Not content with reviving Le Caprice, Jeremy King is taking on another iconic London restaurant
Simpson’s in the Strand has had a tough time since it closed during the pandemic – it never found a way to open during the ever-changing lockdown restrictions and then in the summer of 202 it auctioned off a load of its assets, including light fixtures, crockery and its famous silver carving trolley. Thankfully that didn’t spell the end of the restaurant for good, merely a wiping of the slate.
The iconic restaurant, which first opened as a coffee shop and chess club in 1828 before becoming known for classic British food and tableside carving, was one of the first UK restaurants to win a Michelin star in 1974 and has welcomed everyone from Charles Dickens to Winston Churchill to Audrey Hepburn through its doors. Now it’s being reborn thanks to Jeremy King.
It’s another headline project for King who’s already had two huge openings in 2024, one being new restaurant The Park in Kensington and the other being the revival of Le Caprice, under the new name Arlington. When the announcement was made last year, it looked like King was aiming for a May 2025 opening – now that spring has been and gone, it appears that Simpson’s in the Strand will be now opening at the tail end of the year.
The revamped ‘Grande Dame’ restaurant will feature two dining rooms, the more traditional Grand Divan and the more relaxed, lower priced Green Room; two bars, Simpson’s Bar and Nellie’s; and a private ballroom with room for 100. Much of the period features will be retained – the restaurant is almost 200 years old so there’s plenty of history to showcase there – and silver-domed trolleys will return to the dining room too for some tableside carving action. We don’t have a menu yet but, in a nod to the previous incarnation of the restaurant, the food will be British, and with King at the helm, no doubt it’ll become a classic once again.
Key Information
Opening date | autumn 2025
Address | 100 Strand, London WC2R 0EZ
For more information | jeremykingrestaurants.com
