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The famous restaurant in Mount Street, Mayfair |
Too late for a table at a top Mayfair restaurant?
Al-fresco seafood dining battle on licensing watchdogs’ menu
EVER since Oscar Wilde quipped that he could “resist anything except temptation” while swilling port in the opulent grandeur of Scott’s, the Mayfair restaurant has been the stage for many a high society drama.
Trysts have been exposed, boardroom daggers sharpened and pin-striped financiers have put million-pound bonuses to fast work on vintage bottles of Dom Perignon.
But the denouement of the latest plot-line at the gastronomic institution threatened to cause even more of a stir than the martinis Ian Fleming once knocked back in his beloved haunt.
West End ward councillor Glenys Roberts, who lives next to the Mount Street eaterie, has squared up to the restaurant’s multi-millionaire owner Richard Caring in a David and Goliath-style battle.
Yesterday morning (Thursday) in the more prosaic surroundings of Westminster City Council’s licensing sub-committee, Ms Roberts attempted to become the grit in the oyster of the seafood restaurant when, as a resident, she tried to persuade the council not to grant an extension to its licence.
But her argument that allowing al-fresco patrons to drink until 10.30pm, an hour-and-a-half later than at present, would spell disaster for the quiet neighbourhood, fell on deaf ears. Despite the licensing officer’s recommendation to reject the application, the panel of councillors granted the licence with a number of conditions.
In a letter to the council’s licensing team before the hearing, she wrote: “I live next door to the restaurant and the current licence already means people linger at the tables much later. It is not unreasonable to assume the clientele will use their portable phones, smoke and talk at the top of their voices, as they do now earlier in the evening, and that this concentration of late-night noise will encourage the destruction of a hitherto discreet neighbourhood where there is very little outside dining precisely to protect residents.”
After spending nearly £5million on the property when he snapped it up in 2005, the clothing tycoon, who is reportedly worth £450million, can now start to recoup some of the money from the charged glasses and popping bottles of his well-heeled guests.
Even if they did reject it, Mr Caring wouldn’t have been too crabby given that his other restaurants, which include the Ivy, Le Caprice and J Sheekey are proving remarkably recession-proof judging by the waiting list for a table.
Speaking after the hearing Ms Roberts was keen to point out that she was not a neighbour from hell. “I go to the restaurant so I don’t want to be seen as a pest. My objection remains but I don’t think this is the end of the story,” she said.
It is understood that the owners will file another application because of the stringency of the conditions, which will not be made public until next week.
Should neighbours have any trouble with noisy patrons, they have been given the home telephone numbers of the restaurant’s two managers, so they can be contacted at any time of the day or night.
Outdoor eating for five tables of 15 guests will be prohibited after 9pm.
Scott’s was founded by the fishmonger John Scott with his oyster warehouse in Coventry Street in 1851. It rapidly evolved into one of London’s most fashionable and glamorous meeting places for films stars, politicians and writers.
Since Mr Caring’s Caprice Holdings took over the restaurant in 2005, it has had a series of licence bids approved, obtaining permission for al-fresco dining in July last year. |
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Your comments:
I HAVE been the Scoot's last month and was eating outside, and all guests wasn't make too much noise and didn't feel affect the neighbourhood. maybe Ms Robert also trying to stop people talking on the street too!
S. Barnes
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