Kitty Fisher's

Kitty Fisher's occupies a narrow Georgian townhouse in Shepherd Market, the lantern-lit warren of alleys tucked between Piccadilly and Curzon Street. Since 2014 it has traded on wood smoke and low candlelight: a wood-fired grill at its heart, a short menu of seasonal British cooking, and a wine list that regulars work through slowly. The ground-floor bar gives way to a basement dining room lined with button-tufted banquettes and gilt-framed prints, the brick vaults reaching out beneath the pavement.

The rooms are small by design, which is the appeal for a private evening. Taken whole, the restaurant seats up to thirty across both floors, the bar and the kitchen pass turned over to a single party. On the upper floor, Kitty's Club Room is a green-walled private dining room hung with pictures and warmed by its own fireplace, its curtained windows looking down over the market; it seats twelve for lunch or dinner.

It suits an intimate dinner rather than a large reception: a milestone birthday, a family celebration, a close table of guests. The kitchen writes menus to the occasion, and the setting carries the rest.