A crudo bar of tiraditos and ceviches and a list that runs from Mendoza to Meursault give a cobbled courtyard off Bond Street a French restaurant with Latin American flavour.
At Latine the tacos are filled with bœuf bourguignon and the Brazilian cheese bread has Camembert inside. Snails come baked in chimichurri butter. The kitchen cooks French food with Latin American flavour, in a cobbled Mayfair mews a few steps from Bond Street.
The terrace on Lancashire Court
Latine opened in the summer at 10-11 Lancashire Court. The mews behind Mayfair’s grand houses once held stables, workshops and small trades that kept the townhouses running. Latine now sets its terrace out on the cobbles, as a stop for a glass of Champagne or a cocktail after Bond Street.
The ground floor holds the restaurant and a crudo bar for the day’s seafood. Sea bream tiradito comes in a coconut leche de tigre with roasted avocado and mint, and sea bass ceviche with passion fruit and popcorn. A red prawn ceviche has mango and yuzu, with plantain chips, and the hamachi sits in a pineapple aguachile beside sweetcorn blinis.
French cooking with Latin flavour
The menu is written in French, and the Latin accent sits in the detail. Duck croquettes come with a guava and chipotle chutney. The cauliflower ceviche takes its leche de tigre from 24-month Parmesan.
Among the mains, wild sea bass arrives with an ají amarillo beurre blanc, and lamb cutlets with plantain ravioli and an Andean jus. The beef fillet is served with a Périgord sauce and dark chocolate, the dish where the two kitchens meet most plainly. A one-kilo ribeye with chimichurri béarnaise is for the table.
Desserts include a plantain tarte tatin with coffee caramel and a chocolate fondant with chipotle chilli. When the opening was announced, the kitchen was reported to be led by Francisco Lafee, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu and cooked at El Celler de Can Roca and Barrafina.
Wine from Mendoza and Burgundy
The wine list follows the same two directions. By the glass it pours a white blend from Atamisque in Mendoza and a Chardonnay from Las Estelas in the Uco Valley. A Coravin opens Meursault ‘Les Casse-Têtes’ and the 2019 Margaux du Château Margaux by the glass.
Many of the bottles come from Mendoza, from Chenin Blanc to Petit Verdot. At the top are Krug Grande Cuvée and a 2023 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru from Domaine Philippe Colin. Preamble No. 2 from Hundred Hills, in Oxfordshire, is the English sparkling choice.
The first floor is La Candela, which turns into a lounge as the night goes on, with DJs, cocktails and Champagne. LACAV, a late room for cocktails and DJ sets, was announced for September and has not opened yet.
El Cielo, the private dining room, is on the second floor above the main dining room. It seats 20, or more than 40 for a standing reception, and the kitchen tailors its menus to each booking.
Open Monday to Saturday, 12:00 to 00:00; closed on Sunday. Crudo £17 to £35; mains £25 to £52; the ribeye for the table £130. Set lunch from Monday to Friday, 12:00 to 15:00, £29 for two courses or £38 for three. A discretionary 13.5 per cent service charge is added.
Latine, 10-11 Lancashire Court, London W1S 1EY.
Discover more at latinemayfair.com