One of London’s most prestigious private members' clubs is swinging open its doors for the public for the first time – so long as they can afford £245 on a sushi pop-up.
Annabel’s, which is owned by Richard Caring and located on Berkeley Square in Mayfair, has announced it will be home to the Michelin-starred sushi expert Endo Kazutoshi for five months as a pop-up.
Annabel’s usually charges an annual fee of £3,250, but will now allow the public to book tables regardless of whether they are a club member.
But the much-coveted London party spot will still maintain strict house rules – diners will not be allowed to use their phones, wear perfume or submit dietary requests.
Guests will also be required to respect Annabel’s dress code, which requires attendees to don “polished, occasion and time-of-day appropriate attire … smart, tasteful and refined, rather than casual or sporty”.
Endo Kazutoshi, 53, will be hosting the pop-up after his White City restaurant tragically burned down in a fire last year.
The sad news was announced just six years after the third-generation sushi master opened Endo at the Rotunda in the former BBC Television studios in 2019.
The restaurant had previously been billed as the best in Britain by Hardens.
Launching the pop-up, Kazutoshi said, “There are feelings here that cannot be easily put into words - gratitude to our guests, the desire to see you again, melancholy and longing for the time we lost.”
Guests hoping to secure a table at the pop-up will have to wait patiently, however, as the restaurant is currently fully booked until the end of March.
Those lucky enough to secure a reservation have the option to add a £120-per-person sake pairing to their sushi, or an “elevated” drinks pairing designed by Kazutoshi’s and Annabel’s team for £250.
The price of a seat at Annabel’s might elicit bulging eyeballs from some, but it’s worth mentioning that the £245 pricetag pales in comparison to the cost of a table at Shogo Amamoto’s Taipei restaurant, which charges as much as $2,000 per head.
The Japanese sushi master opened his own counter restaurant in London on Friday, with price tags already set to blow through the roof of Annabel’s - the evening omakase at Sushi Amamoto is a 22-course spectacular charging £380 a head.
