The Queen’s grocer, Fortnum & Mason, is in talks to open a food hall at New York’s famous Plaza Hotel in the hope that the big apple’s wealthiest and most glamorous residents will develop a taste for gourmet hampers stuffed with British delicacies.

The Piccadilly-based retailer has held talks with El-Ad Properties, a Manhattan property developer, which is nearing completion of a $100m revamp of the Plaza, turning many of its guest rooms into multi-million dollar apartments.

A Fortnum & Mason food hall in the shopping concourse of the building would mark a big step into the US for the company, which currently only has a presence through a small counter at the department store Saks Fifth Avenue.

A Fortnum spokeswoman in London said the Americans made the initial approach, adding: “Very, very tentative conversations have taken place.”

Founded by a palace footman selling candles, Fortnum celebrates its 300th anniversary in October. The firm is privately owned by the Weston family and is run by Jana Khayat, a former boss of the Chelsea store Peter Jones.

Fortnum already has outlets in Japan and it sells teas, truffles, hampers and other foods in the US through a dedicated American website.

“We’re visited in London by a lot of American tourists and hopefully they go back with fond memories,” said the spokeswoman.

Since it opened on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Central Park in 1907, the Plaza has established a reputation for decadence. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, famously cavorted in the hotel’s fountain in 1907.

In the sixties, Truman Capote held his Black and White ball at the hotel with a guest list including Frank Sinatra and Tennessee Williams. More recently, the actor Michael Douglas chose the Plaza for his wedding to Catherine Zeta-Jones.

The hotel shut in April 2005 and is due to re-open in October containing apartments for New York’s super-rich, priced at between $5m and $10m.

Source: business.guardian.co.uk

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