The space might be iconic, but One Leicester Street restaurant and rooms give a feel that’s both comforting neighbourhood oasis and modernly glam.

For many, the “local” can mean dark, dingy and slightly outdated. That’s why the latest project from Singaporean hotelier Peng Loh, top chef Tom Harris and the infamous hotel brand Unlisted Collection is a breath of refreshingly sophisticated air.

Known for its glamourous and unconventional host of restaurants and hotels, Unlisted Collection’s newest gem is One Leicester Street, located in the heart of London’s pristine Chinatown. Opened in May, One Leicester Street inhabits the former posh nest of St. John Chinatown. It contains fifteen luxurious rooms designed in collaboration with A Practice For Everyday Life and Universal Design Studios, a warm, grey-hued Armani-meets-Mad Men bar, and perhaps most lush of all, the quietly innovative restaurant dominating the hotel’s ground floor.

Since its May opening, the One Leicester Street restaurant has already heaped a large helping of hype. The restaurant head is Tom Harris, 2012 Michelin star recipient and former head chef of St. John Chinatown. Harris and his team take the typical menus of breakfast, lunch and dinner (and working lunches, pre-theatre and Sunday Brunch), and turn them into mouth-watering concoctions of local, freshly-made ingredients. The menus change almost daily, and from bacon to the smoked fish to the salted beef, any smoked, cured or pickled ingredient is done in-house.

Taking a nod from the Chinatown surroundings, lunch and dinner menus allow customers to share big and small plates — unless you’re greedy like us. Along with an array of decadent dishes, the space itself, with muted grey walls, parquet floors and crisp white linens, is minimalist yet a surprising, warm welcomed oasis from the hustle and bustle of London crowds.

Visit the One Leicester Street website to book and dine in style.

Words: Elise Marraro (follow Elise on Twitter @PardonMe_Lissie)