A letter from… Quaglino’s
When it opened in London’s exclusive Mayfair, Terence Conran’s Quaglino’s captured the spirit of the Nineties. Now the subject of a multi-million pound makeover, Johnny Tucker returns, after a 15-year absence, to taste its wares
Back in the day, the early Nineties to be more precise (1993 to be exact), sashaying down the elegant stairs into the cavernous epicurean cacophony of Quaglino's was an absolute must-do. With his relaunch of the Twenties' restaurant, Terence Conran not only captured the zeitgeist, his Quaglino's became the zeitgeist. The metal, Q-shaped ashtray - yes, an inter-course gasper was not outlawed then - became a hugely sought-after trophy. In fact, Quags ended up losing so many that the ashtray found its way on to the menu with a price ticket and, as diners departed, eagle-eyed waiters checked it was extant before they checked for tips. Figures of 25,000 ashtrays going AWOL are bandied around.
Quags was a place to see and be seen. Glass-box dining rooms overlooked the main floor, which was surrounded with mirrors angled in, so if you were facing the wall, you still had a view of all the goings on. For me, this was the birthplace of modern London dining as we know it. While Conran had already opened Bibendum (which he still owns - most of his other early restaurants, including Quags, are now owned by D&D London), and had a hand in the Neal Street Restaurant, this was the one that really went mega. But the London diner is a fickle and fashionable fellow and I, for one, hadn't been back there for 15 years, until now...
Last month, Quags threw open its doors again following a multi- (they are not saying how many multis) million pound makeover at the hands of Russell Sage Studio.
'A daunting task,' I venture to the eponymous man himself and he nods sagely. 'But we had previously done The Savoy Grill,' he adds, 'which has the same kind of reputation. In fact, in London there really is only a handful of restaurants that has this kind of reputation. When we got the project, I spoke to people and asked them when they had last been, and they said 15 years ago.' I nod sagely.
'What Quaglino's has always done, is be extremely relevant to the era that it's in. And I wanted to capture that eternal glamour,' he enthuses. A few hours later, I find myself once again sashaying down that elegant staircase into the only sub-basement restaurant with a skylight. This was a little touch of Conran genius to make you feel like you were atop a skyscraper, when in fact you were in a windowless well. And it's still there, now back-lit with a programmable lighting system so advanced it could probably run a Formula 1 car. Into Lighting is behind the illumination, which on the evening I visit is truly stunning: the perfect mixture of intimate darkness, punctured by lighter pools of intrigue.
The first thing that greets the eye is that the central area is now dominated by a huge, marbletopped cocktail bar, where once there were banquettes. It's been designed to be taken apart in 10 minutes flat, giving the space huge flexibility. At the far end, there's now a Lynchian red-velvetdraped stage, where once myriad crustacea eyed you beadily from their beds of crushed ice.
Formerly brash and bold, the interior is now far more opulent, from furniture and finishes to the colour choices and, despite its size, it feels more intimate. 'It's no longer the very graphic design that it was before - it's got a much softer palette,' says Sage. It also now plays the deco/jazz-age heritage card far more strongly, too.
What definitely hasn't changed is the central ethos: the room is still all about theatre where the diners and drinkers are the players. From the outside, the entrance has always been, and still is, a pretty unassuming affair, despite the topper-wearing doormen (ten-a-penny round here). As a Quagnewbie, you descend a small staircase wondering if you are in the right place, and then at the bottom you get the grand reveal. The room spreads out before your very eyes. This is where you remove your cape, hand over your cane and head on down that staircase to take on your role as a cast member of Quaglino's for a few hours...
