When you enter via its grand staircase, you’ll feel like Toulouse-Lautrec in search of tonight’s muse: The always-lively, gilt-and-marble cellar dining room, awash in fin-de-siècle statements like platter mirrors and vested waiters, is a perfect piece of Paris off Piccadilly. This is not a crusty survivor but a pitch-perfect modern scene that was crafted out of a huge space in what was once the Regent Palace, which in 1915 was the largest hotel in Europe. Menu choices are as authentic as Pernod, pastis, oysters, quiche Lorraine, and sublimely seasoned steak tartare (pictured above).

The adjoining Bar Américain, a 1930s Art Deco treasure by an architect survivor of the Lusitania, does indulgently uptight cocktails and champagne, while its 80-seat cabaret, Le Crazy Coqs/Live at Zédel is an elegant venue that does matinees and evening shows. This rêve of London’s historic connections to European high life is not nearly as expensive as it feels, and its Gallic poise only adds to the deliciousness.