Unlike Madrid, New York or Athens, dining late in London is not easy. Uncommon. The habit of late-night dining in the British capital is limited to a kebab or a few chips outside the restaurant. pub. But things could change. There are already many establishments that challenge the practice of early closure. For example The Dover, an Italian restaurant in the Mayfair district where on weekends you can book a table until 11.30pm. There’s also the Michelin-starred Mountain in Soho, run by chef Tomos Parry, which now offers reservations until 10.30pm. Although one of the most proactive initiatives is that of The Park, where Jeremy King has been offering a 25% discount since spring for tables reserved after 9.45pm.
King remembers taking last dinner orders at 1 a.m. when he started working in the hospitality industry in the 1970s. “Today it is almost impossible to get anything after ten in the evening. I don’t understand why this happened, but I am determined to encourage people to rediscover the pleasure of dining late,” he warns. King is a master of reinvention and the name behind restaurants like Le Caprice (where Tom Cruise and Princess Diana were regulars), Wolsey (where you could see Joan Collins or Lucian Freud) and the timeless The Ivy.
On Saturday evening we visited The Park, in the west of the city, very close to Hyde Park, Aaron and Sam Taylor-Johnson were having dinner there with their daughters. Imagine a 1960s New York restaurant decorated in this style kitsch of Palm Springs: parquet floors, honey-colored California oak wood paneling and butter brown leather banquettes. The area’s artsy, middle-aged Londoners kiss in the air while sipping a round of Negronis with basil and olives. Even the food has a simple charm of typically Italian and American inspiration. No sign of kebab or potatoes with salt and vinegar. Instead, a silky linguine of crab with chilli and lemon and delicate lobster rolls. The chicken schnitzel (a classic at other Jeremy King restaurants in London) is nice and crunchy, served with a wedge of lemon. That’s not to say there isn’t a fun twist. Desserts include cloud-shaped vanilla cream donuts, banana splits with chocolate sauce and a make-your-own ice cream menu ice-creamwhere you can add sophisticated ingredients like coulis raspberry, sliced almonds and mini meringues.
Longevity is not a concept associated with London’s restaurant world, where business is brisk and costs skyrocket at such a dizzying rate that a restaurant closes on average every two days. The fact that King has been in the business for fifty years is a testament to his skill.
This restaurateur accustomed to frequenting London’s elite said he wants to revive the spontaneity and fun of the city’s nightlife, which he says has been missing since the pandemic. In addition to the nightly discount, it also offers “flash deals” on Martini for a pound. The philosophy here: come to eat and end up staying until dinner, only to be kicked out at closing.
Since they launched the Night Owls initiative last month, their clientele has increased. “We’ve seen a noticeable increase in the number of people coming in after the movies, which is interesting,” King says. “And you always call it ‘after the theatre’, but it’s… I’m interested in people feeling at home after 10.30pm, feeling that there’s nothing wrong with going out late at night and that they’re not sitting in an empty room.”
