Updated 18/9/14 with opening date, soft launch details and images
We've written previously about the upcoming opening of Jeremy King and Chris Corbin's first hotel, The Beaumont in Mayfair. The super luxe boutique hotel will be opening in October, but until now little has been known about the food and drink side of things.
The hotel's restaurant will be called The Colony Grill Room and is going to be redolent of the era of Grand Hotel grill rooms. The Head Chef will be Lee Ward who opened Fischer's for Corbin and King earlier this summer. General Manager will be Shirley Randle who was previously at The Wolseley.
If you want to know exactly what they're aiming for, guests are referred to a 1914 tome, ‘The Gourmet’s Guide to London’ to point them in the right direction.
“The modern Grill Room we owe, I think, to the Americans for the travelling American, who has his own very sensible ideas as to what comfort is, does not wish every night of his life to attire himself in a “claw-hammer” evening coat, but he feels that without that garment he would be out of place in the restaurant of any fashionable hotel. The grill-room gives him an excellent dinner, just as long or short as he likes, served quickly, in luxurious surroundings, and he can dress as he likes, to eat it. An American always knows what he wants, asks for it, and keeps asking until he gets it. Quite a number of Britons of both sexes wanted all the conveniences of the grill-rooms long before the modern grill-room came into existence… But they had not the pertinacity of the American in demanding what they wanted.”
We're also excited to hear that the hotel will also feature an American Bar and a Resident’s bar (The Cub Room - artist's impression pictured above) as well as a private dining room with room for up to 48 called The Lotos Room.
Update: We've had a glimpse of an early menu to give us a better idea of what to expect when The Colony opens.
Starters include such classic dishes as Lobster a la Russe, Mock turtle soup and Oeufs en Meurette (poached in a red wine sauce). There's a pasta course, a section devoted to American sandwiches including a Shrimp Po' Boy and a Colony Hamburger, salads and a variety of shellfish too.
On the grill are three cuts of steak - rib-eye, New York strip and Porterhouse as well as lamb cutlets, veal chop and liver and bacon. There's also some fish on the menu - including Lobster Newberg and a selection of daily plats du jour such as Chicken Merengo
The Beaumont is taking bookings from 9 October 2014. The Colony Grill Room opens on soft launch from Friday 19 September 2014 until brunch/lunch on Sunday 21 September. To book email reservations@colonygrillroom.com
