When Gwyneth Paltrow was interviewed for the May 2010 issue of Askew UK, the Oscar winner asked to be interviewed at the Mark Club for two reasons: one, because of the food (“It’s amazing”), and two, because she doesn’t. I like it. Like the “old school” charm. To the delight of longtime members and wellness moguls, this year’s club renovation has further enhanced both qualities – the details of which were personally overseen by Richard Caring. “The idea is to bring this top club into the current era: keep the style, keep the image, keep the original,” he told Askew, adding, “As things get old, they need new life breathed into them.” In this case, it’s also important to retain the Mayfair institution’s “original British identity.”
Carlin said that by British identity he meant identity in the broadest sense. If Annabel’s, founded by Mark Birley in the 1960s, was a staple of London nightclubs, Mark’s Club was intended as an alternative to Boodle & White when it opened in 1972 and was taken over by Kering in 2000. Mark’s Club has been the same since its inception: completely discreet (easy to walk across from the simple Charles Street entrance); with a refined British homey feel (painted with Limoges china, mahogany antiques and Deirdre velvet); and serving some of London’s most delicious food (haute cuisine, yes, but also comforting dishes for children like oatmeal sausage and mash). As one American member told the New York Times in the 1980s: “We don’t eat at Mark’s; we eat at restaurants.”
Carlin says that while Burley’s vision was “completely original”, Mark’s Club has now returned to the timeless feel of his early management: it is certainly “classic”, but also “eclectic” and “casual”. In practice, this means that the interior design, which was modernised by designer Tino Zervudacchi in 2016, has once again turned to a rustic style. Taking the private dining room as an example, both rooms have been completely transformed: the Country Room’s floral decor features Alfred Wheeler’s gilded framed paintings of spaniels and terriers, while the Portrait Room’s bold red walls are adorned with a group of portraits of Georgian nobles.
Perhaps most impressive, however, is the renovated ground floor. Caring decided to leave it completely open – the lounge opens to the dining room, which opens to the conservatory – so that when you enter the George Stubbs-lined hall, everything “engulfs you at once.” It is on this level – now with plenty of sunlight – that the Marks Club’s silver service offerings will be realised at their most exquisite: Imperial Beluga and Beef Necklace are paired with crisp champagne and vintage reds, their Shropshire Blue and Sauternes next. Carlin concludes that when Burley opened the Marks Club, he was “creating a house” – a place where visitors would feel as if they were “travelling back in history.” What special talent does Caring have? It perfectly combines the club’s traditional charm with modern allure.
Step into the new-look Mark’s Club below.
