Mayfair chef Corrigan teams up with New York's Dead Rabbit to dish up hip bar

Restaurant owner enlists help from New York to woo younger crowd
“Something different”: Richard Corrigan with top US barman Gregory Buda, left
Trevor Adams / Matrixpictures.co
Rod Kitson11 October 2016

Chef Richard Corrigan is aiming to attract a younger crowd to Mayfair — with the help of one of New York’s trendiest nightspots.

The owner of Corrigan’s restaurant is opening a late-night bar at the venue, as he claims the area is changing. He told the Standard: “Mayfair’s very corporate, and I’d like to see a younger base coming through the door, more laid-back.

“Everyone who comes into Mayfair is gone again quickly. That’s the thing that bugs me about the area, everyone is gone early. But Boisdale is opening round the corner, all the art galleries are coming into London, the hedge fund and equity companies are moving out because of the rents and rates and the American embassy is going to south London. It’s going to be interesting how it evolves.”

Corrigan will open Dickie’s Bar next month with help from The Dead Rabbit in New York, which last week took top spot in this year’s World’s 50 Best Bars awards.

Its barman, Gregory Buda, 31, is creating a seasonal drinks list for Corrigan’s that will go alongside a bar menu. Corrigan, 52, said: “I don’t know much about cocktails apart from drinking them. We needed somebody who brought something different. I just wanted a bit more fun in my life. Am I trying to be more hip? I’ve been hip since I was 18!”

Buda said: “One thing that holds back a lot of places that are trying to be cool is that they don’t push a theme or an idea to the limit. I wanted the cocktails to marry with the food and seasonality, spirits and ingredients from the UK... Irish whiskeys and Scotch, English gins, vodkas and vermouths.”

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Corrigan is aiming to “evolve” his Upper Grosvenor Street restaurant as the dining industry changes, and he claims Mayfair is not just for the wealthy. He said: “You have to be aware of what people can afford. London is getting to be an incredibly difficult place to hang out. I would like to emphasise that young people can come and experience Mayfair and don’t have to be rich.”

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