A high-end restaurant offering a bottle of red wine for £1,250 and pork chops for £23 has applied to open inside the site of the former US embassy in Mayfair, council documents show.
Le Caprice intends to operate seven days a week inside the site, which is being developed into a luxury 137-room hotel with five restaurants, retail units, a spa and a 1,000-person ballroom, an application before Westminster City Council shows.
The site will also be home to Carbone, a popular New York restaurant chain where a plate of pasta can cost up to £37.
If approved, Le Caprice could serve customers between 6am and midnight with up to 73 diners seated in an external area until 11pm.
The proposal has been met with resistance by residents who claim it could lead to an uptick in public nuisance. One said residents were ‘uniquely expose[d]’ to noise because of a planning restriction enforced by the owner of the site, Grosvenor Estate.
They wrote: “The Grosvenor estate prevents residential owners from introducing double pane glass on street-facing windows. This is putatively done to maintain the character, heritage, and nature of the neighbourhood.
“However, this also does not allow the applicant’s residential neighbours to have high-grade sound insulation and uniquely exposes residents next to the applicant to noise pollution.”
An acoustics survey carried out on behalf of Le Caprice’s owners concluded the proposed operation would not lead to ‘any adverse noise impact’ on residents.
Westminster City’s environmental health has also withdrawn its objection following amendments to the application. A review of Le Caprice’s drinks menu shows it sells Chateau-Haut-Siron 1990 1er Cru Chasse for £1250. The cheapest bottle on the list goes for £31.
The venue also plans to sell Iberico pork chops with Padron peppers and Pedro Ximenez sherry for £23.50. A starter of heritage beetroots, goat’s cheese, ruby leaves and pine nuts is expected to sell for £11.
Westminster City Council will meet on Thursday, October 31, to review the application. The Chancery Rosewood Hotel is expected to open in 2025.
