London diners can be a jaded lot, but news that the two Michelin-starred Aquavit in New York was crossing the Pond to open an outpost in the British capital’s St James’s made everyone sit up and reach for their phone.
Fans of the East 55th Street flagship are in for a treat. The menu, created by its head chef Emma Bengtsson and overseen in London by La Petite Maison alum Henrik Ritzén, is styled as contemporary Nordic cuisine, which explains the seasonal forays into delicacies like venison tartare, and cod with brown shrimp and smoked egg yolk.
The secret ingredient here though, is the dining room – a warmly lit space that interior designer Martin Brudnizki has fashioned after the soaring interiors of Gothenburg City Hall in western Sweden. He has kept the original bricks and mortar of the Grade II-listed building in the tony St James’s neighbourhood, while adding unobtrusive layers of blue, green and white, simple timber, brushed and polished brass trimmed chairs and lamps, and textile wall hangings designed by Olafur Eliasson and Barbro Nilsson.
After dinner, adjourn to the bar for Montecristo cigars and some schnapps served in fish-shaped decanters designed by Svenskt Tenn.
ADDRESS
St James's Market
1 Carlton Street
London SW1Y 4QQ
-
Waiting for Ideas have recast the turntable as a minimal aluminium altar for vinyl worshipThe PP-1 turntable is an ultra-minimal, all-aluminium record player designed to enhance the vinyl experience
-
Fendi celebrates 100 years with an all-out runway show at its new Milan HQIn the wake of Kim Jones’ departure, Silvia Venturini Fendi took the reins for a special co-ed A/W 2025 collection marking the house’s centenary, unveiling it as the first act of celebrations within Fendi’s expansive new headquarters in Milan
-
‘Leigh Bowery!’ at Tate Modern: 1980s alt-glamour, club culture and rebellionThe new Leigh Bowery exhibition in London is a dazzling, sequin-drenched look back at the 1980s, through the life of one of its brightest stars
-
London's coolest design-led coffee shops for your Fashion Week fixCoffee shops are the heart of London’s neighbourhoods, discover those fusing speciality beans and stylish interiors for the perfect brew
-
Shakara is a stylish new addition to London's West African dining sceneShakara, a new Marylebone bar and dining room, adds to the city's ever-more impressive high-end West African dining scene
-
First a fishmonger then a restaurant, how Applebee’s became a Borough Market stapleIn line with the London seafood restaurant’s 25th anniversary, Applebee’s is reopening with a new menu and a new look courtesy of design studio A-nrd
-
Mayfair restaurant Silva is a dainty ode to the MediterraneanEnvisioned by Studio Wren, Silva is a dynamic, textural restaurant that reflects nature’s rhythms through its cuisine and design
-
Peek inside Heathrow’s new VIP terminal: exclusive travel from door to departureThe Windsor is Heathrow’s newly refurbished private terminal boasting a private gallery, cuisine from a Michelin-starred chef, and butler and chauffeur services
-
Night at the museum: the best art hotels to book nowSleep amid surrealists at London’s Broadwick Soho, or wake up to contemporary favourites at New Hotel in Athens – indulge in an immersive art hotel experience
-
London’s Piraña restaurant combines Japanese-Peruvian fusion with lavishly moody surroundsPiraña restaurant wraps a delicious Japanese-Peruvian fusion menu in an alluringly moody atmosphere in central London’s Mayfair
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Park Hyatt London River Thames: ‘Luxury meets the skyline’Tour the long-awaited debut of the Park Hyatt brand in the UK, soaring within a KPF-designed sleek glass tower in Nine Elms
