Made in Chelsea: The Cadogan hotel has been given a new lease of life with Belmond on board
The Cadogan hotel has been given a new lease of life, with a £28m overhaul, Belmond on board and a very British restaurant with Frog restaurateur Adam Handling at the helm. Emma Lake and Katherine Price check in
In his third hop across the capital, chef- restaurateur Adam Handling has landed on a historic Chelsea pad that seduced him with tales of illustrious previous occupants and the promise of traditional British elegance.
This ‘pad' just happens to be the much-anticipated Belmond Cadogan in London; sister property to the acclaimed Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, and the luxury group's second UK hotel, which has just relaunched after a four-year, £28m renovation.
The Cadogan Estate has owned the property since 2011, buying it for £15.4m from Trinity Hotel Investors in an acquisition that saw the Earl of Cadogan take control of the hotel that bears his family name.
The hotel was closed in July 2014 for a complete refurbishment and was gutted from the first floor up to address the structural issues resulting from the patching together of five properties into one. Odd level changes, small corridors and bathrooms, as well as interior-facing rooms, were preventing the property from hitting five-star standards (and the room rate that go with it).
e hotel was due to reopen in summer 2016 but, as is so often the case with old buildings, there were plenty of surprises: asbestos, archaeological finds that had to be investigated, and a lengthy permit process to install fireplaces. But four years later, the pain is behind them, and the hotel has opened its doors, with a room count that has decreased from 62 to 54, of which two-thirds are now suites, and "all up to what today's luxury traveller would expect," says general manager Klaus Kabelitz. He was enticed back to the UK from Le Richemond, a Dorchester Collection hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, where he moved in 2012 having spent nine years as general manager of the Berkeley in London.
"I don't think these days a GM often gets offered a product as beautiful as this, totally woven into the local fabric, and is asked to turn that into a five-star hotel," he says. The distinctive touches range from the doormen's red tartan uniforms, inspired by the punks who made Chelsea's King's Road famous in the 1960s ("when Adam saw the doormen he wanted one too. We've tweaked budgets so there will be a doorman at both entrances at busy times," says Kabelitz) to its exclusive access to Cadogan Place gardens opposite.
"We're being given this amazing product and the challenge is to uplift it to take its place among our peers," he adds.
Leaping back into hotels
It was this intriguing Queen Anne-style property and its exuberant former occupants, as well as the lure of Belmond's classical approach, that enticed Handling - who had previously sworn off hotels - to take on the executive chef position with responsibility for the entire F&B offering.
From the outset, Cadogan Estates wanted a named chef who would create a destination restaurant that would draw in the locals; part of this was the creation of the restaurant's own entrance on Sloane Street, separate from the hotel.
On the face of it, it's quite a leap for the Dundee-born chef, who oversees the hotel while running his existing five-venue group. Just three years ago he opened his first London restaurant - the Frog E1 - next to a Shoreditch carpark (it has since relocated to nearby Hoxton), serving up bold dishes to drum and bass beats. A year later he opened Frog by Adam Handling in Covent Garden, with two bars and a delicatessen also joining the group, all with a strong focus on sustainability.
But now that he's in an illustrious west London postcode alongside a giant of luxury travel, will Handling have to adapt? The chef explains: "This will be British elegance at its finest. But you'll know you're in an Adam Handling restaurant from the way the crockery is designed, because the art is by the same artists that supply all my restaurants, because of the hospitality and, fundamentally, the flavours." But it's a hell of a lot more elegant because of the architraves, the royal crest, all of the history that's been brought back. Even the flooring has been restored and this the restaurant] is Lillie Langtry's drawing room, for goodness' sake."
Handling describes art, music, food and alcohol as "the four legs of my table". Katy Jade Dobson's artworks adorn the walls of Adam Handling Chelsea. They are abstract, colourful and delicate, reflecting botanicals and the neighbouring gardens, while a playlist will be curated for the site, retaining enough of a beat for diners to "bob their heads to".
m Handling Chelsea will be the most luxurious in his restaurant group and the pedigree of ingredients will reflect this - when The Caterer drops by, a whole wagyu cow has just been purchased. Just three signature dishes from his other restaurants - mother [celeriac, yolk, apple, truffle, lime], cheese doughnuts and chicken butter - will be included on the Chelsea menu. Handling has developed tasting and Á la carte menus on a 'best of British' concept.
The new Belmond CadoganOpened 24 February Bedrooms 54 Owner The Cadogan Estate General manager Klaus Kabelitz Executive chef Adam Handling Design GA Design International (rooms, lobby, private dining room); and Russell Sage Studios (restaurant and bar spaces) Starting room rate £495 Staff 139
Bringing on Belmond It was a surprise for some that Belmond was brought in to manage the hotel, as the company has traditionally focused on property ownership rather than management contracts. "Having a management contract always makes things a bit more complicated - there are three parties you have to satisfy - but I felt that in this case that it was not going to be a challenge," explains general manager Klaus Kabelitz. He confirms there are "plenty of conversations" regarding further management contracts, although nothing can proceed until the completion of the sale of Belmond to French luxury goods company LVMH, which was announced in December with a price tag of £2.5b and is due to complete in the next few months. "Knowing what it \[LVMH\] stands for and having read a couple of its public vision statements, I feel comfortable that we're going to have good conversations. Many of the things it believes in we believe in already, so I don't foresee any great big challenges," Kabelitz says.
Adam Handling ChelseaRestaurant director Liam Burns Executive pastry chef Chris Underwood Covers 45 plus private dining room Dishes Highland wagyu beef, braised onions and smoked bone marrow; Scottish scallop ceviche with green tomato; lamb Wellington, carrot and mint; langoustine and pink grapefruit Design Adam Handling with Russell Sage Studio
[The ones to watch in 2019: Restaurant openings >>](/articles/543783/the-ones-to-watch-in-2019-restaurant-openings) [Chef profile: Adam Handling, the Frog, London >>](/articles/501779/chef-profile-adam-handling-the-frog-london) [Get The Caterer every week on your smartphone, tablet, or even in good old-fashioned hard copy (or all three!).
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