The new venture for the media brand follows the success of the Monocle Café in Tokyo, which opened in October 2011 in the Hankyu Men’s department store in Chiyoda-ku.

Seating approximately 15 guests over a ground and lower-ground floor, the Monocle Café will provide a coffee counter with high stools at the bar and enjoying the buzz of Chiltern Street from the outdoor seating during the warmer months.

The Monocle Café London will serve a selection of snacks, with an emphasis on freshly roasted coffee from the New Zealand-Australian team at Allpress Espresso in Shoreditch.

Dishes will include Swiss-inspired bircher muesli, a Monocle toasty and a Midori salad made from seasonal ingredients – available to eat in and takeaway.

Enlisting the skills of Japanese chef, Masayuki Hara (formerly of Le Gavroche), the Monocle Café will have macarons, green-tea roll-cake and strawberry gateau from Hara’s shop, Lanka. 

All aspects of the café’s design and construction have been overseen by Monocle’s in-house design team, led by Yoshitsugu Takagi, who worked with Edo Design & Construction to turn the two-floor empty shell into Monocle’s ideal café in less than three months. From the awning right through to the paper takeaway bags, each item has been designed by the team who design the magazine.

The downstairs space, available for subscribers to hire privately, uses tables from Marylebone neighbour, Century, vintage Ercol chairs, plus an Epson projector and screen for work presentations, screenings or a spot of karaoke. A handsome sofa and ottomans from Truck in Osaka, are positioned near an ISDN line for live broadcasts on Monocle’s round the clock radio station, Monocle 24.

“We wanted to create a relaxed space for a morning coffee meeting, a lengthy weekend lunch with the papers, and a glass of prosecco after work too", says Monocle editor in chief, Tyler Brûlé.

Open seven days, the Monocle Café joins the Monocle Shop, the Monocle Lobby Shop and Monocle’s London HQ in Marylebone. Globally, Monocle has shops in New York, Hong Kong, Toronto and the Monocle Café in Tokyo.