What: Arlington is located on the former site of Le Caprice, the restaurant that Jeremy King and business partner Chris Corbin opened in 1981 and launched their career as successful restaurateurs. The restaurant was later sold to Richard Caring in 2005 before it closed as a result of the Covid pandemic but is now back in the hands of King. The site is well-known for being a celebrity haunt in its heyday and counted people including Diana, Princess of Wales, Princess Margaret, Mick Jagger and Liz Taylor as regulars.
Who: King established something of a dream team with the opening, with a number marking their return to the restaurant, including Jesus Adorno who has come back as restaurant director having previously been GM at the restaurant for just shy of four decades. Adorno's return to where he spent so much of his career has proven short lived, with him announcing yesterday (18 March) that he had handed in his notice, describing it as 'not a good fit'. On the restaurant floor is German-born general manager Anke Agthe, who has held management positions at Fortnum & Mason, Scott’s, Ricker Restaurants, 34 Mayfair, and restaurant managers Paul Hough, whose career has seen him work at The Wolseley, Scott’s, J Sheekey, 45 Jermyn Street and with Rick Stein, and Eric Ferreres, who has worked at The Ivy. Back of house the kitchen is led by head chef Will Halsall, a former head chef at Le Caprice, aided by head pastry chef Joyzanne Pereira and senior sous chef Lewis Pucknell.
The food: The name might have changed, but little else has, including much of the menu. Fans of the original – of which there are many – will be reassured to see dishes such as bang bang chicken; grilled calf’s Liver and bacon; shepherd’s pie; salmon fish cake; and lobster thermidor soufflé. Other menu items worth mentioning include Russell’s caesar salad, an homage to the late Russell Norman, a former operations director at Caprice Holdings and friend of King, and the classic dish of Scandinavian iced berries with white chocolate sauce.
To drink: The wine list is capacious without being overbearing with numerous options by the glass and 500ml carafe. Bottles start at £36 for both white and red, rising to £550 for a Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru ‘Folatières’ for white and £750 for a Château Margaux, 1er Grand Cru Classé, 2004 for red, but there’s a lot between the £50 to £65 bracket. The selection is predominantly French, but a handful are from further afield. Cocktail purists, and those looking to fully relive Le Caprice days of old will likely look no further than the classic section – Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Bloody Mary – but concoctions filed under new show that Arlington is not totally rooted in the past – the pear & sesame being the most intriguing and made with rainwater madeira, aged rum, sesame honey, poire william, and walnut bitters.
The vibe: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it appears to be the approach with the dining room, which has been given more of a refresh than a new identity. Described as a ‘timeless’ dining room (although there is more than a whiff of 1940s art deco to it), features include numerous black and white photographs from David Bailey that have long adorned the walls, and which complement the white tablecloths and black chairs. All this amounts to is a supremely sophisticated restaurant that simultaneously harks back to a different age of dining and looks to the future.
And another thing: The revived restaurant is Le Caprice in all but name, with King being forced to rebrand the site owing to the fact that previous owner Richard Caring still holds the rights to the Le Caprice name. The name Arlington simply references its location on Arlington Street.
20 Arlington Street, London, SW1A 1RJ