Ambassadors Clubhouse, Mayfair’s most recent fine-dining addition, takes as its starting point the opulence of early 20th-century Indian and Pakistani mansions – once the luxurious settings for extravagant parties but now relics of a bygone era.
Subcontinental architectural flourishes resound throughout. The eye-catching stripes on the bar’s edge and nearby columns were inspired by Pakistan’s Uch Sharif monuments – four tombs and a mosque, the oldest of which dates back to the 14th century, which are under consideration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From a distance, their strong-blue tiled banding gives the buildings a contemporary look, a characteristic that Samuel Hosker and his team at North End Design sought to emulate here. They also drew inspiration from the faded grandeur of the Omar Hayat Mahal, a mid-1930s haveli in Pakistan known for its exquisite craftsmanship and intricate detailing.
Hosker reveals that this ambitious project was very much a collaborative effort. He worked closely with the Ambassadors Clubhouse’s co-founder Karam Sethi, one of the driving forces behind the JKS group, which owns a mouth-watering portfolio of high-end restaurants in London and abroad. The design concept for this venue was deeply rooted in Sethi’s own family heritage – in particular the summer house of his maternal grandfather, who was a diplomat in Dalhousie, India.
A visit by Hosker’s team to PAD London sparked the idea for the marquetry panelling that now adorns the central bar in the dining room. The use of brickwork, timber and animal-print fabric further enhances the sense of a bygone era, while the custom-designed carpet, inspired by similar rugs in the home of Sethi’s grandfather, adds a touch of modernity.
Sethi describes the décor as ‘a trippy collection of styles’, and draws attention to the blend of ‘Victorian architecture in India next to Georgian Palladian and Art Deco confection straight out of Punjab’. He goes on to explain that each JKS restaurant has its own characteristic palette: ‘Just as Brigadiers is known for its oxblood tones and Gymkhana for its green, the deep-sea gloss blue became the brand colour for Ambassadors Clubhouse.’
According to Hosker, the lower ground floor ‘has been designed to feel like a fever dream of a globe-trotting Punjabi merchant, with black and gold panelling and Punjabi shields’. The semi-private dining rooms overlooking the main room imbue the space with a sense of exclusivity; an ideal setting, one would imagine, for a post-dinner party – something of which the owners of those magnificent mansions of yesteryear would surely have approved.
For more information, visit ambassadorsclubhouse.com
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