Open Now: M Canary opens its doors from 5th September 2022
M Restaurants is entering a new era as the group’s third restaurant opens its doors in Canary Wharf, 5 September. M will be a culinary destination in the 220m high Newfoundland, located both on the banks of the Thames and the waterways of Canary Wharf, boasting the most sustainable new build in the area to date.
Extending over the ground and first floors of Newfoundland, M Canary Wharf offers a destination bar serving sensory cocktails, a 180-cover restaurant, two private dining rooms, a wine tasting room, the Taste of La Petite M Café, and an exclusive private members’ lounge. All will be surrounded by a Provence-inspired terrace filled with lemon trees and lavender, offering rosé wine and gin in partnership with Maison Mirabeau.
The 10,000 square foot René Decker designed venue, which is inspired by vintage yachts found in the French Riviera, is encased in 360-degree floor to ceiling glass with accents of teak and leather. M Canary Wharf will showcase a state-of-the-art Bang & Olufsen sound and visual system throughout and will host a weekly Saint-Tropez Beach Brunch with DJs, a unique Sensory Menu that matches flavour and sound, and Sunday Movie Screenings, all with the renowned AV brand.
Founded by CEO Martin Williams and Culinary Director Mike Reid in 2014, M already boasts two celebrated international grill restaurants, in Threadneedle Street and Victoria Street, which offer the most exclusive cuts of Wagyu beef available in London. Billed as ‘gastro playgrounds’, the venues are known for attracting top business leaders and politicians, as well as sports personalities and music and film stars.
For Canary Wharf, Reid has created a menu that showcases M signature dishes and premium beef, whilst also transporting diners to Provence. A protégé of Roux and Ramsay, Reid has sound culinary foundations that combine with a contemporary and playful style of cooking, using ice, smoke, coal and wood to elevate each ingredient to its best possible expression. From the menu, small plates celebrate the best of the sea with dishes such as Cobia tartare; Yellow fin tuna tataki; and Lobster, wasabi and avocado salad. Provençal flavours will be seen with olives, artichokes, tomatoes, peaches and lemons throughout, and dishes including Seabass with garlic, herbs and lemon, and Breaded rib of veal with anchovies, capers and parsley. The world’s finest cuts of beef, such as Highland Wagyu and Kobe grade 10+, will be enhanced through aging in an in house Himalayan salt chamber and cooking on a bespoke grill.
M sources all ingredients from the best ethical and sustainable food suppliers around the world, as part of their pledge to run carbon neutral restaurants by 2030. All their restaurants offer 100% carbon neutral beef, achieved through work to reduce carbon footprint at source and an ongoing partnership with Not For Sale, an organisation that runs reforestation projects in the Amazon taking local people out of danger of modern-day slavery whilst also off-setting carbon emissions. To date, Rare Restaurants has funded the planting of over 4,000 trees across six projects in Peru and Brazil, with a total offsetting potential of 1,464 tonnes of carbon. They have now invested in further projects to offset their meat carbon footprint for the whole of 2022 and every year thereafter, two years ahead of schedule in the company’s roadmap to carbon net zero, which is managed by Impact Manager Alyson Parkes. For Canary Wharf, M is also introducing Highland Wagyu sourced from Perthshire in Scotland, where cattle graze on 25,000 acres of British grassland. The sustainable beef will sit alongside sustainably sourced fish, as well as herbs, leaves and baby vegetables from the hydroponic urban farm, Crate to Plate, grown within walking distance of the restaurant in Canary Wharf itself. M also offers a programme of Sustainable Serves, such as the rosé wines and gin of Maison Mirabeau. The Provençal winemaker is rewilding its vineyards, regenerating soils, rebuilding biodiversity, and investing 50% of profits in projects that directly combat climate change. M have also launched an Impact Blog Series online, outlining all recent news and activity.
The M Den members’ lounge will be a home to entrepreneurs and business leaders with a passion for gastronomy, travel, sport, art and fine wine, with applications for membership now open. Benefits include exclusive access to the lounges in M Canary Wharf, Threadneedle Street and Victoria Street, which provide a workspace and home for member parties, wine tastings, the annual M Polo and M Golf Days, along with special membership prices at ‘M Experiences’ such as International Rugby in Twickenham and on a members trackside yacht at the Monaco Grand Prix.
La Petite M Café will offer healthy and varied breakfasts, plant-based and wagyu sandwiches at lunch, and wagyu charcuterie boards and fine wine in the evenings.
The unique combination of design, technology, technique, and sourcing at M Canary Wharf, will culminate in a new culinary and lifestyle hotspot for city workers and destination diners alike.
Image Credit: Rene Deker