In a city obsessed with late nights, No Regrets Lounge is staking its claim on the hours before them. The new subterranean bar at jeweller Stephen Webster’s shimmering Burlington Arcade flagship opens mid-afternoon and wraps up by 7pm, a tight window for Martinis and caviar, as well getting a close-up look at the artists and makers whose work has shaped Webster’s world.
The concept has travelled a long way. Its origin story begins on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, where Webster once ran a jewellery shop beneath a cluster of unused offices. “I knocked all the walls out and made it a loft,” Webster tells Broadsheet. “My plan was to showcase things there that I liked, as opposed to the jewellery we make.” He christened it the No Regrets Lounge (“I can’t even remember why”) and marked the entrance with a giant neon skull and arrow. What followed was a period of lively, extravagant evenings of rotating exhibitions, dinners cooked by British chefs like Mark Hix, and gatherings of artists such as Harland Miller and Richard Young. “It took on its own life,” Webster continues.
When that store closed just before the pandemic, Webster mothballed the neon. But during lockdown, a partner in the US suggested reviving the lounge in Nashville. The saloon-like bar became known for its relaxed mood, live-music space and a bar programme that established No Regrets as something more than an offshoot of Webster’s jewellery brand.
So, when planning his new London boutique, Webster looked for a space that could accommodate the bar. “I knew this now has to become part of what we are,” he says. The Burlington Arcade version is the most intimate yet: a compact, low-lit room reached by a staircase marked with a familiar neon arrow, this time pointing downwards. “It’s a lot more cosy and subterranean [than the other bars],” he says. “But there are a lot of connections to the one in Nashville and the original.”
Much of its character comes from the artworks, all by people Webster knows personally. “Every single thing is from a friend of mine,” he says. There are photographs by Amelia Troubridge, including one of Nick Cave on stage, and another of Mickey Rourke at the old Wellington Club wearing Webster’s jewellery. Sculptures and paintings by Charming Baker, Nettie Wakefield and Brian Clarke sit alongside a newly installed drawing of Dee Dee Ramone by David Remfry. “They’re all people I’ve got a relationship with,” he says. “It’s really cool.”
Behind the bar is industry veteran and drinks historian Nick Strangeway. “He’s just perfect … he’s so slick,” Webster says. The menu is anchored by a three-part Martini flight. “Three small Martinis for £21,” Webster says. “Everybody loves it. Three small ones is psychologically the size of one big one, which we know is enough.” There’s also sparkling English wine from Sugrue and a ruby-red Margarita-style drink called Double Diamonds. Food, meanwhile, is deliberately simple, with smoked salmon and caviar, as well as the tongue-in-cheek Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls.
Webster, a true salesman, has made sure that almost everything in the bar can be bought upstairs or online. Webster designs the glassware, knives, bar tools and even engraved coasters. “I’ve got one with a Tommy Cooper quote,” says Webster. “It goes: ‘I’m on the whisky diet. I’ve lost three days already’.”
No Regrets Lounge
12–13 Burlington Arcade, W1J 0QJ
07448847141
Hours:
Tue to Fri 2pm–7pm
