Location: Brook’s Mews, Mayfair, London
Opened: January 21, 2026
Executive Baker & Creative Director: Richard Hart
Head Baker: Frédéric Doncel-Latorre

When one of the world’s most celebrated bakers decides to return to his native London after conquering San Francisco, Copenhagen, and Mexico City, you pay attention. When he does it at Claridge’s one of Britain’s most storied hotels you clear your calendar.

Richard Hart’s homecoming is nothing short of a love letter to British baking, wrapped in the refined hospitality of Mayfair’s most iconic address.

The Pedigree: Why Richard Hart Matters

Before we talk about what’s in the pastry case, let’s talk about who’s behind it. Richard Hart isn’t just any baker he’s the baker other bakers study.

His résumé reads like a culinary fantasy: seven years as head baker at San Francisco’s legendary Tartine Bakery, where he worked alongside Chad Robertson perfecting sourdough that became the stuff of legend. So legendary, in fact, that his bread got name-checked on The Bear, which is perhaps the most 2020s measure of cultural impact a baker can achieve.

Then came the call from René Redzepi of Noma—arguably the most influential chef of the last decade—who convinced Hart to co-found Hart Bageri in Copenhagen in 2018. The bakery now has 11 locations across the Danish capital and draws pilgrims from around the world seeking what many consider the best sourdough on the planet.

Most recently, Hart founded Green Rhino in Mexico City, adding yet another chapter to his global baking odyssey.

Now, after 20 years as what he calls “a foreigner,” Hart has returned to London. And he’s chosen Claridge’s as the stage for his most personal project yet.

The Location: Tucked Behind Luxury

Claridge’s Bakery sits on Brook’s Mews in Mayfair, just behind the hotel, giving it an almost hidden quality despite its grand address. This isn’t a flashy storefront on a main thoroughfare—it’s tucked away in a way that feels more neighbourhood bakery than hotel amenity, which appears to be entirely intentional.

The space itself is refreshingly minimalist. Hart wanted transparency, literally: large windows allow passersby to watch the entire baking process unfold. “I just want people to be able to see everything,” Hart explained during the opening week, still covered in flour from tweaking oven temperatures. “There’s nothing that beats the theatre of baking. I love the fact that you’re going to watch me loading and pulling bread out of the oven.”

It’s an approach that feels authentically Hart—confident enough in the craft to let it speak for itself, without needing fancy interiors to distract from what matters: what’s coming out of the ovens.

The Menu: British Childhood Meets Global Mastery

Here’s where Claridge’s Bakery gets interesting. This isn’t Hart trying to import his Copenhagen aesthetic to London. It’s not Tartine 2.0. Instead, it’s something more personal and arguably more challenging: a meditation on British baking through the lens of someone who’s been away long enough to see it with fresh eyes.

The Sweet Side: Nostalgia Elevated

The pastry counter reads like a walk through Hart’s childhood memories—but executed with the precision and ingredients of someone who’s spent two decades mastering his craft.

Jammy Dodger Tarts: Hart’s elevated take on the classic biscuit, retaining the playful spirit while upgrading everything else.

Iced Fingers: Both white and bright pink versions. Hart uses dehydrated raspberries for the pink colouring and adds a strong citrus note to the white ones. “I want everything to taste exactly how you think it should,” he says, “but using the best ingredients.”

French Fancies: Perhaps the most intriguing item on the menu. Hart has vivid memories of picking apart Mr Kipling’s versions at his grandparents’ house—carefully removing the icing, scooping out the cream, then eating the cake. His version honours that childhood obsession while meeting the standards he set at Noma.

Bakewell Tarts: Traditional execution with Hart’s signature attention to ingredient quality.

Belgian Buns, Custard Tarts, Lardy Cake, Malt Loaf: The full roster of British bakery classics, each given the Hart treatment—which means technically perfect while tasting exactly as memory insists they should.

The Savoury Side: Comfort with Craft

Marmite cheese straws and Yorkshire pudding wraps filled with roast beef are among the savoury offerings, alongside what the bakery bills as “the ultimate Claridge’s sausage roll.”

Hart has noted that in all his bakeries, he creates a sausage roll that reflects where he is. The Claridge’s version uses British sensibility and premium ingredients—a sausage roll elevated to its highest potential without losing its essential sausage-roll-ness.

Hampshire Pork Scotch Eggs: Proper Scotch eggs, the kind that are increasingly hard to find done well.

Sandwiches and Quiches: Lunchtime options including classics like cheese and pickle, and roast beef with horseradish. These aren’t attempting to be anything other than excellent versions of what you’d hope to find at a great bakery.

Sunday Special: Yorkshire Pudding Wraps with roast beef and gravy—a stroke of genius that honours British Sunday lunch traditions in portable form.

The Bread: Where Hart’s Reputation Was Built

Of course, anchoring everything is Hart’s world-famous sourdough—the bread that built his reputation and continues to draw devotees worldwide. Alongside his signature loaves are bloomers, granary loaves, and the everyday staples of British baking, all receiving the same meticulous attention Hart gives his showpiece products.

