The last time I saw people queuing for anything on the King’s Road was the line outside Peter Jones for the Boxing Day sales. Yet here on a midweek night, snaking out of a green frontage aglow with the promise of a good time, is a queue of Gen Z-ers who look like they wouldn’t be seen dead in John Lewis. They’re patiently waiting in line — for an hour according to my watch — for a table at the new branch of Alley Cats (342 King's Road, SW3, alleycatspizza.co.uk), a Marylebone pizza sensation that could have had the pick of anywhere in London for its second restaurant. So why choose Chelsea?
“Chelsea chose us,” says head chef Francesco Macri. “There is definitely a buzz in the area these days. People are more willing to travel the extra mile.” And travel the extra mile many will: this end of the King’s Road, way down towards the World’s End estate, is famously tubeless.
Sloane Square is the closest, but strike off down the King’s Road and in among the small-‘c’ conservative chains of the Lululemon ilk, it can be hard to detect any trace of cool, let alone swinging Sixties chic or the punk spirit of the Seventies, when granny took a trip and Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren had SEX.
Until, that is, one arrives at Ixchel (33H King's Road, SW3, ixchellondon.com), a smart modern Mexican restaurant and tequila bar that, arguably, kickstarted the renaissance of Chelsea (Chenaissance?) as a hip dining destination with appeal beyond the borders of the Royal Borough. The restaurant was opened last November by Fraser Carruthers, who used to own Albert’s nightclub within Beaufort House, a members’ bar that is a frequent filming location for Made in Chelsea.
“I have personally always enjoyed the local community,” Carruthers, who has lived and worked in Chelsea for 20 years, diplomatically says of the MIC clientele. But like the show’s original cast members — he was once engaged to Tabitha Willett — Carruthers has grown up and moved on. “I think Chelsea has always been a cool area, the culinary offering has just taken some time to catch up.”
And it is catching up fast. In addition to Alley Cats and Ixchel, other notable restaurant launches in the past in past 12 months include the Pig’s Ear pub (35 Old Church Street, SW3, pigsearpub.com), the Italian Dez Amore (273 Fulham Road, SW10, dezamore.co.uk) and the lovable, deftly executed Portuguese spot Volta do Mar (100 Draycott Avenue, SW3, voltadomar.co.uk), run by husband-and-wife team Simon Mullins and Isabel Almeida Da Silva. The pair have found their place here; elegant Chelsea suits them, fits them, in a way that perhaps previous home Covent Garden didn’t.
Elsewhere there is Claude Bosi’s smash-hit bistro Joséphine (315A Fulham Road, SW10, josephinebouchon.com). “When I had my restaurant Hibiscus in Mayfair,” Bosi says, “Chelsea was never somewhere I would go. I thought it would be pretentious. But since opening at Bibendum seven years ago, I’ve grown to love Chelsea. It’s like a little village — and there are lots of French people.”
Many of the new restaurants are on the Sloane Stanley Estate, one of London’s more thoughtful landowners which, like its Marylebone equivalent the Howard de Walden Estate, is shaping how the area looks in terms of the mix of retail and restaurants. “Chelsea is currently finding favour with new consumers, particularly younger people,” says Poppy Matson, the Estate’s commercial leasing manager. “Pop ups like Minka Dink and Bijoux De Mimi, for example, brought queues of teenagers and young adults to the King’s Road.”
And with younger diners comes younger tastes. Chef Charles Bryant (@charliesculinary) has lived in South Kensington for the past four years and every few months hosts a gourmet sandwich pop-up (lobster roll; steak-frîtes ciabatta) at the Pier Café, a former cabbies’ shelter on the river by Albert Bridge. “We’ve had great feedback from locals who seem to be craving a bit more excitement in the area,” Bryant says. “There is a huge space in Chelsea for new, innovative spots.”
One of those spots is about to be filled by Fantômas (300 King’s Road, SW3, fantomas.co.uk), which opens on October 22. The new restaurant is helmed by former 108 Garage and Fiend chef Chris Denney, who has teamed up with George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev, who also own Wild Tavern on Chelsea Green (2 Elystan Street, SW3, wildtavern.co.uk). With its minimalist black interiors, limestone-topped chef’s counter and umami-intense small plates, Fantômas is unlike anything Chelsea will have seen before.
