel of the Sommelier Wine Awards and winning a nomination as Young Sommelier of the Year for Imbibe Live Awards 2013. In spite of his successes, there’s not a hint of pretension in Zack. Affable, charming and expert at holding a chat, he’s the perfect point of contact for anyone anxious to learn a bit more about what they’re drinking.
M Wine Store + MWINESTORE.COM
There’s nothing wrong with occasionally being inspired by yourself, and the M Wine Store and MWINESTORE.COM were built upon the success of wine at the Threadneedle site. After finishing their meals, many diners at M would ask how they could buy the wines for their own homes. It’s very rare that you can purchase high-quality, restaurant-standard wine in the supermarket or anywhere else without being a fine wine merchant or collector. Martin was inspired to make the wine accessible through both physical and online marketplaces.
For the actual bricks and mortar shop, 150 of M’s most accessible wines were taken off M’s 300 bin menu, with another 150 added that draw on from the six continent theme with the notable addition of Italy. The shop in Victoria has been fashioned to resemble a classic car collectors’ garage – with white lacquer shelving with white inlays and brushed concrete flooring. Perhaps more importantly there are six wine dispensers with forty-eight wines on offer, as well as a beautiful tasting table where guests can imbibe. Winemakers’ dinners and tasting dinners are held weekly – and the food menu is written like a wine list, divided into whites, rosés and reds.
MWINESTORE.COM arrived on the back of the second restaurant, and offers all of the 300 wines that are found in the shop. In typical M fashion, however, it’s not your average online wine delivery service. Online shoppers will have the option to bolt on experiential components to their orders: there’s a sommelier service wherein a sommelier will deliver the wines and do a tasting for you with glass and decanter; customers will be invited to tastings within the shop; and wine hampers are available to order. For those who just can’t wait, wine can be delivered within 45 minutes to London destinations. Everything from one bottle to several hundred bottles can be ordered – there’s no limit or case size. As with the restaurant, the mission of the wine shop is to make fine wine accessible and fun.
Entrance at M, Victoria Street