Davies and Brook at Claridge's, Mayfair

The greatly anticipated Davies and Brook has opened at Claridge's. Named in homage to the intersection of streets where Claridge's is located, such nomenclature brings a touch of New York to London's grandest of the Grande Dame hotels – even before tasting the menu.

It is the first London restaurant from renowned chef Daniel Humm and his Make It Nice team (also involved in Nomad hotels/restaurants/bars coming to London next spring). Swiss-born Humm made his name with three-Michelin-star Eleven Madison Park in New York and swept the number-one restaurant in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list back in 2017, currently retaining the number four spot. The much-praised restaurant also has six James Beard awards, considered the Oscars of the New York restaurant scene.

According to Humm, Davies and Brook is 'the sibling of Eleven Madison Park' with its own distinct character. The opening at Claridge's has an extraordinary special resonance for Humm as he briefly worked at Claridge's, aged 15, before travelling to the US and making his name. So in a very real sense, it is a coming home. We can look forward to a beautifully honed blend of British seasonality and Humm's global culinary travels, combined in a sophisticated menu and served up in a svelte, calm, understated dining room that epitomises informal elegance. That's if we can snare a table.



Day-to-day chef is Estonian-born Dmitri Magi, chef de cuisine at Eleven Madison Park, whose previous credits include Noma in Copenhagen and Gramercy Tavern in Manhattan. The menu is deceptively simple, and fashionably green and healthy. Appetisers range from heritage carrot salad with sunflower seeds and horseradish, to crispy rice salad with citrus-marinated yellowtail, pickled white carrots, jicama and herb pesto. There's also the more luxurious poached lobster and Delicia squash bisque with saffron. The black cod with Napa cabbage, miso and kohlrabi is likely to become a runaway favourite, as is the short rib of beef with mint, poached endive and a mojo vinaigrette.

As for mains, the famed dry-aged roasted duck dish from Eleven Madison Park is crossing the pond; it's dry-aged in-house for 14 days, then glazed with lavender and honey. For vegan diners, there's cabbage modishly served as a mille-feuille roasted with mushroom, Thai basil and lemongrass. Among desserts, a triple cream (that's ultra-intensified double cream made richer) brioche bun with sorrel and plum feeds our present love affair with such buttery indulgences.



Lunch costs from £72 for three courses, while dinner featuring a cold and hot appetiser, main and dessert will set you back £98 a head.
The sensational tasting menu for £145 includes caviar, a cold and a hot appetiser (the lobster broth), both the cabbage mille-feuille and the dry-roasted duck, and a portion of the triple cream brioche with plum and sorrel. Surely a relative bargain when one considers the lofty $355 price tag for the New York equivalent.

The bar and lounge are bound to be a huge draw under the direction of acclaimed bar director Pietro Collina, who worked with the team on creating the award-winning NoMad bars. Here, guests can enjoy his legendary cocktail menu, as well as a selection of small plate dishes including Claridge’s buttermilk fried chicken, to be known, henceforth, as CFC.



Contemporary geometrics and curvilinear forms distinguish the dining room, while exceptionally comfortable grey velvet banquettes plus photographs by acclaimed American artist Roni Horn lend it a contemporary edge. The restaurant's re-design is the work of architect Brad Cloepfil, who also collaborated with Humm on Eleven Madison Park's re-design in 2017.

Davies and Brook promises to be a starry destination in every sense of the word.