Le Caprice, the legendary late 20th-century haunt of everyone from Hollywood and rock royalty to the real thing – Liz Taylor, Elton John, Princess Di – is set to be revived by Richard Caring at the Chancery Rosewood in the former US Embassy next year, but its soul will forever remain at its former St James’s site, now back under the control of original owner Jeremy King and reincarnated as Arlington. It’s the restaurant equivalent of a new engine being put under the bonnet of a vintage Aston Martin: it might look the same, but everything has been fine-tuned to perfection.
The mood: Party like it's 1989
If Annabel Croft and Alan Yentob, Nigella Lawson and Michael Caine are your idea of celebrity spotting, then the mood of late middle-aged nostalgia at Arlington will have you in raptures. First-timers may wonder what all the fuss is about (a primetime table is nigh-on impossible unless you have Jeremy King on speed dial) but for regulars from the King and Corbin glory days, Arlington is a reassuring resurrection. Much of it is new but designed to look like the old version, from the luminous set of black-and-white David Bailey prints to the mirror behind the bar which allows solo diners at the 12-seat counter to watch the table-hopping behind.
The food: modern European crowd-pleasers
The menu is a greatest hits for anyone who ate at Le Caprice or The Ivy in their 90s heyday: bang bang chicken or crispy duck salad followed by shepherd’s pie or salmon fish cakes. Nostalgia never tasted so good: eggs Benedict quiver under a buttercup-yellow hollandaise, pink-cooked calf’s liver comes with a piquant sauce diable, and for anyone who doesn’t wish to finish with the famous Scandinavian iced berries with white chocolate sauce, Welsh rarebit, bubbled up from the grill, functions as both cheese course and savoury pud.
Arlington is located at 20 Arlington Street, London
See more of London's newest restaurant openings
-
‘Just beneath the surface there’s another world’: How David Lynch used hair and make-up to create his singular universeFrom Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive to Twin Peaks, David Lynch used hair and make-up in his films as a narrative device, writes Laura Havlin
-
Burns Night 2025: where to celebrate in LondonIt is time to raise a wee dram to Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns on Burns Night (25 January). Here is our pick of places to enjoy an evening of generous speechmaking, toasting, and drinking around London
-
Tag Heuer unveils sporty new collections at LVMH Watch Week 2025Tag Heuer has announced a series of new watches at LVMH Watch Week, including Formula 1 and Carrera editions
-
London’s first all-suite hotel, The Emory, wins Wallpaper* Design Award 2025The Emory earns our Best Suites award for flawlessly embodying the creative aesthetic of a host of world-class designers
-
Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025: meet the travel winners transcending destinationsDiscover the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025 travel winners: the year’s places to stay, dine, drink and join
-
Don’t Tell Dad: comfort eating is hot stuff at this new London bakery and restaurantA bakery in the morning, a restaurant from lunchtime, Don’t Tell Dad is the talk of Queen’s Park
-
Fine dining is plant-powered at this intimate east London restaurantChef Kirk Haworth’s Plates, designed by Design & That, thrives in its synergetic dialogue between people, nature and ingredients
-
The design-led restaurants to know in 2025This year’s most read-about restaurant openings to inspire your 2025 cravings, from a playful diner in New York to an art-and-dining hub in Marrakech
-
The most whimsical hotel Christmas trees around the worldWe round up the best hotel Christmas tree collaborations of the year, from an abstract take in Madrid to a heritage-rooted installation in Amsterdam
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Hyde London City, the perfect free-spirited boltholeHyde London City, the brand’s UK hotel debut, brings contagious energy and maximalism to a Victorian classic
-
The Park: step inside Jeremy King's mid-century dinerOne of several 2024 openings from restauranteur, Jeremy King, food critic Ben McCormack books in at The Park