Hart admits he only gets his sourdough exactly right once or twice a year—a humility that speaks to his obsessive pursuit of perfection. But even his “not quite perfect” bread is better than most bakers’ best efforts.

The Philosophy: Disappearing Traditions, Reimagined

What makes this opening significant isn’t just Hart’s pedigree. It’s his stated mission: “A lot of the most traditional English baked goods are disappearing and I’m looking at revamping that.”

British baking has been on a strange trajectory. While sourdough culture has exploded and continental pastries have conquered Instagram, many traditional British bakes have been relegated to mediocre supermarket versions or have disappeared entirely. The lardy cakes, the proper iced buns, the malt loaves—these have become novelties rather than everyday pleasures.

Hart sees this gap and has positioned himself to fill it. But he’s not doing nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. He’s applying everything he learned at Tartine about fermentation, at Noma about ingredient sourcing, and in Mexico City about building culinary community, and channelling it into British classics.

It’s a homecoming that brings global expertise to local traditions—exactly the kind of cross-pollination that creates something new while honouring what came before.

What Makes This Different From Cedric Grolet?

An interesting comparison point: sister property the Berkeley hotel has Cedric Grolet’s patisserie, which draws queues for its elaborate, fanciful, French creations. Claridge’s Bakery is positioned as something entirely different.

Where Grolet is theatrical and Instagram-optimized—his fruit-shaped pastries are as much art as food—Hart is going deliberately old-school British. Simple, nostalgic, accessible. The spectacle is in the baking process itself, not in elaborate plating.

This creates an interesting dynamic within the Maybourne hotel group’s portfolio: high French patisserie at one property, elevated British baking at another. It suggests a sophisticated understanding that not everything needs to be chasing the same aesthetic or audience.

The Execution: Early Impressions

Hart spent the first week of operations tweaking oven temperatures to perfection, a detail that tells you everything about his approach. This isn’t a celebrity baker lending his name to someone else’s operation—he’s in the kitchen, covered in flour, obsessing over details.

The emphasis on transparency—both literal (the windows) and figurative (showing the entire process)—creates a different kind of luxury than what we’ve come to expect from hotel dining. This is luxury as craft mastery, not as exclusivity or opulence.

Everything is baked on-site throughout the day, aimed at both hotel guests and neighbourhood customers. It’s designed for regular visits, not special occasions—the kind of place you might stop by for your morning loaf and end up leaving with a Belgian bun for later.

The Significance: What This Opening Represents

Thomas Kochs, Claridge’s managing director, called this “a significant moment for Claridge’s.” He’s not wrong.

This represents the hotel expanding its food offering beyond its main building in a way that feels both accessible and premium. It’s Claridge’s hospitality applied to everyday baking—an interesting positioning that could redefine what hotel dining experiences can be.

For London’s food scene, it signals something larger: growing confidence that great bread and pastries deserve the same attention as high-end dining. Hart’s arrival brings serious artisan baking into a luxury hospitality setting, suggesting that the hierarchy between “fine dining” and “just baking” is finally dissolving.

It also represents a validation of British baking traditions at a time when continental pastries have dominated the cultural conversation. Hart—who could have opened anything, anywhere—chose to celebrate British classics. That choice matters.

Who Is This For?

The genius of Claridge’s Bakery is that it works on multiple levels:

For Hart’s Global Fans: A chance to experience his work without flying to Copenhagen or Mexico City.

For Mayfair Residents: A neighbourhood bakery that happens to be world-class.

For Hotel Guests: An extension of the Claridge’s experience that’s less formal than the hotel’s restaurants but equally committed to quality.

For Londoners: A destination worth crossing town for, especially if you care about the preservation and elevation of British baking traditions.

For Nostalgic Brits: A chance to taste the classics exactly as memory insists they should be, without the disappointment that usually follows.

The Verdict: A Homecoming Worth Celebrating

Richard Hart’s return to London via Claridge’s Bakery is one of the most thoughtful openings we’ve seen in recent memory. It’s not trend-chasing or algorithm-optimized. It’s not trying to be the next viral pastry sensation.

Instead, it’s a world-class baker coming home and asking: what if we took British baking seriously again? What if we gave jammy dodgers and iced fingers the same care we give croissants? What if disappearing traditions were worth preserving, not as museum pieces but as living, evolving crafts?

The execution appears to match the ambition. Hart is present, perfectionist, and genuinely invested in getting this right. The menu balances accessibility with craftsmanship. The location works. The philosophy is sound.

Is this the best bakery in London? That’s the wrong question. The better question is: is this an important bakery in London? And the answer to that is unequivocally yes.

Claridge’s Bakery represents something London’s food scene has needed: a serious commitment to British baking traditions from someone with the global credibility to make people pay attention. It’s a homecoming, a preservation effort, and an innovation all at once.

Hart spent 20 years learning from the best, in the best kitchens, in the best food cities. Now he’s bringing all of that home and applying it to iced fingers and sausage rolls. If that doesn’t deserve your attention—and your appetite—nothing does.

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Claridge’s Bakery
Brook’s Mews, London W1K 4HR
Open daily
No reservations—just show up

Have you visited Claridge’s Bakery yet? What did you think of Hart’s approach to British classics? Let us know in the comments.