Scott’s opens its doors to the world’s most ‘expensive restaurant interior’ with its new dining room

Legendary Mayfair establishment Scott’s is set to take fine dining to a new level with the launch this week of an exclusive private dining room, billed as “the most expensive restaurant interior in the world” with a £6 million fit-out tag. Guests – no more than eight at a time – will sit down to a bespoke menu surrounded by exquisite artwork worth more than £3 million alone.

Tempus was invited along for a sneak peak of the Platinum Arowana Room, so tiny and discreet you wouldn’t know it was there until guided by staff to a small but heavy door at the back of the main dining space.

If “experiential” is the new buzzword in the luxury market, then this certainly epitomises the trend. Reminiscent of an intimate French salon, the walls showcase works by some of the most famous artists of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Joan Miro, Marc Chagall and Camille Pissarro. A veritable feast for an art connoisseur’s eyes, the carefully curated collection features La Danse by Chagall; Pissarro’s Portrait du Peintre Ludovic Piette, Avec Son Chapeau Rond, from the golden age of Impressionism, and the hauntingly beautiful Portrait de Femme, painted by Kees van Dongen in 1919.

Other artists on display include Émile Bernard, Louis Valtat, Louis Roy, Serge Férat and Henri Manguin – all personally chosen by the restaurant’s owner Richard Caring. Although the room measures just 10.8 square metres, the décor is palatial with statement features including an illuminated green, semi-precious agate stone floor that resembles an exotic coral reef. >>

Fitting, when you consider the room is named after one of the world’s most unique and rare fish, the endangered Arowana species. The walls are lined with mirrored panels and bespoke glass bricks while subtle Lalique lighting lends a soft glow to the interior.
Guests will sit on hand-finished gold-gilded chairs, drink from hand-cut Baccarat Harcourt Empire glassware and eat from the finest bone chinaware.

For such an opulent setting, it’s no surprise that the £200-a-head three course menu, devised by head chef David McCarthy, is unashamedly indulgent, featuring rare and decadent ingredients throughout. For example, you can start with golden pearl caviar and twice baked lobster soufflé with shaved black or white truffle, then move on to a main course of Newlyn Bay turbot with hand-dived scallop and Oscietra caviar, followed by pink Champagne and strawberry jelly with elderflower sorbet, and gold leaf salted caramel truffles served with coffee. Or you can choose whatever you fancy from Scott’s usual a la carte offering.

Naturally, there’s a specially selected wine list, including the UK’s only Jeroboam of Boerl & Kroff 1995, Nyetimber 1086 white and rose, and the exclusive rose cotes-de-Provence, Garrus, from Chateau d’Esclans.

So, who is this high-end dining extravaganza aimed at? While regulars, including the likes of Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss and David Walliams, will be encouraged to book, Scott’s is expecting it to be a hit with luxury brands, international business people – and, of course, art lovers.