Langan’s Brasserie to be relaunched next year

London institution Langan’s Brasserie in Mayfair is set to be relaunched as a British-French brasserie de luxe overseen by Graziano Arricale and James Hitchen next year.

The reimagined Langan’s is set to reopen in autumn 2021. Arricale, former operations director at Richard Caring’s Birley Clubs and head of the Chucs food and beverage operating team, will take the role of chief executive alongside managing director Hitchen, founder and former chief executive of East Coast Concepts.

An extensive refurbishment is planned to “reimagine” the venue and bring it “up to date” while carefully restoring it “to its former glory”. Fettle Studios has been commissioned to deliver interiors that reflect the restaurant’s connection to cinema, music and art.

The menu will consist of British and French classics focused on luxury ingredients. Highlights will include seared hand-dived scallops with lardons and celeriac; wild mushroom fricassee served with toasted brioche; and plateau fruit de mer.

Mains will include the classic Langan’s fish pie, lobster thermidor, and bouillabaisse with red mullet and gurnard. Several dishes shall be served tableside, including steak tartare, dover sole (grilled or meunière) and châteaubriand for two. The dessert list will offer the likes of crêpes Suzette, crème brûlée and salted caramel éclairs.

In addition to the main dining room, there will be a ground-floor lounge bar for afternoon tea, business meetings and pre-dinner drinks, as well as a shellfish bar serving oysters and caviar. The lower-ground floor will become home to an extensive wine cellar and private dining room.

Upstairs is set to become an exclusive, invitation-only late lounge. With a licence until 3am, guests will be able to enjoy dinner with live music, which will give way to DJs, drinking and dancing from 11pm.

Founded by Irish restaurateur Peter Langan in 1976 in partnership with actor Sir Michael Caine and former head chef of the Capital hotel, Richard Shepherd, Langan’s redefined the London dining scene in the 1970s and 80s and was frequented by the likes of Princess Margaret, Elizabeth Taylor, Muhammed Ali, Mick Jagger and Elton John.

With a reputation for eccentricity and raucousness, stories abound of an inebriated Peter Langan nibbling guests’ ankles, expelling those deemed too ‘boring’, and even extinguishing a kitchen fire with a vintage Champagne. The dining room was lined with works by David Hockney (who helped design the original menus, turning them into collectors’ pieces), Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon.

Langan died tragically in a fire in 1988 and Shepherd bought out Caine's share of the business in 1999, before selling his shares in 2012.

The Guardian reported in October that the restaurant had filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.

Oakley Capital founder and managing partner Peter Dubens is understood to be privately backing the project. Oakley Capital declined to comment.