Mercato Mayfair: London's Converted Church Food Hall

Ina

May 31, 2021

4 min read

Updated: Sep 28

If you don't go to church much but eat and drink religiously, Mercato Mayfair may be your idea of heaven. It is a food hall inside a Grade I listed Greek Revival church off Oxford Street. Four levels, stained glass over the bar, a chequerboard floor down the nave, and a wine cellar in the crypt.

The German Kraft Brewery bar at Mercato Mayfair, its counter set against the church's painted arcading and stained glass

What Is Mercato Mayfair?

It is Mercato Metropolitano's second London site, after Elephant & Castle, and it opened in November 2019 in St Mark's on North Audley Street. The format is the same one the group runs in Milan: independent traders rather than chains, fresh produce sold alongside cooked food, a bias towards Italian, and a house rule against single-use plastic. What makes this branch different is the room it is in.

The fan-vaulted timber entrance arch at Mercato Mayfair framing the length of the nave and its rows of tables

Which Church Is Mercato Mayfair In?

St Mark's, North Audley Street, built between 1825 and 1828 to a Greek Revival design by John Peter Gandy – which is the portico you walk in under, with its Ionic columns and plain pediment. The inside is not Gandy's. Arthur Blomfield gutted and redecorated it in 1878 and gave it the Romanesque open roof, the banded arcading and the mosaic work. Which is why the entrance is austere and grey and the interior is warm and painted and covered in pattern. It has been Grade I listed since 1958.

The Greek Revival portico of St Mark's on North Audley Street with MERCATO MAYFAIR lettered across the entablature, red brick Victorian buildings either side and tables under parasols outside

Why Was the Church Empty for So Long?

St Mark's was deconsecrated in 1974 and then spent more than twenty years on the Buildings at Risk register. A Christian fellowship used it from 1994, and from 2009 it ran as an events venue, but a Grade I interior needs money rather than tenants. What finally fixed it was a two-year, £5 million restoration before the food hall opened. The reason the paintwork and the glass look the way they do rather than the way a building abandoned for thirty years usually looks.

The apse at Mercato Mayfair: stained glass lancets and painted Romanesque arcading above a carved wooden reredos, with a bar counter and a gin cocktails sign in front of it

How Many Floors Does Mercato Mayfair Have?

Four levels, linked by staircases that are steeper and narrower than you expect, which is part of the fun. The crypt holds the wine cellar and more bars. The ground floor is the nave: a central bar with tables running the length of the church and the grocery stalls around the edges. A gallery above looks straight down into it. And there is a rooftop terrace on top, which is the one part that does not feel like a church at all.

The nave of St Mark's laid out with dining tables under Blomfield's timber roof, the painted apse at the far end

The first-floor gallery at Mercato Mayfair looking down over the arcaded balcony into the nave below

A small table and chairs set beneath a tall stained-glass lancet window at Mercato Mayfair

What Can You Eat at Mercato Mayfair?

Eighteen or so traders, and the range is wider than the Italian branding suggests: Neapolitan pizza, sushi, pad thai, Spanish, Mexican, Indian, German. The bars are the part people underrate – a German Kraft brewery bar under the stained glass, a gin bar where the altar was, and the cellar downstairs. If you want the photograph, order at the bar in the apse and turn around.

A handwritten chalkboard sign propped beside a palm at Mercato Mayfair, the black and white chequered floor of the nave running away behind it

A chilled deli counter at Mercato Mayfair below bold painted murals reading Creating Community and Sovereignty

Can You Do an Actual Food Shop There?

You can, and it is the thing most visitors walk past. Around the edges of the ground floor there are pantry staples – tinned goods, pulses, oils and vinegars. Alongside rice, pasta, grains, spices and baking supplies, a cheese and charcuterie counter, and a chilled display of organic fruit and veg. Prices are Mayfair, but it is a working grocery rather than a set dressing.

Shelves of jars, tins and preserves at Mercato Mayfair beneath murals reading Informing and Empowering Citizens and Food as it Should Be

A white dresser at Mercato Mayfair stacked with Italian dried pasta, jars and preserves, with loaves in the cupboard below

A corridor at Mercato Mayfair with an up and down sign, baskets of produce and a black and white chequered tile floor

The entrance passage at Mercato Mayfair lined with dried pasta and dry goods, a chalkboard reading Pasta and Sauces, and the timber arch into the nave beyond

A chilled fruit and vegetable display at Mercato Mayfair, with broccoli, cabbage, peppers and spring onions under a painted floral mural

A striped-awning stall at Mercato Mayfair with bread and produce laid out, framed by house plants

The deli counter at Mercato Mayfair with baskets of bread, staff serving behind it and wall art reading Small is Beautiful

What's in the Crypt?

The wine cellar, under brick vaults, with charcuterie and cheese to go with it, and it is the quietest part of the building – the nave carries sound, the crypt swallows it. The same space is used for cookery classes and private hire.

A Cheese and Charcuterie and Wine Cellar sign at Mercato Mayfair above a rack of gold-foiled sparkling wine bottles

Btw, if you want your bar to look more distinctive, you can have custom neon signs to decorate your bar. You can personalize neon signs to fit the style of your bar. This will make your bar in Mercato Mayfair look more unique. This is also a great marketing tool.

Neon signs can also be used to decorate food stalls and restaurants. This will make your food stalls and restaurants look better and can be better used to attract customers. Let's customize neon signs together.

An illuminated sign spelling BEER GIN WINE on the brick vault at the entrance to the Mercato Mayfair crypt — A comfy corner at the entrance to Mercato Mayfair Crypt

Did Eisenhower Really Go to This Church?

He did, and so did Eleanor Roosevelt. During the Second World War St Mark's stood a short walk from the American embassy on Grosvenor Square and became known informally as the American Church. In 1949 it was also where the Earl of Harewood married the pianist Marion Stein, with George VI in the congregation and an anthem Benjamin Britten had written for the day and came to conduct. Worth a thought while you order a gin at the altar.

Where Is Mercato Mayfair and Which Tube Station?

St Mark's Church, North Audley Street, London W1K 6ZA – a two-minute walk off Oxford Street. The nearest Underground stations are Bond Street, on the Jubilee, Central and Elizabeth lines, and Marble Arch on the Central line. It opens seven days a week from nine in the morning, and gets busiest between six and nine in the evening.

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Where Else Can You Eat Inside a London Landmark?

The other end of the same idea is the Capitol in Forest Hill, a 1929 cinema that spent years as a bingo hall and then a pub. For eating in a room rather than a building, Brick Lane on a Sunday is the opposite experience and costs a tenth as much. And if you want inside the buildings that normally stay shut, Open House comes round every September.

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