Jason Atherton’s decision to leave behind the safety of the Maze brand, his ties to Gordon Ramsey and the not insignificant remuneration was a bold step. In leaving his goal was to launch somewhere that he could call his own. In April 2011, only a year after departing from Maze, Atherton has launched the Pollen Street Social and he has plenty of reasons to be pleased with himself. In the short time since its launched it has had praise heaped upon it by the critics; swiftly making it one of the hottest places to get a table in the capital.
Getting there
Sheffield born Atherton first studied at Boston College in Lincolnshire before starting his career as commis chef at the Country Hotel in Skegness. It was not long before he had progressed to some of the finest kitchens in London – including working under Pierre Koffmann at the three star La Tante Claire, Nico Ladendis at Chez Nico and under Pierre White at his three star restaurant at the Hyde Park Hotel.
Following three years as sous chef at Stephen Terry’s Coast Atherton took on his first head chef role at Oliver Peyton’s Manchester based restaurants Mash and Air. The change from the focus on cooking to one of management was a shock to Atherton; who then decided to travel to Spain to look for experience in Ferran Adria’s El Bulli with its three Michelin stars. Initially offering to work for free Atherton was the first British chef to train at El Bulli and you can certainly see the influences of that training in the restaurants that he has been a part of since.
Following his return from Spain Atherton worked at Claudio Pulze’s Frith Street and collaborated with Pulze again in the opening of L’Anis. In 2002 he started his working relationship with Gordon Ramsey moving out to Dubai to run two restaurants at the Hilton Dubai Creek.
It was after three years in Dubai that Atherton returned to London and launched Maze under the Ramsey umbrella; his take on tapas-like dishes combining classic European ideas with Eastern influences soon became hugely popular and Atherton became a household name. In light of its success the Maze brand soon globalised, opening branches in New York and Prague; before then expanding the name within the UK with the launch of Maze Grill which soon found itself packed.
The maze brand is now huge and continues to have a dedicated following; despite this Atherton was yearning for more. There was only so long that he wanted to work in the shadows of Ramsey and his holdings company – so in April 2010 Atherton parted company with Maze to launch his own restaurant.
In April 2011 he launched the intriguingly named Pollen Street Social in Mayfair. At launch there was a lot in the menu that brought back memories of Maze, namely the sharing idea. There was however a swift change once it was realised that customers did not all want this sharing style. Now the menu sits somewhere in the middle; for those who want it much of the menu can be eaten for a tasting menu or for sharing whilst there is a starter, main, pudding menu on offer for those who want it a little more classical.
The reviews for the Pollen Street Social have been excellent across the board. The style of the place is relaxed and welcoming, shedding much of the pretention and grandeur of Maze and the food is considerably cheaper. That is not to say however that the food is worse than Maze; the food continues to blow socks off with inventiveness and flavour. We can only hope that Atherton keeps going strong.