Claridge’s launches new ArtSpace Café, combining fine toasties and exceptional pastry work with free exhibitions

One of London’s foremost hotels, Claridge’s, has opened a new cafe, serving toasties, crepes, madeleines and cakes in a new space designed by the renowned designer John Pawson.

Open daily for breakfast and lunch and with its own entrance on Brook’s Mews, ArtSpace Café features a new pâtisserie counter and communal tables alongside a “vast gallery” with changing exhibitions, all free to view. It is now open seven days a week, although closes come the evening.

Highlights on the menu include a seafood cocktail crepe, which combines native lobster, white crab meat, lettuce and a quail’s egg in Marie-Rose sauce, all topped with caviar.

Alongside toasted sandwiches, soups and salads will be a Claridge’s croque madame, where sourdough is filled and topped with mozzarella, Dorrington ham, mustard and a three-cheese béchamel; a Clarence Court fried egg finishes the dish.

A central glass counter, meanwhile, showcases the sweet pastry work of executive chef Thibault Hauchard. There, diners will find “Mayfair madeleines,” croissants, and other sweet treats.

Artisan coffee comes from the Cornwall-born supplier Origin, while in vogue beverages such as chai lattes, imbued with turmeric, smoothies and hot chocolates are available too.

Pawson has designed ArtSpace Café with a minimalist aesthetic, with white walls and a pale grey terrazzo floor. Ash, marble, and soft leather banquettes are also standout.

Its opening coincides with New Frontiers: Movements in Contemporary Art, which Claridge’s describes as “a thought-provoking exhibition,” celebrating the “unique visions and powerful messages” of the likes of Gavin Turk, Miquel Barceló, Vik Muniz, Candida Höfer, José Parlá, and Ron Arad.

It the first opening under the hotel’s new culinary director Dmitri Magi, who said: “This is a new kind of dining for Claridge’s—– an informal style which will focus on building community, both locally and in the art world.   Claridge’s ArtSpace Café is our contribution — with more to come — to making Brook’s Mews a London destination of the future.”

Claridge’s ArtSpace Cafe is open and located on Brook’s Mews, W1. For more information, visit claridges.co.uk