Almost a century after it first opened, Quaglino’s has begun a new chapter in St James’s. The restaurant, which welcomed its first guests in 1929 and went on to draw royalty, writers, film stars and London café society, has been restored under the stewardship of The Evolv Collection. The project pairs a full restoration with a newly commissioned collection of art and a menu that traces the path of its founder.

The intention, by the group’s own account, is restoration rather than reinvention. Where many relaunches chase novelty, this one reasserts what the room has always offered: dinner, music and spectacle in one of the capital’s best known dining addresses. It is a reminder of an idea the venue has carried since its earliest days, that a night out in London can amount to theatre.

A St James’s institution kept alive

Giovanni Quaglino opened the doors in 1929, and the room quickly became a fixture of London social life. Generations of diners followed, from royal guests to writers and film stars of every era. The venue’s famous staircase and Art Deco bones survived decades of change, carrying the room into its tenth decade with its character broadly intact.

The venue closed in the 1970s before Sir Terence Conran revived it in 1993, guided by his principle of the democratisation of dining. That revival, which ran for three decades under his tenure, established the template the new operators have chosen to honour rather than replace.

What the restoration changes

The works preserve the room’s Art Deco framework and staircase while installing newly commissioned art across the space. The layout has been reworked for a fuller day-to-night experience, with theatrical raised booths around the perimeter of the dining room. A new stage brings cabaret and live music closer to the tables than at any point in the venue’s modern history.

A menu that follows Giovanni Quaglino

The kitchen’s new menu charts the founder’s own journey, from Piedmont to Cannes by way of The Savoy. It joins Italian provenance with French classical technique and the traditions of British dining, a combination that mirrors the route its founder travelled before settling in London. The result is a menu that reads as biography as much as carte.

Executive Chef Daniel Scott leads the kitchen, drawing on three decades of experience and a philosophy centred on seasonality and ingredient-led cooking. His approach strips away needless complexity in favour of produce sourced directly from farmers, producers and fishermen. Scott was recognised as Leading Chef of the Year at the 2024 This is Manchester Awards.

Signatures of the new collection

Group Culinary Consultant Miller Prada, formerly of the Michelin-starred Humo, has collaborated on the menu. Signature dishes include Vitello Tonnato Skewers, Pissaladiere, Turbot Mountbatten and Lamb Cutlet Milanese. Each reflects the venue’s founding blend of Italian ingredients and classical French method.

Champagne, seafood and a Cannes tabac

The Q Bar remains at the heart of the room, serving inventive cocktails alongside reimagined Savoy classics. Three new bars now anchor the wider experience. A Champagne Bar pours 24 champagnes by the glass and bottle, while a Fruits de Mer counter serves molluscs and crustaceans in a nod to the original Conran feature, alongside modern ceviche and tiradito plates.

The Dessert Bar takes the form of a Cannes tabac, completing the founder’s journey in playful fashion. Its repertoire includes smoke-filled edible helium balloons, cannoli cigars and chocolate ashtrays. The conceit draws the evening to a close with the same sense of occasion that opens it.

A room that belongs to everyone

True to Conran’s founding principle, the restored venue pairs its grand evenings with a generous daytime offering of Ten Pound Plates. The move signals that a historic London institution can welcome a far wider audience without diluting what makes it special. Spectacle and accessibility now share the same staircase.

Martin Williams, Chief Executive of The Evolv Collection, described the thinking behind the project. ‘Our job was never to reinvent it, but to return it restored, alive, and every bit as glamorous as the room Giovanni Quaglino opened in 1929,’ he said. ‘We have not changed what Quaglino’s is; we have simply reminded London why it fell for it in the first place.’

Nearly a hundred years on from its opening night, Quaglino’s continues to trade on the same currency it always has: history, music and the feeling that anything might happen after midnight. The restoration gives that proposition a fresh set of tools, and St James’s its most storied dining room back at full strength.