Café Clement made me fall in love with London AGAIN.
Trendie Spots worth going to: London Edition
I’ll be honest, I have a love hate relationship with london. Just like anything ever, there are parts of it I absolutely love and there are parts of it that I do not. London can be intense. It’s expensive. The weather is pretty diar. And pleasure unless its justified doesn’t really exist. HOWEVER, I am incredibly lucky to live here and I think the trick is to romanticise it anyway. To go to the dinner. To speak to the person next to you. To walk as much as you possibly can. And to actually make the effort to see your friends.
DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a review in the traditional sense - I don’t really want to lay everything out so there is nothing left for you to experience yourself. That wouldn’t be Trendie. Your own experience of whatever place I’ve been to WILL BE DIFFERENT. So go and figure it out yourself, if you love it, hate it or you completely disagree with my thoughts on this spot. You do you. This purely serves as a reference point.
I'm not here to tell you everything - I'm here to tell you it's worth going. What you make of it is up to you.
ABOUT
Café Clément is the all-day restaurant inside St Clement, Nick Jones' new hotel at 180 The Strand - his first since Soho House, and if that name means anything to you, you already know roughly what to expect. Where Soho House was built on belonging, this feels built on something quieter. Taste, maybe. Or just the confidence that comes from three decades of knowing what people actually want before they do.
THE FOOD
The food - from Danny Bohan, formerly of River Cafe - is precise and unfussy. It’s not overly complicated, it’s just done really well. The food, from Danny Bohan formerly of River Cafe, is precise and good - sea bass carpaccio, marinated tomatoes, a dessert menu that actually takes itself seriously. But you're not really here for a foodie pilgrimage. You're here for the atmosphere, the feel of it. The inspiration. The decor. It just helps that the food is good too. Ordering oysters with a glass of white wine just felt like the right things to be doing. And I don’t think it was overly expensive. We didn’t order too much, and pretty much shared everything and had one glass of white wine each and shared a dessert. The bill came to about £78 for two people - and that included the 6 oysters, the sea bass carpaccio, the tomato salad, the steak tartare + bread and a tart and ice cream for dessert. Everything was delicious but also nothing like WOW omg I need to have that again.
Also, my taste is different to yours, so go and try it for yourself and remember that you have an opinion too.
THE VIBE
There is staff everywhere, but not in the way Soho House staff are - they’re all there but they seem to be trained to ignore you. Here you never have to look for anyone. They’re already there. And this is a crucial difference. It feels like old school hospitality is being bought back, and very much New York level service. It also just has a great feel to it, it’s exciting, it’s refreshing and the design, attention detail and textures are very well thought out. Nick Jones was also just chilling in the foyer, and I did think that was pretty cool to see him in the flesh - but definitely not the kind of place you ask someone for a photo.
IS IT TRENDIE OR JUST TRENDY?
In a city where restaurants live and die by the hype cycle, Clément doesn’t need it. You can feel the difference the moment you walk in. There is no desperation around here. Just people who understand hospitality, completely and have YEARS of experience to back it.
My branding brain was having a field day. Everything was considered without being too obvious. The little “c” places on things like the plates to the bathroom towels.
And when dinner is over, nobody is rushing you out. They’re asking you to stay. Bobby’s Bar - named after Nick Jones’ dog - is waiting for you if you want it. Again loved the branding of his dog used in things like the ash trays.
There is a lot of hype around this opening. But I don’t think it’s just hype. It has a serious foundation and I do think it will sustain itself - because it knows exactly what it is.
There’s a difference between something that’s having a moment and something that actually has substance. Trendy is fleeting. Trendie is the place that’s still full in two years because it knew what it was from day one.
Café Clément is the latter.
