It’s difficult to put London’s Sketch into a travel destination category, and that’s exactly how its owners and designers wanted it.
Located in Mayfair, in the heart of Central London off bustling Regent Street, Sketch is part restaurant(s), part cocktail bar, part tearoom, part art gallery, part event venue, part art gallery and part alien realm. The behind the place is to create a more encompassing destination for London more stylish adventurers and any travelers fortunate enough to come upon it.
Conceived by French master chef Pierre Gagnaire and restaurateur Mourad Mazouz, Sketch is in its own little world — or rather its individual dining rooms and other sections look to form their own environments within Sketch. For example, its afternoon tearoom is straight out of Gatsby, while the Sketch bar closer the entrance is dark, intimate classic cocktail chic.
The dining rooms shift from a woodland lounge (The Glade) to a formal art deco restaurant (The Lecture Room). Each space is distinct from any other spot in Sketch (and from anywhere else in London). While the space is available for event use and private parties, young London flocks to Sketch to take advantage of its varied menus and amenities — and to be seen in a cutting edge, big city space.
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Whether a visitor is a foodie, amateur mixologist, film lover, connoisseur, art expert or just a wide eyed explorer, Sketch will keep him or her busy during multiple visits. Fortunately, the staff is more down to Earth than their work surroundings. Such an ambitious space could’ve opted for avant-garde attitudes or stand-offish attitudes. Instead, the team is friendly, chatty and service oriented.
There may be no more distinct way to demonstrate the Sketch attitude than a trip to its loo. A simple restroom with MEN and WOMEN signage would’ve done the trick, but there’s no style there. Instead, Sketch opted for another art-themed, alien landscape — mounting unisex toilets in white egg capsules. Each is unique in contents and sound, making even a trip to the bathroom at Sketch an act of exploration.
