Pret a Diner’s The Bohemians at Café Royal

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Michelin-starred New York chefs decamp for a month-long pop-up

Roaming pop-up dining extravaganza Pret a Diner’s secret recipe is a deliciously unconventional concoction of chefs, artists, musicians and DJs. But its latest incarnation sees it stay in one place for rather longer than it is usually wont – from April 21-May 23 (Tuesdays to Saturdays) it is taking up residence at The Club at Café Royal. The result? Pret a Diner’s The Bohemians, an evening meal event (£75 a head) that reflects the rebellious artistic atmosphere that has been such a key element of the hotel’s heritage.  

“There is no other place in the world that has hosted so many icons, rock stars, actors and writers,” says KP Kofler, founder of Pret a Diner. “Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf, David Bowie, Andy Warhol and Tracey Emin are to name just a few.”

The kitchen will be led by Hotel Café Royal’s executive chef Andrew Turner, alongside two visiting New York-based chefs – Patti Jackson, of Michelin-starred restaurant Delaware and Hudson in Brooklyn, and Ryan Tate, formerly of Le Restaurant, who garnered a Michelin star for the establishment within six months of opening.

Bohemian Punch – gin, jasmine tea and pomegranate – accompanied by canapés starts the proceedings, and each chef has then designed a course: tuna carpaccio with Gentleman’s Relish kicks things off, followed by either duck with celery and pecan gratin and rhubarb, or sea bass, piquillo pepper, fennel and dill. Dessert will bring a taste of summer, with strawberries, maple vacherin and buttermilk. A specially designed list of cocktails (£12 each) will include Elephant’s Kick (gin, Noilly Prat and lavender) and Loads of Mischief, made with calvados, plum sake and pink grapefruit.

British artist Jake Wood-Evans’ oil paintings, inspired by baroque Old Masters and contemporary figurative paintings, will hang on the walls, alongside pieces by Cape Town’s Ryan Hewett, whose work is described as “morphing from realism to abstraction”. Yet-to-be-announced DJs will hit the decks from 7pm, marking the start of a decadent spring.