Quaglino’s Restaurant. Discover A Famous Mayfair Icon Reawakened.

Andy Mossack dines at the rejuvenated Quaglino’s Restaurant in London’s Mayfair.

Back in 1929, Giovanni Quaglino certainly knew a thing or two about creating a great dining experience. Born into a family of immigrants in Italy’s Piedmont region, he was clearly a natural hospitality charmer and quickly left Italy to seek fame and fortune. He soon found himself maître d’hôtel at the grand Hôtel Martinez in Cannes at the tender age of seventeen after which he joined the waiting team at The Savoy in London.

But in 1929 he took the plunge and founded a stunning restaurant in his own name on Bury Street in the heart of St James’s in London’s swanky Mayfair. It was the talk of the town at the time; an art deco masterpiece with mirrored walls, a grand sweeping staircase, glamorous cocktails, fine dining and live music and dancing until the early hours.

Through the decades it was coveted by the great and the good from high society to aristocracy and royals. Even Queen Elizabeth II famously dined here in 1956. Sadly, the swinging 60s was not kind to Quaglino’s Restaurant despite its storied reputation and ultimately, it took the late great Terence Conran to bring it back from obscurity in 1993.

Today, Quaglino’s is still in the welcoming embrace of the Conran clan, but now, as part of its Evolv Collection, this grande dame has been given a new lease of life and a sprucing up to celebrate her almost hundred year anniversary.

I won’t deny I felt a certain frisson as I walked into the cavernous restaurant. The beautiful art deco interiors and that famous staircase brought back more than a few fond memories I can tell you. The famous Q Bar and its red velvety chairs, where people came to see and be seen remain and still look the part. Set up high in that lofty perch looking down at the assembled throng in that huge dining room. It is quite something.

But wait, there’s a few changes now. A bougie semi-circular golden champagne bar now sits extravagantly at the bottom of the iconic staircase offering a selection of 24 champagnes by the bottle or glass no less. A new seafood counter overflowing with salmon, crustaceans and caviar offers a menu of small bite options, and another bar in the shape of a traditional Cannes Le Tabac kiosk showcases unusual desserts in the shape of chocolate ashtrays, cannoli cigars and edible helium filled balloons.

There’s some specially commissioned art adorning the pillars not to mention a spectacular mirrored ceiling and of course, let’s not forget the performance stage and its glittery curtains. That slice of glitzy cabaret presenting live entertainment every night of the week just like it used to be in Quaglino’s heyday.

Of course, central to everything is the restaurant, and I was keen to try out the new menu designed by Executive Chef Daniel Scott and Group Culinary Consultant Miller Prada. Designed to be seasonal with produce sourced directly from farms and fisheries.

We were given a table near the stage where an acoustic duo were doing a fine job with some proper soul classics. I have to say, the freshly baked rosemary sourdough loaf (£7.50) got us off to a cracking start complete with butter in the shape of a delicate Q.

For old times sake, we kicked off with nods to Quaglino’s own culinary journey. First his home region of Piedmont with a Piemontese salad (£17) a circle of cold pressed Agria potatoes and broad beans with wild rocket, coriander and an olive oil dressing. While another nod went to The Savoy with Quaglino’s Prawn Cocktail (£19) fresh prawns from the seafood counter with Marie Rose sauce, baby gem lettuce and lemon.

While both were not necessarily showstoppers, combining them with our soulful duo and the magical ambience of the dining room service, they offered us a reminder of Quaglino’s old school charm.

Just as the plaintive sounds of Marvin Gaye’s what’s going on began our mains materialised. A Quaglino’s classic – lamb cutlets Milanese (£44) twin lamb cutlets done medium rare, bread encrusted on one side with a tasty pureed aubergine dressing and dotted with herbs. My 300 g Aberdeen Angus rib-eye (£48) was a total triumph and cooked exactly to order. It came with a satisfying dollop of bearnaise on top and a side jug of pepper sauce (£5) for some added bite. We rounded it all off with sides of French beans in caramelised shallot butter and some excellently crisped up pommes frites (both £8).

This wasn’t just a nod to nostalgia; it was a celebration of a London icon given another lifeline.

As Martin Williams, Chief Executive of The Evolv Collection put it rather elegantly recently “Quaglino’s isn’t simply a restaurant; it’s a part of London’s story. Our job was never to reinvent it, but to return it restored, alive, and every bit as glamorous as the room Giovanni Quaglino opened in 1929. Few rooms in London carry the history that Quaglino’s does, the royalty, the music, the feeling that anything might happen after midnight. We haven’t changed what Quaglino’s is; we’ve simply reminded London why it fell for it in the first place.”

With the added incentive of a daytime “ten pound plate” it is clear to me that Evolv are seeking to make Quaglino’s accessible to all pockets. It still has that brasserie style dining coupled with the late night nightclub vibe, the ingredients that made it such a hit back in the day but given a contemporary freshen up.

What do I think the spirit of the old grande dame might think about this latest incarnation of her? I reckon she would have a big smile on her face. There’s life in the old girl yet.

Photos: Andy Mossack and JustinDeSouza.