Belvedere

Belvedere occupies the former stables of Holland House, a 17th-century building attributed to Inigo Jones, set within the formal gardens of Holland Park. The building has operated as a restaurant since the 1950s, accumulating a literary roll call — Byron, Dickens, Sheridan, Noël Coward — that few London dining rooms can rival. Queen Camilla's mother made her debut here. It's a venue with genuine pedigree, not manufactured heritage.

The 2022 Reinvention

The relaunch by George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev, founders of Wild Tavern, took the building back to its bones. Layers were stripped to reveal original brickwork, apricot terra cotta walls, and the parquet floors beneath. The new interior reads as Tuscan farmhouse rather than London restaurant — warm plaster tones, gas fires, palms and fig trees, floor-to-ceiling windows that pull the park inside. An island bar anchors the ground floor, with the open theatre kitchen as the room's focal point. Upstairs, a salon with fabric-lined ceilings and a Duncan Grant cocktail bar operates as a more intimate counterpoint.

Holland Park as the Setting

The park location defines Belvedere in ways the interior alone cannot. The heated terrace and colonnade look out over formal gardens, a working fountain, and the tree canopy of one of London's most beautiful green spaces. Arriving through the park — particularly in the evening, when the gates close and guests enter via the quieter Abbotsbury Road approach — gives the venue an atmosphere closer to a country estate dinner than a city restaurant. Holland Park tube is a short walk, but the car park at the Abbotsbury entrance means this is one of the few central London restaurants where driving makes practical sense.

Italian Cooking in an English Park

Sardinian chef Achille Pinna leads the kitchen, and the open theatre format means the cooking becomes part of the room's energy. The Italian-leaning menu complements the Tuscan warmth of the interiors, and the combination of setting, heritage, and restaurant-quality food makes Belvedere a hire where the venue genuinely elevates the occasion. Wedding licensed, with private dining from 10 guests up to full venue hire for 120.