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Luxe Seafood Restaurant That Says ‘We Are Fish’ Takes Over From The Square in Mayfair

SeaSons already has fishmongers in Notting Hill and Fitzrovia, but will open an “elegant flagship” this summer

by James Hansen
A plate of red prawns, salmon, and tuna with spring onion and cucumber on a white plate on a blue background
A raw offering from SeaSons
Joe Howard/SeaSons

A swanky fish restaurant that majors in Mediterranean seafood will take over from a formerly Michelin-starred Mayfair institution. SeaSons — styled to show that its denizens are “sons of the sea” — will open at 6–10 Bruton Place this summer, replacing the Square, which shut down in ignominy after administrators seized the restaurant in January 2020.

SeaSons already operates high-end fishmongers in Notting Hill, Kensington, and Fitzrovia, and intends to open in St. John’s Wood and Regent’s Park before the year is out, but this will be its first dive into a fully fledged restaurant. Its website sets out a mission statement:

WE ARE MORE THAN JUST A FISHMONGER.

WE ARE MORE THAN JUST A FISH RESTAURANT.

WE ARE FISH. WE ARE FRESH FISH.

Eater has learned that the business is currently hiring for a sommelier, food runner, and cocktail barback, led by Maurizio Amodio, formerly a manager at Asian/Italian hybrid Novikov, also in Mayfair. This provides the necessary verification that fresh fish will not be operating this restaurant.

Details on the offering at Bruton Place are light, but the current fishmongers, one of which offers a modest bistro menu, look to Mediterranean catch for their inspiration: salads of octopus and prawn, or tuna chopped into tartare; familiar visual high-roller touches like black brioche buns. Sicilian red prawns — which were on their way to becoming London’s Trendiest Ingredient before the COVID-19 pandemic shut restaurants down — are name-dropped, while fish from “the British coast” also get a mention. The fishmongers are described as “fish tailors,” while SeaSons also pledges to use “every part of the fish.”

Mayfair is on a bit of a luxury fish trawl right now: the “destination restaurant” at Hanover Square is promising Maine lobster and Galway oysters when it arrives from Dubai. And SeaSons will have a tough act to follow. Despite being plunged into disrepute after owner Marlon Abela’s bankruptcy, which left staff forced into tribunals to recoup wages, The Square remains a London institution for its time under the stewardship of Phil Howard.

Eater has contacted SeaSons for more information on the restaurant.

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