Latest news with #lateNightDining
The Guardian
21 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- The Guardian
The 10.30pm dinner: is British food culture becoming more Spanish?
Name: 10.30pm dinners. Age: Previously unheard of. Appearance: The new face of UK nightlife. I'm sorry, you must have tried to access a Spanish publication by mistake. No, this is a new British trend. Do keep up. The only way a British person will eat their dinner at 10.30pm is if a) they have been drinking and b) that dinner takes the form of a kebab in a polystyrene tray. I hate to burst your bubble but, according to the Times, a number of upmarket London restaurants have started to embrace late-night dining. But that's so late. Don't be a wimp. Mountain in Soho now has a latest reservation slot of 10.30pm. At weekends, Speedboat Bar (also in Soho) is open until 1am. And Noodle and Beer in Chinatown stays open until 4am from Thursday to Saturday. OK, but why? Well, there are a couple of possible explanations. One is that this is a sign of our continuing Covid bounce back; a hint that we might tentatively be returning to our dining habits of old. I never ate at 10.30pm in the first place. Then how's this? London's nightlife has all but died. Pubs close early and there are fewer and fewer places to go out dancing. If people want to stay out late, eating is all they have left to do. That isn't much of an incentive. Well then, how's this? Jeremy King, who operates Arlington and The Park, has offered diners a 25% discount if they eat after 9.15pm at The Park and 9.45pm at Arlington. A late-bird special! Now you're talking my language. Exactly! Get on board. Spain's entire dining culture happens late at night, and they love it. That depends on who you ask. Last year Spain's labour minister said that eating late was a result of the country's gruelling work hours, and that those hours directly contributed to poor mental health. But still! Are there any other health issues to consider? Oh yes, three years ago Harvard Medical School ran a study about eating late. It found that those who ate late at night experienced drops in the hormone leptin, which signals satiety, and they burned off calories more slowly. In simple terms, please? Eat late, put on weight. So this is silly. No, it's great! Nobody is saying eat at 10.30 every night. But live a little! Go out into the world and enjoy all it has to offer! Can I be back in time for the end of Newsnight, though? Sure, but you might need to skip pudding. Do say: 'Dining is the new big night out.' Don't say:'Mate, last night I got absolutely off my face on gazpacho.'
Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Times
10pm is the new 7: restaurants open late as Londoners stay out
If New York is the city that never sleeps, London is the city that likes to go to bed early. Restrictive licensing laws, residents' eagerness to file noise complaints, staffing issues, high rents and a cost of living crisis have combined to leave the capital with a sedate late-night offering. But as pubs close earlier and there are fewer dancefloors on which to shake your hips, another gathering place is emerging for those wanting to kick back into the wee hours — the restaurant table. Central London is far from the 24-hour party envisaged by Sir Sadiq Khan, the mayor, and the 7pm to 8pm reservations window remains the most coveted, but upmarket restaurants are offering later booking slots as demand rises. Mountain in Soho, described as the 'most exciting restaurant this year' in a 2023 Times review, has pushed back its last reservation slot to 10.30pm. Tomos Parry, the owner, who also founded Brat in Shoreditch, said he was encouraged by the green shoots of a late-night dining revival. 'It's not back to those massive numbers and super-late night dining of the 1990s and 2000s but it is certainly starting to come back,' he said. 'II would love late-night dining to come back much stronger.' • How to eat out at expensive restaurants on a budget Parry said that the demand was driven partly by the return of a post-theatre dining crowd. Tourists staying at the growing crop of city-centre hotels and keen to try the city's most-hyped restaurants were also more willing to take slots after 9pm. Speedboat Bar, a thriving restaurant styled on a Thai sports bar, also accepts bookings at 10.30pm. On Friday and Saturday, it offers a late-night food menu from 11pm to 12.30am. At the recently-opened Noodle and Beer in Chinatown, tables can be reserved until 1.45am on Saturdays. At the Dover, a New York-styled Italian restaurant, guests can book a table until 11.30pm from Thursday to Saturday, when it will be between 80 and 90 per cent full. Jeremy King, one of Britain's most respected restaurateurs, who founded The Wolseley, The Delaunay, The Ivy and Le Caprice, called last month for a return to 1980s excess. • Giles Coren: my top 10 London restaurants if money were no object Recalling how, when he started in hospitality in the 1970s, last orders were often taken at 1am, King said: 'Now, it's almost impossible to get anything [to eat] after 10pm. I don't fully understand why it happened but I'm determined to redress the situation.' King has begun offering a 25 per cent discount for those who dine after 9.45pm at his restaurants, Arlington and The Park. 'I want to encourage people to rediscover the fun of late-night dining,' he told the Sunday Times. The shift towards earlier dining in London's restaurants was hastened by the Covid-19 pandemic, which upended the hospitality sector and changed dining habits to such an extent that the efforts of King and others may be futile. Healthy lifestyle choices are leading diners to prioritise sleep over late-night indulgence and flexible working has helped make 6pm — before the evening rush — an increasingly desirable slot. Earlier reservations are popular with parents and a younger crowd who often drink less and may not bookend meals with drinks elsewhere. In May, online booking site OpenTable reported a 6 per cent increase from January for tables between 4pm and 6pm across Britain. Leading restaurants have embraced the change to get people through the doors earlier. At Portland, a Michelin star restaurant in Fitzrovia, those who book between 5.30pm and 6.30pm are offered a special menu at £55, rather than its normal £110-per-head tasting menu.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
KFC restaurant in Sutton wants to stay open until 2am every day
Fast food chain KFC has applied their Sutton High Street branch to stay open until 2am. An application submitted by TRC Realty Limited, trading as KFC, is seeking permission to serve hot food and drink from 11pm to 2am daily at the branch located at 200–202 High Street. The application is being considered under the Licensing Act 2003, and would, if approved, extend the store's trading hours into the early hours of the morning. Full details of the application can be viewed at Sutton Council's Civic Offices on St Nicholas Way. Residents and other interested parties have until June 4, 2025, to submit written comments or objections which can be sent to licensing@ READ MORE: The council notes that making a false statement in connection with a licensing application is a criminal offence and could result in an unlimited fine. The application was dated April 30, 2025. Want to find out all the latest planning applications, alcohol licensing applications and planned road closures near you? Then search the Public Notice Portal. The Public Notice Portal is owned and operated by the News Media Association, the voice of UK national, regional, and local newspapers in all their print and digital forms. NMA members include nearly 900 local and regional news titles which reach 40 million people across the length and breadth of the country each month. Many of these publications have served their communities for centuries and remain the most reliable source of verified news and information. Created by local news publishers and supported by the Google News Initiative, the portal carries statutory public notices published in local newspapers and is the fastest and most effective way of finding out what is happening in YOUR neighbourhood.
