The Ivy

The Ivy has stood on West Street since 1917, a few doors from the stage doors of St Martin's Lane, and it remains the restaurant London's theatre world treats as a canteen. Martin Brudnizki's 2015 refurbishment kept what mattered: the harlequin stained glass, the oak panelling, the green leather banquettes and the wall of commissioned portraits. What he added was the central oval bar, a brass-canopied island hung with glassware that the dining room now turns around.

Private events run upstairs in The Private Room, which seats 60 on round tables, 32 on one long table, and holds 100 standing. It has its own bar, a contemporary art collection and a baby grand in the corner. The kitchen writes menus for each event, and the Ivy Collection events team handles the arrangements.

The room is enclosed and self-contained, with the restaurant carrying on below. Musical entertainment is arranged through the venue, so the format is a conversation with them rather than an assumption; the piano tells you what the room was designed around.