No net curtains, no roast trolley, no jacket and tie: good grief, it's the new Savoy Grill

This is the first sight of the new Savoy Grill, the establishment "canteen" that closed for a revamp several months ago amid a symphony of spluttering from Tory politicians, corporate fat cats and showbusiness figures.

They feared the traditional restaurant, which had been at the epicentre of British political, business and media intrigue for decades, would be destroyed by the forces of hip, represented by Marcus Wareing, the new chef patron, known as a protégé of Gordon Ramsay.

On 7 May, when the restaurant reopens, they will have a chance to judge for themselves, but today we can give them a sneak preview. Gone are the net curtains, which Wareing pronounced "disgusting", the pendulous chandeliers and the rest of the formal but drab décor. Missing too will be the roast trolley on which hunks of meat simmered and withered for hours and whose departure has been one of the chief causes of concern.

Instead diners will be greeted with caramel and black stripes on the famous banquettes that litter the room, delicate silver leaf on a lowered ceiling, a new charcoal checked carpet, black blinds and white linen tablecloths. The design is by the Los Angeles-based Barbara Barry, who has drawn inspiration from the Savoy's art deco past.

Wareing, who granted The Independent on Sunday a special preview of the room, is no unthinking modernist. "I didn't want it to be hideously cold and stark," he said. "I hope there will be that 'wow factor' when people come in. I'd like them to get dressed up, have their hair done and wear jewellery, to be king and queen for the night. But I do want everybody to feel welcome. I don't want 20-year-olds to be intimidated."

The dress code has been relaxed – men will no longer have to wear ties (on one occasion, an open-necked Richard Harris had a screen placed around his table to shield patrons from the sight of a tie-less man) – but Wareing expects his customers to respect his new restaurant's traditions and be clothed accordingly. He is keen to extend that client base, though. "When 800 people come out of the theatre over the road, 700 will say it's too posh for us, we're not snobs. But why aren't they coming here? You do need to be incredibly wealthy to sleep here, but not to eat here."

With a three-course lunch menu at £21, and pre- and post-dinner menus, the Grill will be much more affordable than of old, when a main course without vegetables was priced at around £27.

Although the roast trolley has disappeared, the menu will still provide comfort food for those whose taste-bud development ended at prep school. Wareing, who trained at the Savoy's River Room under Anton Edelmann, confessed he had never eaten at the Grill, but said he has learned to respect it, and has been examining past menus, reinventingdishes "within the guidelines" of the room's history. He will even be cooking steak and kidney puddings. "I didn't like them until Darren [Velvick], my head chef at Pétrus, made one for me," he said. "I've gone back and evolved what they used to serve here. So we will be doing shrimp cocktails and omelette Arnold Bennett. I'm doing rack of lamb – but cooked to order." More sophisticated fare, as served at Pétrus, Wareing's acclaimed St James's Street restaurant, will also be available.

Perhaps most importantly for the regulars, the maitre d' of 20 years, Angelo Maresca, will still be there to greet the customers who rely on him to place them at their regular tables. "I know them all," he said, clutching a letter from one such regular, Charles Moore, the Daily Telegraph editor. Maresca came "with the package" when Wareing agreed to take the Savoy on, a stipulation that surprised him initially. "I judged the room from a cook's point of view," the chef said, "but I've realised it's a very special place run by a very special man. I have never heard so many people praise one man. I've learnt so much from Angelo, and I want all my staff to learn from him about the room's history and where people sat, Princess Diana here, Roger Moore there."

Staff huddled round tables taking notes while others practised in the kitchens when Wareing showed me around. Finishing touches were still being added, such as a secluded room from which diners will be able to watch the cooks at work, an innovation Gordon Ramsay, Wareing's friend and co-investor, has included at Claridge's.

The chef is nervous but excited about the reopening. "I can't wait to show Anton around my kitchens," he said. "They're a damn sight better than his." A sentiment the Grill's customers are likely to echo when they revisit this grandest of establishments now made over so that the reality once again matches its exalted reputation.