Major Food Group (MFG) has debuted a new Carbone restaurant in London’s Mayfair neighborhood. The opening marks the first European outpost of the acclaimed New York institution.
The restaurant is housed within the Chancery Rosewood, a luxury hotel envisioned by David Chipperfield Architects inside the former U.S. Embassy.
Ken Fulk channels supper club glamour
For the London launch, longtime MFG collaborator Ken Fulk drew inspiration from the legendary supper club culture of midcentury America.
Signature elements from the original Carbone set the stage on the street level, where high-gloss blue paneling, tin ceilings, marble mosaic floors, and embroidered café curtains anchor a weathered oak-and-zinc bar.
The interiors are enhanced by a collection of works curated by Vito Schnabel that includes pieces by Ai Weiwei, Julian Schnabel, David Salle, René Ricard, and others.
An outdoor terrace complements the dining room with custom banquettes, rattan chairs, wrought-iron bistro tables, and umbrellas surrounded by greenery.
A night at Carbone London
From the first floor, guests descend a sweeping staircase adorned with a site-specific mural narrating a fantastical evening at Carbone. The artwork blends reality with mythology in a cinematic nod to New York’s golden age.
On the lower level, the bar and lounge unfolds in a sea of red damask from the archives of British fabric house Watts 1874. A cherry-red coffered ceiling inset with mirrored panels hovers over a bar featuring intricate inlaid marquetry, amber-fluted glass, and brass.
A grand dining room completes the experience. Here, richly ebonized paneling are detaile with in mahogany marquetry, the ceiling is upholstered in burgundy billiard cloth, and oversized Italian ‘Ciambella’ fixtures cast light across red-and-white marble floors. Banquettes wrapped in Campari-red velvet mingle with distressed leather chairs and crisp white tablecloths.
A hidden private dining room, meanwhile, channels the aura of a gilded vault through hand-applied gold trim, a coffered ceiling, and a Murano glass chandelier.
“There’s a formality mixed with bravado, best defined by the style of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, El Morocco, and the Copacabana,” Fulk says of his design vision.
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