Quo Vadis — London, UK

As renovations go, Quo Vadis’s blink-and-miss-it closure this past August doesn’t quite prepare you for just how extensive the spruce up – completed in time for the restaurant’s 90th birthday celebrations in November – has been.
The ground floor bar has moved out, enabling the dining room to spread out to its original proportions, alongside plans to open another outpost of Barrafina, as a separate restaurant, later in the year. The menu remains reassuringly regional British with French and Italian inflections – to whit, crab soup, chickpea pancake with spiced chickpeas, and a tart of pear, ginger and almond paired with a lemon and ginger custard.
Upstairs, the first floor now houses the members’ restaurant designed and furnished by Now London, and Irving and Co with deep green wallpaper, orange leather dining chairs, black marble, and an exuberant pen on paper tapestry if Soho. The members’ bar and club area have also been reworked, this time with velvet banquettes, dark navy barstools, and a wood burning stove – all of which is anchored by grey marble-topped bar.
Go up another level to the new library bar, its expansive space held in check by blue paneled walls, deep blue carpet, and blue upholstery.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
26-29 Dean Street
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
Stephen Prina borrows from pop, classical and modern music: now MoMA pays tribute to his performance work
‘Stephen Prina: A Lick and a Promise’ recalls the artist, musician, and composer’s performances, and is presented throughout MoMA. Prina tells us more
-
Boffi | DePadova: the evolution of an Italian design superpower
From 1930s cabinet-maker to contemporary design force for every room of the home – how the Boffi | DePadova group came to stand for timeless Italian living, and a look at its current collections
-
Norman Foster and nine other architects design birdhouses for charity – you can bid
‘Architects for the Birds’ is spearheaded by Norman Foster and the Tessa Jowell Foundation to raise funds to improve treatment for brain cancer. Ten architect-designed birdhouses will go up for auction
-
Has the ice cream parlour come of age?
A global wave of architecture studios is treating the scoop as spectacle, turning parlours into immersive social spaces
-
Legado brings a bold Spanish legacy to Shoreditch
Michelin-starred chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho’s second venture marries design-led interiors with regional Spanish flavours rarely found in London
-
The Macbeth, an icon of indie sleaze, goes from grotty to gastro
An East End legend meets Portuguese small plates in Jamie Allan’s ambitious revival of a beloved Hackney watering hole
-
A complete collection of Phaidon’s ‘Contemporary Artists Series’ is on display in London
A 30-year project reaching 100 volumes is being celebrated with an exhibition at the 45 Park Lane hotel, including limited-edition works by Kaws and Dana Schutz
-
London’s best pizza restaurant gets a new home in Mayfair
Secure a slice of New York-style pizza in central London as Crisp Pizza teams up with the Devonshire pub to set up shop in the relaunched The Marlborough
-
At this east London listening bar, mezcal-fuelled cocktails hit as hard as the basslines
In Bethnal Green, Little Fires pairs vinyl grooves with mezcal margaritas and Oaxacan sharing plates
-
Harry Nuriev’s Noisy Oyster London bistro isn’t quite finished – and that’s the point
A futuristic, work-in-progress aesthetic forms a striking backdrop for a new, sustainably focused seafood bistro in Shoreditch
-
Head to Lupa for a taste of Rome in the heart of Highbury
Ed Templeton, Theo James and Naz Hassan unveil an intimate 28-seat restaurant that balances a cosy, candlelit atmosphere with Roman-style dining