Londons posh Wolseley heads for NYC, latest in growing wave of fancy UK clubs hitting Manhattan

“London calling!”A swanky hospitality brand’s plans for a new hotel and exclusive nightclub in Midtown mark the latest in a growing British invasion of NYC nightlife.Minor International — which owns the Wolseley, a posh restaurant in London’s Piccadilly Circus, where an afternoon tea service runs north of $65 — is renovating the landmarked Lambs Building for its latest project, expected to open next year.It’s part of a growing number of exports from across the pond.A private club company from London, Maison Estelle, is reportedly setting up shop in Flatiron as soon as next year.

And Annabel’s, a posh British club known for catering to royals and celebs, is opening a NYC branch a few blocks away.Minor International is taking over the former home of the Chatwal Hotel on West 44th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.The 10-story, 75,000-square-foot establishment is expected to offer the same kind of luxury that the Wolseley in London — which Minor bought in 2022 — is famous for.A spokesperson for the hospitality group — which is actually based in Bangkok, Thailand, and has establishments around the world — declined to share pricing or other details about the new “members club,” which will be inside the hotel.

The hotel will be the first to get the Wolseley name.Whatever form the club takes, it will inherit a rich historic legacy.Built in 1905 by notorious Gilded Age architect Stanford White, the space was designed as a clubhouse for a theater group that counted Charlie Chaplin, Fred Astaire and George Gershwin as members. While the group, called the Lambs, has not occupied the building for about 50 years, the latest tenants called on that legacy to draw customers for years.The Lambs Club Restaurant & Bar, once known as a spot with “retro glamour,” closed over the summer.Minor’s CEO Dillip Rajakarier seems keen to continue the tradition, saying in a statement: “What excites us most is bringing together people who might n...