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World-famous restaurateurs Daniel Humm and Will Guidara will open their first London restaurant at iconic Mayfair hotel, Claridge’s. As first reported by Bloomberg, the operators of Eleven Madison Park in New York will open Davies and Brook in the summer 2019, replacing Fera, which closed at the end of last year, and confirming rumours of the Eleven Madison Park’s owners’ first London project.
EMP is one of New York City’s five three-Michelin-starred restaurants, and the best restaurant in the world according to World’s 50 Best Awards in 2017. It is currently fourth in the world, according to those awards, and will bring “a fine dining restaurant without pretence that embraces the heritage of its location with a contemporary sensibility” to London. The hotel, and the restaurant, straddles Davies and Brook Street in Mayfair. The convention of naming something after a street intersection is straight out of the NYC-style playbook. The menus won’t be out of that playbook, according to Richard Vines at Bloomberg, eschewing the tasting format at EMP for a two, or three course offering. Humm also moved to dismiss overt focus on lineage: “We are not opening Eleven Madison Park in London.”
He went on to say: “Having the opportunity to bring our cuisine and hospitality to the most storied hotel in the world is really a remarkable feeling and a dream come true.”
“But on a more personal level, this is my first time opening a restaurant in Europe, a place I left so many years ago to forge a career in America. Most people don’t know this, but I even worked at Claridge’s when I was 15 years only and it left an indelible mark on me. Claridge’s has always been a place I’ve felt connected to, so being able to come full circle is really emotional and exciting — it feels likes coming home.”
Writing on Instagram, Will Guidara paid tribute to “a brand of hospitality that felt so familiar to me, so aligned to my own.”
Guidara said the duo was eager to transition into their new home. “We’re eager to become a part of the community in London, one that has felt like a second home to us over the years, and to deepen the relationships we have there while serving Daniel’s food and bringing our style of service.
The history of Claridge’s and the responsibility that comes with opening a restaurant within those walls is not something we take lightly – it’s an opportunity we’re truly humbled by and we can’t wait to open our doors later this year. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Humm and Guidara’s motto, “make it nice,” is known for its hyper intuitive brand of hospitality; it hides a ferociously obsessive mentality and attention to detail regarding cooking, plating, and service. Said mentality was recently exhibited in Netflix documentary Seven Days Out, which went behind the scenes on the reopening of Eleven Madison Park following a top-to-bottom refurbishment.
Their first London restaurant will be designed by Brad Cloepfel, who recently completed that refurbishment. It included employing artist Daniel Turner to melt down the kitchen’s old stove into a step into the new dining room, as a means of reminding the restaurant of its history and iterations.
Paddy McKillen, co-owner of Claridge’s said: “We are very excited to bring longtime friends and guests of the hotel; Daniel, Will and their exceptional team to Claridge’s, as we have been looking for an opportunity to work with them for some time.
“I know their extraordinary culinary vision will lead the way for a new dining direction at Claridge’s, and we all share a belief in creating something truly special that both our guests and Londoners alike will enjoy.”
More soon.
