Les Deux Salons - William IV St WC2

I am a massive fan of Arbutus and also loved Wild Honey (the one time I visited) so I was really excited about checking out Will Smith and Anthony Demetre's latest venture Les Deux Salons (I say "latest" but LDS has been open for around 6 months I think). I was a bit concerned after reading Greedy Diva's blog post but luckily we seem to have had a better experience. Overall I really liked this place - it definitely has some way to go before the absolute excellence of Arbutus but there is lots to love. First impressions were good - it is styled as a Parisian bistro but to me it was more Prohibition era American, a bit "Boardwalk Empire" if you will. I love that vibe - Dean St Townhouse, Hawksmoor all have an element of this as well and something in it really appeals to me.  Basically I am a sucker for art deco lighting, banquettes and a slightly louche, cocktail-ish feel. Anyway - on to the food. The other half and I decided to share everything so we could both sample more dishes and we were steered resolutely by the waiter to the specials (I am always slightly suspicious of this but tend to be persuaded anyway...sucker) - in this case a salad of Sicilian tomatoes and olive oil and the Thursday special, cassoulet of duck confit, Toulouse sausage and white beans. The cassoulet was delicious, meaty, earthy and comforting. The tomato salad was OK but not amazing - the tomatoes could have been a bit riper think. The standout dish for me was a classic country terrine with fruit relish. Oh man it was so good - I could have happily munched away on another serving (as it was I definitely had more than my half share). We also had an oriechette pasta with artichokes, pecorino and pine nuts which was my least favourite dish of the night. Poor old vegetarians, often left with the least interesting dish on the menu and I think this was probably it. After two hits, one OK and one disappointment, we struck a winner with dessert - glazed lemon tart with creme Chantilly. Just the right mix of tartness, sweetness and crumbly pastry, this was a perfect way to finish the meal. Service was good if a little fraught (and this seems to be a theme) - our neighbours had an issue with a cold cassoulet and some corked wine so there was lots of attention to their table for a while to the detriment of us trying to order dessert, which took some time. Putting that aside, this is a great place and a welcome addition to the London dining scene - a beautiful building, well fitted out, some flashes of brilliance in the cooking and somewhere you could easily imagine whiling away an evening. I will most definitely be back - and look forward to when the kinks are well and truly ironed out because then this place will be outstanding.