13/12/23 - we understand from an article in The Standard that the freehold of the premises are for sale with a guide price of £13m - "Film director and actor Gary Love bought the freehold of the derelict former coaching inn in 2007 from the Crown Estate. He leased the premises to the celebrity chef on a 25-year term where Mr Ramsay opened the York and Albany hotel and gastropub." It seems 9.5 years of Ramsay's lease remain so it is being sold with the lease still in place and operative.
Another restaurant/hotel in the Gordon Ramsay empire overseen by another TV celebrity chef, Angela Hartnett. It had been closed for many years so its re-opening is to be welcomed but shame about the beer.
The large bar area serves as a reception area before dining but it is also open to non-diners to chose from an extensive wine and cocktails list. Modern in design with a hint to old fashioned plushness, the barren bar serves one lager and one keg beer.
The management seems to think that real ale is available but it's not. At 4 pounds a pint (and with 12.5% service charge of 50 pence automatically added) it's steep and it's not the place to go for stunning beer, but if the boss is paying stick with the wine or cocktails. Note the dress code on the website, but not as strict as some places.
Historic Interest
Grade II listing:- ublic House (No.129) and stables (No.127). No.129 of c. 1826-7, No.127 mid C19. Earliest building associated with the Park Village East development by John Nash on land leased by himself. Stuccoed brick; slate roofs. EXTERIOR of No.129: north front of 3 storeys; 5-window range. Glazed tile ground floor inserted 19205 divided into 3 bays and glazed between the piers, wrapping round into west elevation. First floor with 5 arched French windows. Moulded string course at second floor, which is lit through 5313 unhorned sashes. Moulded cornice and balustraded parapet. 2 stacks on east wall plane, one to west wall. West elevation is 5-window range. Ground floor with 2 blocked ground-floor windows to right of 19205 frontage. Stucco scored as rustication. First-floor platband. 2 blind first-floor windows to left and 2616 unhorned sashes to right. Moulded second-floor string course continues. Second floor with 2 blind windows and 2313 unhorned sashes, separated by a blocked window. Balustraded parapet continues. Attached to south is a 2-storey; one-window range extension of early C20. INTERIOR of No.129: ground floor opened into single retail area. Front wall supported on cast-iron columns. Bar counters and shelves of 19705. To rear, in former billiard room, is a pyramid iron-framed roof light. Stick baluster open-string staircase with a ramped and wreathed handrail. First-floor assembly room occupies entire north frontage, with an office partitioned off at the east end. EXTERIOR of No.127: 2 storeys; 3-window range. Double timber carriage doors to left of a pedestrian door and a blind window. 3313 unhorned sashes to first floor. Roof with internal gable end stack to east. INTERIOR of No.127: paved stable flooring. Partitions and fittings removed.
York & Albany, London