Landmark NYC restaurant Carbone seeks permission to open in former US embassy in Mayfair

Landmark New York restaurant Carbone will on Thursday seek permission to open its first European branch in London.

Owners of the traditional Italian-American eatery have secured a spot in the Chancery Rosewood hotel opening on the former American Embassy site in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair next year.

The restaurant has been a celebrity magnet since it first launched in Manhattan in 2013.

Rihanna, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kanye West, Justin Bieber and the Kardashian clan have all been spotted in the dark-panelled dining room, while Barack Obama visited when he was US President.

Owners Major Food Group have now opened branches in Las Vegas, Miami, Dallas, Doha, Riyadh and Hong Kong. London will be Carbone’s first European location.

Plans show a private dining room and a bar and lounge area attached to the main restaurant, as well as outdoor seating at the London location.

Westminster Council was discussing granting a licence for the business at a meeting on Thursday.

In a letter to the town hall, the group said it was “honoured to bring Carbone to one of the UK’s historical landmarks - Grosvenor Square”.

But some nearby residents have complained about the potential for noise and increased traffic caused by customers flocking to the area.

In a bid to ease concerns, the company told locals it has an “overwhelmingly positive relationships with local communities” at its other expensive residential locations.

“Our outposts in Manhattan and Miami Beach are located in well-heeled, historic neighbourhoods and both establishments feature outdoor dining,” a spokesman said.

“As a matter of preference, our community outreach practices - which include providing residents a dedicated private number for the manager on duty and, often, our own personal contact information - go above and beyond what is typically required of an operator.”

The US agreed to sell the lease on its Mayfair embassy to the Gulf investor Qatari Diar in 2009. In 2018 the country moved to the sprawling $1 billion compound in Nine Elms.

“In our view, this represents a unique concept that will offer the discerning dining public in one of the world’s greatest culinary capitals something new to try,” a spokesman for Carbone said in documents published by Westminster council.

“And what better setting than the former American Embassy.”