CUT at 45 Park Lane

CUT was Wolfgang Puck's first restaurant in Europe, opening on the ground floor of 45 Park Lane in September 2011 and quickly becoming one of Mayfair's defining steakhouses. Thierry Despont, who designed the hotel throughout, gave the room its club-like character: tall cream drapes against dark walnut panelling, tan and burgundy leather chairs, low chandeliers and framed mandala artworks that catch the afternoon light off Park Lane. Half-booths and round tables sit under generous ceilings, and a lounge corner runs off the main floor.

The kitchen, led by executive chef Elliott Grover, works premium British cuts alongside USDA Prime and Japanese Wagyu over a bespoke charcoal grill, plated with the Californian lightness that runs through Puck's cooking. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served daily to a room of around seventy, and the wine and cocktail list matches the address. It is a polished, grown-up steakhouse rather than a scene, which is exactly why it holds its Mayfair crowd year after year.

For private events, the whole restaurant is available for exclusive hire for seated dinners and cocktail receptions, with the kitchen building bespoke menus around the occasion. On the mezzanine above, reached by the hotel's central staircase, the Media Room offers a tucked-away private dining space with a large screen for a more intimate group, and the team also caters events away from the restaurant. Note that the neighbouring Sushi Kanesaka, a separate restaurant within the same hotel, is the address's MICHELIN-starred kitchen; CUT itself is not starred.