When legendary restaurateur Jeremy King finally got his hands on Simpson’s in the Strand after trying for more than two decades, he knew he wanted to carve out at least one space that was affordable for everyone. “A lot of the truly interesting people who come into a restaurant aren’t necessarily the most affluent,” King tells Broadsheet, “So, to get a good cross-section of society, you need to make it accessible price-wise.”
The building, which dates back to 1828, originally opened as a chess club and coffee house before evolving into one of London’s most extravagant restaurants, changing hands multiple times, and eventually closing in 2020. King has now unveiled two new bars and two new eateries within the space: The Grand Divan, Romano’s, Nelle’s Bar and Simpson’s Bar.
Romano’s is housed in what used to be the West Room – “A rather lovely corner room with windows onto Savoy Street and onto the Strand,” says King. As of this week, it’s a bright, modern British restaurant with a dash of French influence on the building’s first floor.
It takes its name from a former restaurant on the Strand, which “back at the beginning of the last century, somewhat eclipsed Simpson’s,” says King. It’s named after its mysterious owner at the time. “We think Romano was actually Russian with Italian leanings, though nobody was ever quite sure. He opened a restaurant which was very British, but from a French point of view.”
The original Romano’s was destroyed during the Blitz in 1941 but left a glitzy legacy. “It used to be the place where all the gossip happened. All the celebs used to go there after their shows and it would be in the papers the next day,” says assistant general manager Clarissa Bray. “We kind of want that excitement up here. Last orders in the restaurant are at 11.30pm, so it’s going to have that life and energy.”
King, who created – and has since departed – iconic London eateries The Wolseley, The Delaunay and Brasserie Zedel with his former business partner Chris Corbin, draws parallels between the new spaces and his previous projects. “If The Grand Divan is perhaps similar to The Wolseley, then the Romano’s comparison would probably be with what we did at Zedel.”
The menu is “very simple food, but very well-executed,” says executive chef David Stevens. “When you’re doing simple food like that, you’ve nowhere to hide.” Like The Grand Divan, Stevens took inspiration from archival menus. “There’s dishes on there like braised celery hearts with bone marrow, so we’ve created our own version of that.”
An all-day three-course set menu featuring celeriac remoulade, a wild mushroom vol-au-vent or grilled cumberland sausage and butter bean stew, and vanilla custard tart is just £24.75. £5 more will get you the “formule”, including courgette and tomato tart, a cheese souffle or pork faggots, as well as lemon posset and a glass of wine or beer.
Heartier mains – including old-school pork and herb faggots, Lancashire hot pot, and a rustic French veal and crayfish stew named marengo – sit alongside a roster of daily-changing pies and puddings, including ox cheek and mushroom pudding and a bold beef shin, snail and garlic pie on Sundays.
Puddings, meanwhile, include a wake-me-up coupe sundae made with coffee ice cream, as well as classic sticky toffee pudding and apple and rhubarb crumble.
The cocktail list is short but equally sweet, with a range of short sharpeners, a trio of Martinis, aperitifs concocted with British vermouth, and a handful of classics.
Like the aforementioned subterranean Piccadilly restaurant, Romano’s has big grande dame energy. Faux marble columns, Wedgwood inspired friezes and forest-green leather banquettes line the space, along with portraits of theatre practitioners commissioned by King. “I did so as if I was commissioning back in 1904,” he says. “So, there are people like Somerset Maugham, JB Priestley, TS Eliot, George Bernard Shaw, Edith Littleton, but there are also some people who didn’t make it, who failed, or had one hit and then disappeared… For me, that’s the fun of it.”
Romano’s, Simpson’s in the Strand
100 Strand, WC2R 0EW
Hours:
Daily 11.30am–11.30pm
