Bringing café culture to Claridge’s for the very first time, the legendary Mayfair hotel has opened the doors to Claridge’s ArtSpace Café, with its own dedicated entrance on Brook’s Mews bedecked with awning and flag. Open daily with a focus on breakfast and lunch, the Café offers a vibrant menu with crêpes as a signature, alongside tortillas, toasties, croque monsieurs and madames, mega madeleines and, naturally, Claridge’s cakes galore.
Designed by renowned British architectural designer John Pawson, the Café features a patisserie counter, marble communal table as a central spot, and entry down to Claridge’s ArtSpace – a vast gallery which rotates exhibitions, free for all to view. At the ArtSpace Café, everything is designed for takeaway for those on the move, allowing Claridge’s to be eaten alfresco or ‘al desko’ for the very first time.
Freshly made in front of guests all day, and in a variety of sweet and savoury guises, crêpes are a menu staple. These range from lemon and sugar for purists, to the ultimate indulgence as Claridge’s presents its longtime iconic Seafood Cocktail in crêpe form. This hero dish features native lobster, white crab meat, lettuce and quail’s egg, laced with Marie-Rose sauce and topped with lashings of caviar, all enveloped in a crêpe.
Daily Café life starts with pastries galore, fresh from the Claridge’s bakery, alongside coconut chia pudding, homemade granola and hot dishes including baked eggs with ratatouille. Lunch heroes include roasted brie and wild mushroom on toast, croissant sandwiches and the Claridge’s croque madame.
The latter is a perfectly pitched combination of homemade sourdough, oozing mozzarella, Dorrington ham, mustard and a three-cheese béchamel with mozzarella, cheddar and mascarpone, all topped with a Clarence Court fried egg. Equally, the Café’s chef team have pored over the perfect veggie Reuban – a sandwich which takes two days to make. Aubergine is topped with sauerkraut, cocktail sauce and grated horseradish, sandwiched between rye.
Artisan coffee is by independent Cornwall-born Origin Coffee, chai lattes are spiked with turmeric for a kick start to the day, and blocks of chocolate emblazoned with the Claridge’s crest, dunked into hot milk, make the Café’s signature hot chocolate. With juices, smoothies and kombuchas aplenty, champagne – a tipple poured from dawn until dusk at Claridge’s – is also on the menu, served in takeaway coffee cups, café style.
A central glass counter showcases rows of Executive Pastry Chef Thibault Hauchard’s patisserie from caramel Saint Honoré to pistachio Paris-Brest. The hero is the ‘Claridge’s Crest Cake’ – a chocolatey replica of the hotel’s historical coat of arms. Claridge’s cakes are also available supersized for celebrations and collection, including ‘The Mega Mayfair Madeleine’ – a vast version of the iconic French delicacy, made of citrus sponge with a gooey caramel centre, set to be an Instagram hit.
The Café is designed in John Pawson’s signature minimalist aesthetic – an expanse of contemporary white walls and a pale grey terrazzo floor. Custom furniture in ash wood, white Carrara marble, soft leather banquettes, brass hardware and black and white photographs taken by Pawson himself accent the space. Cutlery is found in hidden draws within the tables and a central communal table sits ten, a spot for creative Mayfair gatherings.
Both the Café and the gallery space continue Claridge’s longtime commitment to the arts and further cement its positon at the centre of the thriving Mayfair art community. The ArtSpace Café will be a creative hub within the hotel, with exhibitions rotating in the gallery space and the Café hosting art moments in its own right. Ceramics full of Sharpies and Claridge’s chevron pencils will be dotted round the space, as well as art paper pads, for those who wish to sit and sketch or doodle on the café’s sustainable coffee cups.
In support of the next generation of artists, the first 50 art students who show their ID every Monday will receive a complimentary coffee. The Café opening coincides with New Frontiers: Movements in Contemporary Art, a thought-provoking exhibition presented by Ben Brown Fine Arts, celebrating the unique visions and powerful messages of great contemporary artists including Gavin Turk, Miquel Barceló, Vik Muniz, Candida Höfer, José Parlá and Ron Arad.
Claridge’s ArtSpace Café is the first opening under the hotel’s new Culinary Director Dmitri Magi. Commenting on the Café, Magi says, ‘This is a new kind of dining for Claridge’s – an informal style which will focus on building community, both locally and in the art world. Claridge’s ArtSpace Café is our contribution – with more to come – to making Brook’s Mews a London destination of the future.’
Claridge’s ArtSpace Cafe is open and located on Brook’s Mews, W1, Monday-Friday 8am-6pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am-4pm.
Claridge’s ArtSpace Café (London)
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