‘An impish sense of fun’: Claridge’s announces new era with fresh restaurant

Claridge’s hotel in Mayfair has traded on its British history ever since Queen Victoria chose it as her preferred choice for a cocktail. The late Queen was another fan of the property, which first opened in 1812. But the hotel has experimented with that image lately, welcoming a kitchen takeover from New York restaurant Dante. Now Claridge’s has announced that that residency will become a permanent fixture.

Dante Mayfair will open this June on the hotel’s ground floor, replacing the Claridge’s Restaurant that opened in 2023. It will occupy a room that has been a restaurant for over a hundred years and retains its original period detailing.

The restaurant will be “fully operated” by NYC restaurateurs Linden Pride and Nathalie Hudson who has been at the helm of Dante in New York since it reopened in 2015. The neighbourhood restaurant in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, opened in 1915.

Claridge’s launches new restaurant

Dante specialises in Italian-Australian food. When Pride and Hudson relaunched the New York venue in 2015, they innovated the culinary offering, adapting the menu to pivot from its Italian heritage. The cafe was originally a meeting place for Italian immigrants, who went there to eat humble dishes like prosciutto sandwiches and pizza.

It is likely that the dishes from the Dante residency will feature on the menu at the permanent restaurant. They included a chicken alla diavola, shrimp cocktail, NY strip on the bone, and surf and turf. Drinks wise there was a caviar martini, hot smoked toddy and toffee apple manhattan.

Claridge’s Managing Director Thomas Kochs said: “We have loved seeing the energy the team at Dante have brought to Claridge’s, and bringing the magic of Manhattan to Mayfair has truly resonated with Londoners. The goal is to make this restaurant the living room of Mayfair, a relaxed spot with great food, wonderful people and, of course, a buzzing atmosphere thanks to Dante’s signature Martini hour, and soulful live music.”

Dante co-founder Linden Pride said: “We are so proud to call Claridge’s, and London, our new home. At Dante Mayfair, we will amp up the volume on our New York roots across design, menu, and music, aiming to bring an impish sense of fun to Davies Street. That sense of a neighbourhood that Dante’s created for decades in New York? Mayfair’s about to feel it!”

Claridge’s still operates The Fumoir restaurant, the Claridge’s Bar and the Claridge’s Bakery, which is newly opened this year. Writing about the bakery in January, City AM called it “a fun way to indulge in a little of the Claridge’s experience without needing to worry about dressing up for dinner, given that prices start at £3.50 for takeaway bread and savoury items and £4 for the French fancies and iced fingers.”

In our 2024 review of the newly refurbished hotel, we wrote that “you feel as though you’re in some fabulous vortex where anything might be possible if you put on enough lippy. There is simply nowhere better to get lost and cosplay your 20s dreams.”

Dante has been awarded Number 1 in the World’s 50 Best Bars. It also holds the accolade of World’s Best Bar at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards.

Read more: How bakers became the rock stars of London’s post-booze era