“No Flash or Intrusive Photography please,” chastises diners in a footnote on the menu. That’s because this opulent bistro in the Grand European style, posing with every polished surface to appear like something Renoir would want to paint, is home base for celebrities and power lunchers. Built as a luxury car dealership for a doomed manufacturer, then used as a bank, a decade ago it became a caviar-scooping, oyster-shucking, tea-pouring hotspot, convincing nearly everyone who sips its pea-and-lettuce soup that it’s always been this way. Waiters are unattainably attractive and look down their noses as they gingerly place salad Niçoise and Swiss soufflé, enacting the calculated Continental crispness we crave.
London
Travel Guide
London› Restaurant
The Wolseley
160 Piccadilly, W1
Our Rating
Neighborhood
Mayfair
Hours
Mon–Fri 7am–midnight; Sat 8am–midnight; Sun 8am–11pm
Transportation
Tube: Green Park
Phone
020/7499-6996
Prices
Main courses £13–£30; sandwiches £15
Cuisine Type
Contemporary European
Web site
The Wolseley
Map
160 Piccadilly, W1 LondonNote: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.