Suave, succulent Manhattan-esque steakhouse in London’s plushest neighbourhood. CUT at 45 Parklane is pure, carnivorous reverie with just enough theatrics to make it feel special (beyond its world’s top ten steak restaurants ranking).
You may be in the heart of Mayfair, amid classical buildings who have all lived many, many lives, but there’s something unmistakably New York about 45 Park Lane (part of Dorchester Collection). Maybe it’s the brassy, brooding lick of the room, or the impeccably dressed doormen and maître d’. Or it could be the steakhouse decor (an elevated riff) that smacks of old New York, where fillets and ribeye and Tomahawks were carved and devoured over business transactions and on bottomless corporate cards. But here, in London, it feels lava-like and moody; refreshingly glamorous amid all the hipster joints and fusty white table cloth scene, with Damien Hirst’s pieces lining walls that seem to shoot up to infinity.
Decor and dramatics aside, CUT at 45 Park Lane is already swimming against the tide with meat (the hyperbolic sort) taking centre stage. Everyone’s here for the steak, because celebrity-chef Wolfgang Puck’s succulent hunks of artfully charred meat shift your taste buds into a different realm, truly.
‘We often have Americans fly here for the steak’ beams an immaculately suited Rafaele, head honcho, whose charisma and charm, they’re undoubtedly also jetting over for. He displays the steaks on a board, educating the table on their provenance and cut, on the textures and notes, in the style of a sommelier. We opt for the Japanese Wagyu as fillet mignon, the Australian Wagyu as a sirloin and dry-aged British fillet on the bone – Rafaele switches things up, ‘I want you to try it all, and tell me what you like best.’ We oblige, sprinkling on the little extras (from chimichurri sauces to plump asparagus sides, to take the edge off the fleshy mains).
45 Park Lane’s CUT was Australian-American Wolfgang Puck’s first foray into the UK, having built a global cult following, winning two Michelin stars for Spago in Beverly Hills, and one at CUT in Singapore, only a year after opening. He played a starring role in the rise of California’s food scene in the 1970s and was the founding father of modern fusion cuisine (specifically combining fancy French cooking techniques with Asian and, broadly, California cuisine). He prioritised provenance of ingredients long before it was fashionable, and CUT’s menu ensures diners are well-versed in precisely where their oysters, seared scallops or prime beef is from (Achill Rock, Orkney and Cedar Farms, if you must know).
Everything simple and comforting is elevated: the delectable cheesy puffs; the pretzel-style baked roll; warm from the oven and doughy inside; even the Champagne flutes seem to scale our heads. The latter is finely-tuned to the prawn spring rolls… a happy accident. The marriage of our beautifully-presented steaks and the Douro red is not. That was Rafaele’s fine work, who duly fills up our glasses with the mahogany stuff and waits, like an excited child, for our verdicts on the steaks.
They all had their charms: the British, deep and rich from the bone; the two Wagyu’s, as tender as jelly, and a little nutty, oh no, truffly maybe? And so the carnivorous conversation rolled on… well into the night, when the Hyde Park traffic swiched from distracting to pretty, like busy fireflies and faces, like buttercups on chins, were animated by the glossy tables reflecting the chandeliers.
At first, we resisted pudding. But as always, there’s a different chamber for burnt basque cheesecakes and artistic berry pavlovas sprinkled with flowers. The soufflé, I was warned, is incredibly rich. But perhaps having gorged on superlative steaks, red wine and truffle fries, a valrhona dark chocolate soufflé (warm and gooey) is precisely the sinful finalé your hedonistically-inclined couple is after.
TO BOOK: www.dorchestercollection.com/london/45-park-lane/dining/cut-at-45-park-lane
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