“We feel Chelsea is more than ever ready for something different,” says Crispin Sugden, head of operations for Fantômas and Wild Tavern. “Something mysterious and unknown. A new cycle has begun for Chelsea.” Here’s where to take a spin.
Posh pubs
The Gladwin brothers opened Rabbit (172 King’s Road, SW3, rabbit-restaurant.com), a British bistro, ten years ago. Now the Sussex farming family and winemakers have taken over the Pig’s Ear pub, where they used to drink after finishing a shift, offering seasonal ingredients from the South East alongside real ales and cocktails. “Soho is quieter on a Monday with people working from home, and often quieter during the days at the weekend,” says co-owner Richard Gladwin. “Chelsea shoppers keep the lunches alive mid-week, so there’s always a bustle and buzz.”
They’re not the only posh publicans in SW3. Tom Kerridge opened the Butcher’s Tap and Grill (27 Tryon Street, SW3, butcherstapandgrill.co.uk) off the Sloane Square end of King’s Road last December. Compared to his two-Michelin-starred Hand and Flowers gastropub in Marlow, however, this is very much a proper pub. "We fell in love with the building, which is one of those old-school corner pubs that you find tucked away in London,” Kerridge says. “There’s an amazing community spirit in Chelsea that is built on generations of people that know the area.”
Then there’s the Builder’s Arms (13 Britten Street, SW3, cubitthouse.co.uk), opened by Sam and Georgie Pearman in 2022. The couple’s Cubitt House group has eight pubs across London as well as the Double Red Duke in the chi-chi Oxfordshire village of Clanfield. But who needs the Cotswolds when there’s Chelsea down the road?
Chef chic
Jason Atherton will have opened four new London restaurants before the end of the year, including Sael in St James’s, Mary’s in Mayfair and Row on 5 on Savile Row. Three Darlings (241B Pavilion Road, SW1, threedarlingslondon.com), which opens on October 23 on Chelsea’s most food-focused shopping street, sounds like the most fun, however, an all-day affair serving best-of-British ingredients cooked over fire and where Chelsea locals can take food home, too. And like many Chelsea restaurants, it’s dog-friendly.
Claude Bosi has been a Chelsea mainstay since closing Hibiscus in Mayfair and setting up shop at Bibendum seven years ago, winning two Michelin stars for his trouble. But it’s his new place Joséphine, a homage to the bouchons of his Lyon childhood that the chef has opened with his wife Lucy, that has proved his casual chops, not least a three-course set menu for £29.50 that is the biggest bargain in Chelsea. “Before, people would have to go to Mayfair for a good meal,” the chef says, “but it can be a difficult crowd and a difficult atmosphere. Chelsea is a lot more fun and lively.” Tonight, Joséphine!
King’s Road cool
Fraser Carruthers says he opened Ixchel because he wanted to bring some West End glamour to SW3. “I felt that Mayfair had a wealth of riches when it came to elevated, chic dining,” the long-term Chelsea resident says, “and wanted to offer the local community a closer option.” Expect sautéed prawn quesadillas and avocado and Granny Smith corn tostadas from Mexican-born head chef Ximena Gayosso Gonzalez.
At the other end of the King’s Road, Alley Cats has opened with a carbon copy of what made the Marylebone original such a hit: cartwheel-sized New York-style pizzas and a contender for the best garlic bread in London. But expect to see some Chelsea-specific dishes soon, says head chef Francesco Macri. “We have some very exciting collaborations lined up for the year ahead. This means we can really get creative and have some fun coming up with special menu items, incorporating new seasonal produce, different cuisines and different exciting flavours.”
Nearby, Chicama recently closed after eight years, but fans needn’t despair: owners the Pachamama Group are re-opening the site as the Mediterranean-focused Bottarga (83 King’s Road, SW10, bottarga.london) on November 6. Next year, meanwhile, will bring more Mediterranean when Chintamani brasserie opens at 312 King’s Road.
A few doors down, Fantômas will introduce SW3 to the thrilling small plates of chef Chris Denney, who will be reviving his signature duck liver parfait that impressed at his Notting Hill restaurants 108 Garage and Fiend. After the boom in Notting Hill restaurants of the past couple of years, is Chelsea the next big thing? “Chelsea and Notting Hill are fairly similar on the surface, although the crowd feels younger in Notting Hill,” says head of operations Crispin Sugden. “The clientele of both areas share a lot of the same qualities, although you could say those in Chelsea appear to have a lot more disposable income.” As ever in Chelsea: follow the money.
