There are hidden restaurants, there are normal restaurants, and then there are restaurants housed inside vast cylindrical skyscrapers that announce themselves with giant bronze sculptures embodying both their name & ethos outside the entrance.
The Brush Grand Café is one of the latter.
You’ll find it when it opens this May in the new 26-storey art’otel Hoxton over on Great Eastern Street, with a huge gleaming metal paint brush sitting outside. That statue is there because on the inside, the place is going to be filled with artworks (both on the walls and the plate) and Nudge Members will get to see them before anyone else, thanks to a trio of preview dinners on the 1st-3rd May, with 50% off the food bill.
Taking up two of those 26 storeys, The Brush will encompass a restaurant, a lounge and a cocktail bar, all flooded with natural light thanks to the curved floor-to-ceiling windows wrapping the entire place up. It’s all inspired by the grand cafes of Vienna & Paris, only with a decidedly contemporary edge – particularly in the insanely large 40-meter murals that run along both its floors, specifically created for the restaurant by London street artist D*Face.
Marshalling the kitchen will be executive chef Ryan Matheson (fresh from leading the team at Sea Containers), who is going to be creating an all-day pan-European menu. That means starters like French onion soup; beef tartare; Croque Monsieurs; and a tarte flambée with Gruyère, onions, lardons & thyme. Then the larger goods will include confit duck with bean cassoulet; whole grilled sea bass with beurre noisette; and chicken & hispi cabbage roasted in a Josper oven. And to finish? Basquiat cheesecake, eclairs, madeleines, and more.
Charlie McKay
Head on upstairs, and you’ll find that cocktail bar, with a weekly schedule of DJs (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays) and live music (Thursday, Friday and Saturday). Drinks will range from the theatrical Les Fleurs du Mal, served from an Absinthe Fountain over a sugar cube, to the fancy-sounding 50 Shades of Champagne, which blends vodka, Cointreau, Champagne, and something called ‘Champagne air’.
Sounds like one of those drinks you practically inhale.
NOTE: The Brush Grand Café is set to open on May 8th. You can find out more at the website right here. Nudge Members are getting a trio of preview dinners on 1st, 2nd & 3rd May with 50% off the food bill. To find out how to book, check the Members’ Box at the top of this article.
Not yet a Nudge Member? Start a free trial here.
art’otel Hoxton | 84-86 Great Eastern Street, EC2A 3JL
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