Le Caprice was a restaurant in London's

St James's St James's is a district of Westminster, and a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End of London, West End. The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of St. James's Palace and much of ...

area famous for being frequented by celebrities. It was originally opened by

Mario Gallati Mario (; ) is a character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Japanese video game company Nintendo. ...

in 1947 at 20 Arlington St. Famous patrons included

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Kate Moss Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is an English model. Arriving towards the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her t ...

and

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

. It was later run by Jeremy King and his then business partner Chris Corbin. The business closed during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and did not subsequently reopen.

Arlington

In March 2024, a new restaurant opened on the old site of Le Caprice called Arlington under the helm of Jeremy King. It has been described as an 'unabashedly sentimental remastering of Le Caprice' with a similar menu and interior. It launched on 11 March 2024, following a soft opening during the week prior.

Giles Coren Giles Robin Patrick Coren (born 29 July 1969) is a British columnist, food writer, and television and radio presenter. He has been a restaurant critic for ''The Times'' newspaper since 2002, and was named Food and Drink Writer of the Year at th ...

, writing in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', described the food as 'sort of stuff that you really can eat every day'.

William Sitwell William Ronald Sacheverell Sitwell (born 2 October 1969) is a member of the British Sitwell family. He is an editor, writer and broadcaster, restaurant critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and former editor of '' Waitrose Food''. Early life ...

, writing in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', described the restaurant as a 'favourite for London’s media elite'.

Tanya Gold Tanya Gold (born 31 December 1973) is an English freelance journalist. Career Gold has written for British newspapers, including ''The Guardian'', the ''Daily Mail'', ''The Independent'', ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''The Sunday Times'', the ''Even ...

, writing in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'', said that the food was 'five stars, no notes'.

References

External links

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Arlington
(restaurant) 1947 establishments in England 2020 disestablishments in England Defunct restaurants in London Restaurants established in 1947 Restaurants disestablished in 2020 {{UK-restaurant-stub