Mayfair’s iconic Quaglino’s Restaurant has launched Q Nights, which brings a club vibe to the eatery every Friday from 11pm. Luxurious’ Henry McIntosh visited opening night to find out more
Giovanni Quaglino, the founder of Quaglino’s, was well renowned for having a charismatic and charming personality that consistently drew the great and the good to the celebrated Mayfair restaurant. It’s a star quality that has never really left the venue and over the years, celebrities and royalty have descended upon it for famous nights of revelry.
Legend has it that Princess Diana used to sneak in through the back entrance, while Queen Elizabeth became the first ever reigning Monarch to dine in a public restaurant when she visited Quaglino’s in 1953. Quaglino’s has plenty of rock ‘n’ roll heritage too, with the likes of Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger, Liam Gallagher having all dined at ‘Quags’- a nickname coined by Bond author, Ian Fleming.
Such name-dropping gives rise to an air of exclusivity and Quaglino’s new Q Nights will likely prove irresistible to some familiar names. Indeed, the launch of the restaurants new Friday night post-dinner club saw Quaglino’s welcome a swathe of guests who looked like they rolled straight off the catwalk.
If you’re looking for somewhere to replace Fabric this ain’t it. What Q Nights is, however, is a delightfully gentrified and very Mayfair kind of night where Belvedere and Champagne flow more freely than the Thames estuary.
If you’re familiar with Quaglino’s iconic aesthetic don’t worry, they don’t throw the tables aside and disrupt the restaurant to make way for the dance floor and DJ. Instead, Q Nights is confined to the L-shaped bar which peers imperiously over the restaurant.
With an extensive cocktail list, bottle and table service available and a resident DJ, Q Nights are the perfect way to let your hair down after a hard week at work. Perhaps the only downside to this bar is the fact that the toilets are downstairs – which can be difficult to navigate if you’re truly taking advantage of the bottle service.
That’s a small price to pay for a plush night in Quags. The place still oozes with the old-school class that made it the darling of the rich and famous and it feels as though it could generate an atmosphere without any guests at all. Even so, packed to the rafters, the club is still comfortable and a jaunt to the bar is not the usual claustrophobia-inducing experience that so many London bars champion nowadays.
One thing that’s as certain as celeb spotting is the fact that Q Nights will soon be uttered in the same breath as London’s most popular and desired nightspots. Its illustrious history no doubt helps but there’s a reason the restaurant’s so popular and it looks like Q Nights have no inclination to besmirch that reputation. So make sure you dress the part and come prepared to party the night away.
Quaglino’s Q Nights – Where and How
Every Friday at Quaglino’s
Address:
16 Bury St,
London
SW1Y 6AJ
Web: www.quaglinos-restaurant.co.uk/nightlife
Book a table: www.quaglinos-restaurant.co.uk/book-a-table
Instagram: www.instagram.com/quaglinos
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