Richard Hart is one of the world’s most famous bakers. After leading the kitchen at San Francisco icon Tartine Bakery for seven years, he went into business with Noma’s René Redzepi in 2018, opening Copenhagen’s Hart Bageri, which now has multiple sites and draws customers from around the world for its pastries and sourdough. Last year, he opened Green Rhino bakery in his current home town of Mexico City.
Now Hart – who was born and raised in east London – has returned home to open his first British bakery, in one of London’s most storied hotels: Claridge’s. “I’ve been a foreigner for 20 years, so it’s always nice to be back home,” he says.
With its entrance at the back of the hotel on Brook’s Mews, Claridge’s Bakery centres on Hart’s childhood in the UK. “A lot of the most traditional English baked goods are disappearing and I’m looking at revamping that,” says Hart. “I want this menu to take you back to your grandma. It’s what I do in Mexico, too – I try to look at any emotional connections a culture has to growing up.”
Hart and head baker Frederic Doncel-Latorre’s nostalgic British menu extends to Bakewell tarts, smiley-faced jammy dodger tarts and raspberry-pink and white-chocolate fondant fancies. “One of the strongest memories of being at my grandparents is the cupboards full of Mr Kipling’s [cakes] – I’d carefully pick all the icing off the French Fancies, then scoop out the cream before eating them,” Hart says. Another of his childhood favourites is iced fingers. “I want everything to taste exactly how you think it should, but using the best ingredients.” The white iced fingers have a strong citrus note, and he uses dehydrated raspberries to colour the bright pink ones.
In the morning there are bacon baps, and at lunchtime, a menu of sandwiches including cheese and pickle, and roast beef with horseradish. Plus, there are Scotch eggs, quiches and sausage rolls. “In all my bakeries we have a sausage roll that reflects where I am,” says Hart. “In Copenhagen, we make our own sausages wrapped in a croissant layer; in Mexico, it’s a spicy puff-pastry parcel. But here it is just the most traditional English sausage roll, exactly as you’d picture one.”
The white-tiled bakery space is takeaway-only, and there is also a deli section stocking the hotel’s favourite butter and milk (both Estate Dairy) and eggs (Cacklebean) to complement Hart’s just-baked bread. He has a close relationship with Italy’s Molino Paolo Mariani, which produces the bakery’s wheat. “You really notice the difference with a loaf of bread that’s only an hour old,” he says. All the loaves are made with sourdough – even the malt loaf – but the country loaf is Hart’s most classic take.
The shop’s interiors are minimalist, with windows showing off the bakery floor to passers-by. “I just want people to be able to see everything,” Hart says. “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.” Still covered in flour after a week spent tweaking the oven’s temperatures to perfection, he’s clearly as in love with the craft as when he started baking 18 years ago. “I’m literally always thinking: how can I take this product and create the best version of it?”
Claridge’s Bakery
Brook’s Mews, W1K 4HR
02074096424
Hours:
Mon to Fri 8am–4pm
Sat & Sun 9am–4pm
