Michelin star chef Jason Atherton opens City Social in Tower 42

Award winning chef, Jason Atherton, has opened his new City Social restaurant situated in the Tower 42 skyscraper that dominates the skyline of the City of London.

It is the latest high profile restaurant to be opened in the growing number of London tower blocks following the arrival of Oblix and Hunon in the Shard.

This new venture is a joint partnership with Restaurant Associates, and is a 90 cover with art deco style interiors. It is also an opportunity for head chef Paul Walsh to move up from his previous role as sous chef at the three Michelin starred, Royal Hospital Road.

He and Atherton have created a menu that promises "creative yet simple dishes, showcasing the best of British ingredients".

These include dishes like English asparagus salad, pecorino cream cheese, soft poached hen's egg and bone marrow crumbs, and line caught sea bass, deep fried oyster, cucumber, sea fennel and oyster veloute. Atherton is also trying his hand at pasta and rice dishes for the first time.

Atherton said: "Customers will walk into my restaurant from the lifts and immediately see the Gherkin, The Cheesegrater, and all those iconic buildings that have shot up in London over the past decade, right in front of your eyes. The restaurant is serving beautiful cuisine in a glamorous environment."

The drinks offer include a choice of cocktails that hark back to the days of Prohibition in the US that have been created by award winning mixologist, Gareth Evans, who is the group bar manager across all of Atherton's restaurants.

The list includes Scotch and American whiskies, gins and Cognacs. Cocktails include: Poddington Bear: Linie Aquavit, Maraschino, lemon juice, peashoot oil, quinine marmalade, egg white, sel gris and 99 Problems But a Birch Ain't One: Somerset 3 year apple brandy, birch syrup, lemon juice, mandarin, birch taffy lollipop.  Sommelier and general manager is Nicolas Pierron, who was previously at Claridges and D&D London's The Old Bengal Warehouse. 

City Social is Atherton's fourth London restaurant following Michelin starred Pollen Street Social and Social Eating House, Little Social and the recently opened Berners Tavern within The London Edition Hotel.