20 Berkeley, a new restaurant spearheaded by executive chef Ben Orpwood, formerly of Maison Estelle and Gordon Ramsay Group, will be coming to the heart of Mayfair this May.
The restaurant, supported by Creative Restaurant Group (Humo, Endo at The Rotunda, SUMI), will have 120-seat capacity across several individually unique spaces, as designed by interior architects Pirajean Lees. As well as the Drawing Room, which overlooks The Pantry where produce will be on display, there will also be an orangery overlooking Hay Hill.
As a nod to the livestock fair that used to operate in Berkeley Square (from which the name ‘Mayfair’ originates), Orpwood and the kitchen brigade will celebrate the traditions and crafts of British farmers by putting British ingredients at the forefront, including jigg-caught Cornish squid and mackerel, saffron from Saffron Walden, and Welsh sea buckthorn juice.
Alex D’Aguiar, managing director of Creative Restaurant Group, said that the building matched the menu: “The space has the feeling of walking into a manor house and it felt fitting that, given this restaurant will be a celebration of British produce that the atmosphere would capture the feeling of being in a home, and that the British Isles would serve as our back garden.”
Orpwood will be coming to this new project after time in the Antipodes, as he explained: “Spending six years cooking in Australia was surreal, as seasons don’t seem to exist as much as in the UK; it always felt like it was summer somewhere, where you can source almost any ingredient, at any time. Coming back to the UK in 2015 led me on a journey to fall back in love with the variation of seasonality and British produce. Here in the UK, we have the best asparagus, the best lobster and the best scallops in the world. 20 Berkeley will be an ode to the farmers and suppliers who have made this project possible.”
Related news: Noble Rot to open in Mayfair.
