CUT at 45 Park Lane is lucky to have Elliott Grover, Executive Head Chef at its helm. With experience spanning now-defunct Le Caprice, Duck and Waffle and Scott’s Mayfair, Elliott knows a thing or two about high-end and making the guest the focus of each and every meal. Elliott famously made, alongside Wolfgang, the dishes served at the 2023 Oscars no less, so you know he’s on different gastronomic level.
When you meet Elliott, his passion for his job immediately shines through. He’s proud of everything he serves on the menu at CUT, and has finessed each and every dish himself, from sourcing through to plating at the table. Sourcing the very best ingredients is of absolute importance and simplicity is paramount, letting each ingredient speak for itself by only using the best produce available.
Where to start with Wolfgang Puck? Having set up 20 wildly successful restaurants across the world, he may be one of the biggest celebrity chefs of all time. He’s even been featured in a cameo role in fan favourite seminal cartoon, The Simpsons. Famed for his extensive experience in the art of steak, exceptional quality food, impeccable service and welcoming atmosphere, all of Wolfgang’s restaurants offer a blend of tradition, innovation and quality.
When we visit 45 Park Lane on one sunny Saturday in September, we are lucky to be hosted by Wolfgang himself, who visits each of his restaurants personally on a regular basis. He’s a true force to be reckoned with in person, super smiley and dressed sharply in his black chef’s jacket with bold-framed spectacles. His experience in hospitality shines as he immediately invites us down to the kitchen to showcase his skills with only the best cuts of steak, this time an Australian Wagyu tomahawk. We watch as Wolfgang slices through the wagyu like butter, before brandishing the meat on a fiery grill. It’s next-level culinary wizardry, and I feel very privileged to have experienced it.
“To be truly original is to invent the future of food, to question, to experiment, to imagine.” – Wolfgang Puck
Located on the ground floor of 45 Park Lane, CUT’s London outpost was Wolfgang Puck’s first-ever restaurant in Europe. Presenting a modern take on the classic American steak restaurant, CUT at 45 Park Lane is set in an elegant and comfortably contemporary atmosphere. The menu features the widest and finest selection of beef available in London, along with other meat, poultry and fresh seafood selections, all complemented by a carefully curated wine list and extraordinary hospitality.
Sitting by the windows, it’s easy to admire the décor of the restaurant. High ceilings, multiple shades of brown, cream and burgundy elevate the room and make it a sleek, modern version of a traditional steak restaurant. The service is highly attentive without being intrusive, and we are told some of the exceptional artwork facing us is by the one and only Damien Hirst. We start with the signature canape of Spicy Tuna Tartare in a crispy sesame miso tuile cone. The crunch of the sesame miso is a perfect foil for the delicately spiced and almost creamy raw tuna.
The food experience
We then elect for the ‘Taste of CUT’ for our main, 11oz of only the best cuts of UK sirloin, Japanese Wagyu (Kagoshima) and Australian Wagyu (Queensland), and feeling like we need to complete the holy trifecta of meat, we add a 35-day aged USDA prime beef. Elliott serves all four dishes with great fanfare, the USDA beef even arriving in a smoked dome dish, so much fun at the table and we haven’t even eaten the mains yet!
Wine Director Davide is in charge of a wine list of over 600 wines, featuring one of the largest selections of American wines in the UK. He expertly pairs our beef with a gorgeous 2018 Gevrey Chambertin for me, a rich and elegant pinot noir with notes of berries and slightly smoky on the nose. My guest opts for a crisp white with the beef, and Davide delivers with a buttery US chardonnay from Napa Valley (Newton, 2018) with a strong oaky finish. We end with a beautiful baked cheesecake with strawberries and wonderfully fragrant coffee.
Saturday Brunch
The restaurant has recently launched a weekend brunch menu, inspired by Wolfgang’s home in California, titled the Beverly Hills brunch. Available every Saturday between 11am and 3pm, each course is accompanied by complementary live music. I note that CUT is a wonderful place to eat at during the day, with its exquisite location opposite Hyde Park and floor to ceiling windows letting the natural light trickle onto your table.
Highlights on the menu include prime beef tacos with avocado, Napa Cabbage slaw, and a punchy Salsa Verde, Huevos Rancheros with feta and corn tostadas and what Beverly Hills-inspired menu would be complete without fluffy buttermilk pancakes and seasonal berries? The menu is a very reasonable £55 for two courses, and is accompanied by a cold glass of sparkling Rathfinny, a family-owned wine estate established in 2010 in Sussex, a true celebration of all things English.
Sunday Roast Menu
On Sundays, the restaurant switches things up with an exciting Sunday Roast menu, serving what else but English grass-fed sirloin with truffled potatoes, wagyu dripping and all the trimmings?! Starters include fresh Irish Achill oysters, Dorset crab and lobster cocktail and my personal favourite, the chubby seared Orkney scallops on the half shell with samphire and garlic chilli butter, perfect for dipping with the freshly baked pretzel bread. It’s a simple but knockout menu, served with panache by Elliott and his A-class team.
Bar 45 launches new menu
Rather excitingly, the restaurant’s bar has also just launched its new cocktail menu. The simply named BAR45 has put together a boldly colourful menu entitled “Art Form”. Each drink is inspired by a different artist, mirroring the ever-evolving collection of work on display in the hotel by contemporary British artists.
My recommendations are the next level negronis from the trolley, with a favourite being the umami-rich Chestnut Negroni and from the main menu, the Infinity Martini. This is served in a beautiful purpose-made glass with multicolour polka dots inspired by the inimitable and in-vogue Yayoi Kusama, and again heavy with umami using a truffle and vanilla-infused vodka and Seatrus gin to fantastic savoury effect.
I will close by quoting something Wolfgang said that stuck with me, and I think is very applicable here… “It doesn’t feel like working when you have this much fun!” Words to live by indeed, and I’m sure Elliott Grover would agree!
To discover more, visit: dorchestercollection.com
View this post on Instagram
All imagery courtesy of The Dorchester Collection.