Autumn, But Make It Luxurious — Sushi, Sake and Caviar at Piccadilly

You can keep your pumpkin patches and knitwear hauls — this autumn, some of us are starting the season with caviar and sake.

From 1 September, Caviar House Piccadilly — better known for its tins of Prunier and cold glasses of champagne — is leaning East. The new Sake & Sushi menu pairs Japanese precision with the restaurant’s trademark extravagance, and the result is surprisingly seductive.

Executive chef Neil Santiago has taken the familiar comfort of maki and sashimi and polished it to a diamond finish. There’s Tuna, Salmon and Prawn Sashimi, Spicy Tuna Rolls, California Rolls, and a neat little nigiri topped with caviar — because of course there is. But the real showpiece is the Chutoro Caviar Maki, a roll stuffed with golden Prunier Osciètre caviar, Uni, and Chutoro. It looks like jewellery and tastes like a very good idea.

Instead of champagne, the pairing is sake — Sake ONO Junmai Daiginjo, from Japan’s oldest Niigata brewery. Silky, dry, a little floral, it’s the perfect companion to caviar’s salty bite

“This menu is our nod to Japanese craft, but still very much Caviar House,” says MD Chris Mehmet, which is a polite way of saying it’s all rather decadent.

If you needed a reason to skip soup season and ease into autumn with something finer, this is it — caviar on your sushi, sake in your glass, and no thought at all of summer.

Launches 1 September at Caviar House, 161 Piccadilly.