Evening Standard, 11 July
Fay Maschler at La Petite Maison

Someone's been on holiday, you think. They've visited a restaurant in the South of France, had a meal on a terrace one balmy evening, listened to the cicadas chirping, breathed in the scent of jasmine and char-grilling, eaten a stuffed courgette flower and decided what a terrific wheeze it would be to re-create the experience back in London. Although a scenario along those lines is activated about once every five years - the last instance was La Chaumière, which opened in Chelsea in 2002 and quite soon became Cheyne Walk Brasserie - it is not exactly the story behind La Petite Maison, recently launched in Mayfair.

La Petite - Evening Standard review in full >>

Time Out, 4 - 10 July
Andrew Staffell at Olivomore

You might think Mauro Sanna was pushing his luck. Having opened Olivomare on the site of a former, failed trattoria, he now owns three Sardinian restaurants on as many adjacent streets in Belgravia. And while there's plenty of disposable income clinking around these parts, you wonder if he's tempting fate, just a little.Yet Olivomare is already turning down bookings. Such is the appeal of good Italian cooking - even to Belgravians who could afford to eat fussier food in fancier surroundings, every night of the week. It might be peasant food, but serve it in the right setting and in they'll flock. Just look at Mayfair.

Olivomore - Time Out review in full >>

Bloomberg, 11 July
Richard Vines at Vincents in Riga

George Soros has done it. So have two regal stars: Queen Beatrix and Elton John. They've all tasted the food of Martins Ritins, Riga's celebrity chef par excellence. His restaurant, Vincents, is one of those must-go places for visiting celebrities. Whole walls are decorated with photos of diners such as George W. Bush, Joe Cocker, Romano Prodi, Gerhard Schroeder, Madeleine Albright, B.B. King and Mikhail Baryshnikov. It's a cool place, in a basement with bright colors and good lighting. It has enough charm to compensate for the service, which can be a little relaxed by international standards. Our booking was lost and we were sent away for 20 minutes while a table was found. When we were finally seated, no one offered us a drink.

Riga - Bloomberg review in full >>

Metro, 4 July
Marina O’Loughlin, La Petite Maison

I really, really liked La Petite Maison. Strike that: I lurved it. I want to marry it, have its babies. Marina and Maison sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G. That's how much I liked it. I didn't expect to. It's in Mayfair. It comes from the same stable as Zuma and Roka. It's based on an original in Nice much frequented by the likes of nearby neighbours Sir Elton, Bono, Liz Hurley, Rod Stewart and Roger Moore. Can you read that list without an involuntary shudder? So you expect super-posh, super-pricey, super-poncy.

La Petite Maison -Metro review in full >>