The Ivy Chelsea Garden To Open On The King’s Road

Due to open on 30 March 2015, The Ivy Chelsea Garden “will combine approachable sophistication and familiar luxury with an underlying feeling of glamour and theatre”. Situated on the King’s Road, The Ivy will offer easy access all day long – more than half of the tables are available to “walk-ins” , all in an iconic Grade II listed building that dates back to 1722. Sensitively and substantially refurbished over the past 12 months to create a new London destination restaurant, The Ivy also offers an exceptional garden and outside space.

The restaurant is made up of various zones, each with a distinctive character, including a bar and bar lounge, café, restaurant, orangery, terrace and garden. The interiors have been designed by Martin Brudnizki and his team, and cleverly combine vintage with luxury, resulting in a space that is both alluring and down-to-earth in a colour palate of burned orange, pewter, forest green and mustard yellow. The floors range from reclaimed wooden parquet to a marble mosaic black and white diamond pattern; the antique mirrors, bronzed wall lights and lanterns add a touch of faded glamour.

The pièce de résistance here is the extensive orangery, terrace and garden, which sits at the back of the building, away from the hullabaloo of the King’s Road. Conceived by Anthony Challis and Dan Curran of Ginkgo Gardens, the garden is classic in design, with trailing wisteria and climbing roses adorning the garden’s pergolas, the soothing sound of water tinkling on stone clad fountains, and arched antique mirrors set into leafy trellises: this will be a truly magical place to dine in the heart of Chelsea.

The menu is all-encompassing, serving modern British and international dishes from dawn till dusk over breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and weekend brunch. Dishes include yellow fin tuna carpaccio with spiced avocado, lime zest, crème fraîche and coriander shoots, and chopped lobster rigatoni bake with Amalfi lemon and zucchini. In keeping with the increasing demand for innovative and delicious vegetarian food, the chef has introduced the Chelsea garden salad; thinly shaved raw garden vegetable with avocado hummus and a Manuka honey dressing, and poached hen’s eggs with sliced avocado and roasted vine tomatoes on toasted seed loaf with spiced sesame yoghurt. Afternoon tea entails the traditional fare, plus there will be toasted crumpets with Marmite, mustard and parsley butter for elevenses. Weekend brunch offers great dishes, with additional “light & healthy” options plus seriously tempting desserts for the less health conscious, the highlight of which is a melting chocolate bombe with milk foam, vanilla ice cream and honeycomb centre with hot salted caramel sauce.

A comprehensive cocktail list includes a combination of classics and some inventive concoctions, and since food and drink pairing is no longer solely the domain of the grape, the chefs and bar team have been experimenting with some great food and cocktail pairings, which ought to spice things up.