Fenix, London W1: ‘Big, bright, brash, dumbed down, shameless and open to all’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

Can taramasalata, hummus or moussaka ever be fancy? Short answer: yes Fenix , a new Greek restaurant on Piccadilly in Mayfair, is very much part of what I’m calling the “maximalist” group of modern openings. See also Lilibet’s and Simpson’s-in-the-Strand . Financial downturn? Never heard of her. While restaurateurs are all over the media turning out their empty pockets and pleading poverty, this new offshoot of a Manchester institution casually throws down another Sims-style pleasure palace. The photographs of the sumptuously ornate, Athenian-influenced interior can’t be real, surely? Well, it turns out they are . As you leave six lanes of moving traffic behind you and enter Fenix, eureka! You’re suddenly in a cross between an Aegean god’s haven and the White Company ’s bedding department. Continue reading...

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