Café 22 opens its own door on North Audley Street

A trolley of gin and vodka now works its way between the tables at Café 22, and the martinis are made beside the table, shaken or stirred. The restaurant belongs to The Twenty Two, the hotel and members’ club on Grosvenor Square. Guillaume Glipa, who opened Chiltern Firehouse, Louie London and Annabel’s, oversaw its return.

A door on North Audley Street

Café 22 reopened in September with an entrance of its own at 43 North Audley Street. Guests come in from the street into a room of 92 seats that runs north to south, and the North Side, a section on its right, takes a private party of 36 seated or 60 standing. Reuben Brothers, who own the hotel, describe deep, grounded tones set against lighter neutrals.

Glipa has taken the room back to a busier neighbourhood café in the Parisian manner. The house around it is an Edwardian manor with 31 bedrooms and suites. Natalia Miyar designed its interiors after 18th-century France.

Mahi Binebine, the Moroccan painter and sculptor, is the restaurant’s artist in residence, in a selection curated by Polly-Anna Monckton of ACA Galleries. He builds his figures from beeswax, natural pigment and textile. His work is held by the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, the Pérez Art Museum Miami and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

French cooking by Alan Christie

Alan Christie, The Twenty Two’s global culinary director, writes the menu, and his rule, in the owner’s words, is to keep things simple and do them properly. It is printed in French with English beneath. The entrées run from Oscietra caviar with toast and crisp potatoes to oysters with fennel mignonette and a foie gras terrine with Agen prune.

Canard à l’orange is roast breast and confit leg, with endive and orange marmalade. Cornish Dover sole is served meunière, with capers and parsley, and the fillet steak comes au poivre. Three dishes are made for the table: a truffle roast chicken, a whole grilled sea bass with sauce vierge, and a Wagyu bone-in rib eye with Café de Paris butter.

Desserts keep to the French canon: brown butter madeleines, apple tarte Tatin, crème brûlée and profiteroles. At the weekend, brunch adds a basket of pastries, a croque monsieur or madame and a warm lobster roll with fries.

The martini trolley

The trolley has its own column on the drinks list. The Altius Martini is made with Grey Goose Altius and Noilly Prat, and a Gibson is on the trolley beside it.

The cocktails are served only in the restaurant and take their cues from French classics, with names to match: Rive Gauche, La Javanaise and Gitanes. Beside them are Champagne cocktails, a version of the French 75 and a run of highballs for brunch or an early aperitif.

Lunch daily from 12:00 to 14:30; brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 to 15:00; dinner every evening from 18:00. Entrées from £18; main courses £34 to £69; dishes for the table £90 to £180; caviar from £75. A £2.50 cover charge and a discretionary 15 per cent service charge are added.

Café 22, 43 North Audley Street, London W1K 6LF.