Due to open on 30 March 2015, The Ivy Chelsea Garden promises to combine approachable sophistication and familiar luxury with an underlying feeling of glamour and theatre. Situated on the King’s Road, it will offer easy access all day long – over half the tables are available to “walk-ins”.
The iconic Grade II listed building that houses the restaurant is owned by Martin’s Properties and dates back to 1722, when it was a licensed public house – Six Bells – famous also for its bowling green. The building has been sensitively and substantially refurbished over the past 12 months by Martin’s to create a new London destination restaurant, notable for its exceptional garden and outside space.
Design
The look and feel of The Ivy Chelsea Garden is manifestly British and engagingly vibrant. The restaurant is made up of various areas, each with a distinctive character, including a bar and bar lounge, café, restaurant, orangery, terrace and garden. The interiors have been designed by Martin Brudnizki and his team, and combine vintage with luxury, resulting in a space that is both alluring and down-to-earth. The colour palate includes burned orange, pewter, forest green and mustard yellow. The floors range from reclaimed wooden parquet to a marble mosaic black and white diamond pattern; the antique mirrors, bronzed wall lights and lanterns add a touch of faded glamour.
The Orangery
The pièce de résistance is the extensive orangery, terrace and garden, which sits at the back of the building, away from the hullabaloo of the King’s Road. Conceived by Anthony Challis and Dan Curran of Ginkgo Gardens, the garden will be steeped in British tradition. Classic in design, with trailing wisteria and climbing roses adorning the garden’s pergolas, the soothing sound of water tinkling on the stone clad fountains, arched antique mirrors set into leafy trellises, this will be a magical place to dine in the heart of Chelsea. Ginkgo’s contrasts between deep beds of layered lush planting and stone terraces edged in granite will bring contours and curios to this wonderful restaurant garden, arguably London’s largest.
The menu
The menu is all-encompassing, serving modern British and international dishes from dawn till dusk over breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and weekend brunch. Dishes include raw yellow fin tuna carpaccio with spiced avocado, lime zest, crème fraîche and coriander shoots and chopped lobster rigatoni bake with Amalfi lemon and zucchini. In keeping with the increasing demand for innovative and delicious vegetarian food, the chef has introduced the Chelsea garden salad thinly shaved raw garden vegetable with avocado hummus and a Manuka honey dressing, and poached hen’s eggs with sliced avocado and roasted vine tomatoes on toasted seed loaf with a spiced sesame yoghurt dressing.
Afternoon tea entails the traditional fare, plus there will be the irresistible toasted crumpets with Marmite, mustard and parsley butter for elevenses. Weekend brunch offers great brunch dishes, with additional “light & healthy” options plus seriously tempting desserts for the less “light & healthy” conscious, the highlight of which is a melting chocolate bombe with milk foam, vanilla ice cream and honeycomb centre with hot salted caramel sauce.
The Ivy Chelsea Garden, 197 King’s Road, London SW3 5ED
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