Dining Out: Labombe by Trivet

Mayfair has never been short on places to take a client, but very few strike the balance modern lunching requires: polished but not stuffy, ambitious but not exhausting, confident but still fun. Labombe by Trivet — the new, wine-forward restaurant from the two-Michelin-starred team behind Trivet — lands squarely in that sweet spot. It is the kind of place you can book for a meeting, linger over a long lunch, or simply enjoy a proper meal in the middle of the day without feeling as though you’ve stumbled into a hushed temple of gastronomy.

Opening this autumn within COMO Metropolitan London, Labombe has its own street entrance on Old Park Lane, which immediately gives it the air of being adjacent to the five-star world rather than swallowed by it. This is no hotel dining room disguised as a restaurant. Instead, Labombe has been designed with the same clarity of purpose that has defined the Trivet ethos since the beginning: great food, great wine, and an almost disarming sense of ease.

The name itself comes from a fictional restaurant Chef Jonny Lake once dreamt up for a French school project — a playful origin story that sets the tone. In practice, the restaurant is an evolution of Labombe’s popular Monday-night residency at Trivet, where rare wines and relaxed, deeply flavour-first cooking became something of an industry secret. Now, fully realised in Mayfair, the concept feels perfectly at home.

What makes Labombe particularly compelling for lunch is the way it manages to be both serious and completely unpretentious. You’re greeted by a dramatic glass-encased wine cellar — a quiet flex — but the space itself is warm, modern and light, lined with cognac suede banquettes and punctuated by British artworks that stop the room from ever feeling too sleek or too symmetrical. The open kitchen and bar give the restaurant a constant hum, the sort that ensures even a business lunch feels pleasantly alive rather than overly orchestrated.

The kitchen is headed by Evan Moore, a fellow Canadian and Fat Duck alumnus, working alongside Lake and Master Sommelier Isa Bal. The three have crafted a menu with a noticeable sense of freedom, drawing on their collective experience in Italy, Spain, Turkey and Australia, but always with Trivet’s cross-cultural DNA intact. Much of it is cooked over the grill, and much of it is meant to be shared — an ideal setup for conversations that stretch naturally between courses.

Our lunch began with the Infinity sourdough and Espelette butter, a pairing so simple yet so well executed it immediately told us we were in good hands. From there, the Seabass Crudo arrived: thin slices dressed with orange ponzu, anchovy garum and olive oil. It’s the sort of dish that feels tailored for daytime — cold, bright, and completely unheavy, but with enough depth from the garum to hold its ground alongside a glass of something crisp.

The Wild Mushroom Pici, handmade noodles coated in a rich Madeira and mushroom emulsion, was more indulgent, but still measured enough to belong at lunch. It’s comforting without being nap-inducing, full of grilled wild mushrooms and built on the kind of technique that reads as quietly confident rather than showy.

One of the highlights — and a dish we’d return for — is the Hot Tongue Bun, borrowed from Trivet. It’s a small, almost mischievous thing, stuffed with tender tongue and topped with a sharp, creamy yoghurt. It’s the sort of plate that says a lot about Labombe: high-quality ingredients, classical skill, and just the right amount of irreverence.

But lunchtime power moves require a proper centrepiece, and the Iberico Pork Chop answered the call. Thick, deeply flavoured and cooked with just the right amount of char, it is served simply, allowing the meat to speak for itself. It’s the kind of dish that works equally well for a quiet celebration or a working lunch where you need the food to support the occasion rather than dominate it.

Labombe is also set to become a serious destination for wine — unsurprising given Isa Bal’s involvement. Head Sommelier Philipp Reinstaller, recently named UK Sommelier of the Year, oversees a list that avoids the usual posturing of Mayfair. Yes, there are rare bottles and older vintages, including pours from a five-litre Grüner Veltliner and a 1997 Brunello di Montalcino, but the real brilliance lies in how approachable the list is. Bal has always believed wine should be engaging rather than intimidating, and that attitude is woven throughout the offering. For a lunch meeting, this is invaluable: you can impress without needing to perform.

If the wine programme reflects Trivet’s sophisticated curiosity, the cocktails nod to the building’s past as the Met Bar — once a haunt for designers, musicians and creatives in the 1990s. The classics are made with confidence and without gimmicks, while signatures such as the Ginza Sour (Suntory Toki with a sour umeboshi kick) add something elegant but unexpected.

The overall atmosphere is relaxed, warm and gently energetic — exactly what you want in the middle of the day. It’s lively enough to feel like you’re somewhere exciting, but calm enough that you can discuss numbers, negotiate a deal, or catch up with a friend without raising your voice.

Design plays its part in this equilibrium. Turkish architect Umay Çeviker has created an interior that feels quietly luxurious rather than overtly dressed. Natural wood, textured plaster, marble-topped tables and sculptural lighting give the space a soft, contemporary rhythm. Even the Italian glass doors that lead to private seating have been considered: semi-opaque, subtly reflective and ideal for lunches requiring a touch more privacy.

What Lake and Bal have built here is not a second Trivet, nor a diluted version of it. Labombe is its own creature — lighter in spirit, designed for everyday pleasure, and shaped as much by the rhythm of the day as by the ambitions of the night. Open from noon, it is exactly the kind of restaurant Mayfair has needed: somewhere to escape into great food without sacrificing the pace of your day.

As a lunchtime spot, Labombe is convincing on every level. The food is refined but generous, the wine list is world-class without being self-serious, and the setting is smart in that understated, modern way the best dining rooms manage. Whether you’re sealing a deal, entertaining a client or simply giving yourself permission to enjoy the middle of the day properly, Labombe makes a compelling argument for lunch as something to be taken seriously.

And it is, frankly, an argument we’re always happy to hear.

Book a table at Labombe by Trivet.