Gauthier, Ham Yard are hidden gems in Soho's noisy tapestry

London's Soho has gentrified almost beyond recognition from the edgy home of the sex trade and alternative music I first gawped at as a teen-aged tourist. Despite new tenants and rocketing rents, there's still a whiff of seediness about the area. Maybe it's the remaining pornography vendors cheek-by-jowl with a higher-than-average homeless population. Perhaps it's the much-in-need-of-refurbishment interiors of many of its established venues. Certainly Saturday nights here do nothing to add to the allure ... at least for me ... with packs of drunken 20-somethings in from the home counties, boys braying and girls sashaying down the streets showing off their stiletto heels and spraypaint-tight dresses.

I can, however, tip you off to two places in Soho that leave the tawdry masses behind. Both have the feel of a private club: one for the refined grownups, one for the younger crowd out for a more boisterous time. Both, of course, will set you back a few pounds. Whatever the opposite of "seedy" is, it is most certainly not cheap.

We start at Gauthier Soho, a restaurant that occupies the entirety of one of the early Georgian townhouses that form the architectural backbone of the area. It still feels more house than restaurant, with an unchanged facade and subtle signage. You have to ring the bell for entry. Once inside ... where, of course, you are expected, because nobody turns up unannounced at this sort of place ... you're swept into the comforting care of an efficient staff. Most, like the cuisine, are French. And should you be unaware of the gastronomic influences coming your way, the bust of Napoleon topping the newel post of the main stairway (picture above) will remind you.

Gauthier no longer holds the Michelin star it won in 2011, but its food is exactly the kind of beautifully presented, subtly flavoured delicacy you expect at that level of fine dining. It is, admittedly, like many French restaurants of this calibre. Its differentiation comes from its private rooms. There are five here, taking up more of the overall house than the official restaurant rooms. Our hosts for the evening had carefully researched where they might combine fine dining with 20 people, and thought Gauthier had the most interesting menu choices. We selected from a short list in advance, off a menu where everything was tempting. They effortlessly matched diners to their pre-selections, and managed to serve everyone at once, with no compromise in taste, temperature or presentation.


We mingled briefly over champagne and an array of tasty little canapés; most memorable being a bit of seafood presented in a tiny, crispy basket shaped like a clam shell, but totally edible.  I missed the point of roasted carrots for an amuse bouche (too much like Weight Watchers), but the chef was back on stride with an excellent rabbit roulade with black olive crostini and winter leaves. Next a ginger and beetroot risotto, leading in to wild sea bass. All finished with a classic dark chocolate tart before the petit fours. The sommelier managed the tough task of matching wine across a variety of choices; the light red with the main course worked as well with my fish as with my husband's lamb. It's a rare thing when, having tasted their 'banquet food", you're tempted to return to the restaurant proper. But that's the case with Gauthier Soho.

My experience at the Ham Yard Hotel also went down the "banquet" route, but on a dramatically different scale. I'd guess there we were close to 200 at this annual work celebration, and the combination of location, food, drink and service made it one of the best corporate events I've been to in years.

The hotel is tucked away in a courtyard a stone's throw from Piccadilly Circus. You could walk by the entries from the main streets by a hundred times without ever knowing it's there; which is precisely the reason it has such an exclusive feel. It's quiet and elegant, yet also quirky and modern ... a quintessential boutique hotel ... and once settled for a coffee in its ground floor lounge areas you'd never believe you were so close to the neon-drenched, throbbing heart of London.  The central-yet-hidden cachet is, in fact, the reason I already knew about the place. It's a favourite spot for headhunters' meetings.

Just as I had a thrill of discovery the first time I wandered into the yard, last night I reeled in delightful shock at how much is under the hotel. There's a warren of impressive, double-height party rooms, a 200-seat theatre, several bars and a high tech karaoke studio that can also handle a live band.  It's all decorated in founder and designer Kit Kemp's trademark style: bright colours, bold statements, quirky juxtapositions. There's a 15-foot spiral track of oranges feeding the juicers in one of the bars. Giant film posters from the early days of cinema dominate walls. Life-sized crocodiles sculpted from driftwood crawl across wallpaper pulsing with oversized, three-dimensional butterflies. Enter the bowling alley, imported from somewhere in Texas, past a wall of vivdi bowling shoes arranged as an art installation.

As you'd expect, a place that makes this much effort on how things look doesn't settle for average food and drink. Entry beverages weren't just the usual champagne, but mohitos. Properly made, with plenty of crushed fresh mint. Fresh, sweet-and-salty popcorn awaited us in the theatre when we went in for the evening's speaker and corporate award ceremony. Dinner was a buffet of finger food, which can often be a disaster. Here, the choice included mini bagels with smoked salmon, mini burgers, rare roast beef on parmesan crisps and ... for those carb loading for a night of heavy drinking ... bowls of mac'n'cheese. Made with artisan cheese, of course. There were even a couple of salads for the health conscious, and these were interesting combinations of things like green beans, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese. The kinds of salads that stand as meals on their own, rather than a bowl of lettuce as an afterthought.

Just like Gauthier Soho, my group dining experience left me happy to come back and explore what's on offer on my own time and money. I'll certainly keep using Ham Yard as a central but secret meeting place. And if I ever want a private screening of my favourite film for 200 of my besties, now I know where to do it.