You don't have to wait until Frieze rolls into town to enjoy great food with wonderful art. With so many London restaurateurs being keen curators of art, the city's dining rooms are home to some amazing works. We've rounded up some of our favourites.
Mount St Restaurant
Mayfair - 41-43 Mount St, London W1K 2RX
Given that this restaurant’s owners also run the Hauser & Wirth network of galleries, it’s perhaps not all that surprising to find their Mayfair restaurant festooned with art of the highest calibre. Across the various floors, there are over 200 pieces of art. Works you should look out for include those by Andy Warhol, Henri Matisse, Lucian Freud, Philip Guston, Peter Fischli and David Weiss. Even the floor here is a piece of art, literally, being an installation from American artist Rashid Johnson.
The Cocochine
Mayfair - 27 Bruton Pl, London W1J 6NQ
Much like Mount St above, when one of a restaurant’s owners also runs an incredibly well-respected gallery, then of course some of those amazing artworks are going to end up in the restaurant. Hamilton Gallery owner Tim Jefferies has filled the Mayfair restaurant he opened with Larry Jayasekara with pieces by Hockney, Picasso and Peter Beard. Upstairs, the huge private dining room presents as the perfect gallery space and collections change all the time. You might come here to discover wall-to-wall Warhol or Irving Penn and Richard Avedon prints.
Lolo
Bermondsey - 102 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3UB
At his newest restaurant in Bermondsey, chef patron Jose Pizarro has picked some amazing artwork by his friends (who just happen to be world-famous artists) to adorn the walls. Key pieces include Tracey Emin's self-portrait and a huge watercolour by the late local artist Norman Ackroyd, along with works by Peter Blake and Harland Miller. "Art is part of the soul of Lolo," Jose says. "It tells stories, just like food. Both can make you happy, nostalgic, even a little emotional. They touch you in ways that go beyond words and create a feeling of home."
Akoko
Fitzrovia - 21 Berners Street, Fitzrovia, London W1T 3LP
Head to this West African restaurant in Fitzrovia if you want to eat dinner off and beside some amazing artworks. On the table, you'll find bespoke ceramics by the likes of Sarah Jerath and Isatu Hyde. On the walls, look out for artworks like the glittering Messier 82 by Postwar & Contemporary artist Rahman Akar, along with the Ekpiri #51 piece by Niyi Olagunju made from pods of ekpiri seeds. Such is the affinity between restaurateur Aji Akokomi and the West African art world that he's also currently partnering with the Tate Modern to put on a special menu at the Tate restaurant to tie in with the gallery's Nigerian Modernism exhibition.
ABC Kitchens
Knightsbridge - Old Barrack Yard, London SW1X 7NP
It was a chance visit by chef Jean-Georges to Frieze LA, which brought about some of the most noteworthy art at his London restaurant ABC Kitchens at The Emory in Knightsbridge. The chef spotted Damien Hirst's The Secret Gardens Paintings at the show and had a gut instinct that they would work well at his upcoming London opening. You'll see the paintings hung in both the main dining space and the private dining room.
Arlington
St James's - 20 Arlington St, St. James's, London SW1A 1RJ
Art is "always an integral part" of creating a restaurant, says consummate restaurateur Jeremy King. At Arlington (and at Le Caprice before it), that artistic vision was supplied by a longstanding partnership with photographer David Bailey. Today, you'll find a mixture of photographs that used to be on the walls at Le Caprice, along with those that are new to Arlington. And it's a work in progress with King continuing to work with Bailey's photographer son, Fenton, on swapping out new pieces all the time.
Scott’s
Mayfair - 20 Mount Street, London W1K 2HE
As its name suggests, the Renoir private dining room at Scott's features a pretty jaw-dropping collection of art, taking you from the Impressionists through to the Modernists. There's almost an embarrassment of riches on show here with pieces like Renoir's Nu Dubout, Chagall's La Danse, along with paintings by Miró, Pissarro and Chagall. And if all that isn't enough to get your pulse racing, the floor is made from illuminated green agate for a heightened effect.
Bellamy’s
Mayfair - 18 Bruton Pl, Mayfair, London W1J 6LY
Being so close to all the key galleries, it's not surprising that Bellamy’s is something of a gallery too. Patron Gavin Rankin himself curates the collection which majors on prints by legendary 20th-century fashion illustrator René Gruau. Asked for his favourites, he told us, "The first is an advertisement for a cruise line called ‘Relax’ …it manages to combine beauty, elegance, a breeze and gentle humour. The second, I love for its simplicity. A beautiful woman in a hat and dress in four lines. For me, it is the cornerstone between figurative and abstract art divided by a single line.”
Sketch
Mayfair - 9 Conduit Street, London W1S 2XG
This Mayfair restaurant is so entrenched in the art world that it’s sometimes hard to tell where an installation stops and the restaurant begins. From the Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance-designed toilet pods to the regularly changing exhibitions, every aspect of Sketch is a contemporary art lover’s dream. Right now, they’re hosting a design festival featuring the fantastical and functional works of Mestiz, the studio founded by Mexican designer Daniel Valero (on till 11 November).
The Green Room at The Devonshire
Soho - 17 Denman Street, London W1D 7HW
Perhaps the hardest restaurant or pub gallery room to actually get into, the now-legendary Green Room at The Devonshire features a burgeoning collection of modern art that's being continually added to. "Like any good pub, what we do reflects culture from across the spectrum," landlord Oisin Rogers tells us. "The collection is together a million times greater than the sum of its parts, all with stories galore." Here you'll find everything from the biggest collection of Joe Lycett originals to Damien Hirst's floor splatterings and a graffiti-ed toilet door rescued after the Coach and Horses' last refurb. They've also got borrowed works from the collections of restaurateurs Scott Collins and Mark Hix and the occasional celebrity offering too (look out for Ed Sheeran's painting). "The walls are full of pieces that are as full of life as the place itself, and give a nod to Soho's colourful past."
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