As Simpson’-in-the-Strand prepares to reopen, Jeremy King reflects on what this historic London restaurant has always represented, and why it must be protected rather than reinvented.
Below, Jeremy shares his thoughts in his own words. The full video can be viewed here.
In His Own Words
A Serious Place for Serious People
“People think Simpson’s is all about roast beef or carving trolleys – or the room. But that’s never really been the point. There’s a story about Simpson’s that people just don’t know.
In the nineteenth century, this wasn’t just a restaurant, it was the centre of British chess. The best players in the world sat here for hours. No clocks other than chess clocks, no crowds, no noise.
When someone made a significant move, runners in top hats carried it through the streets to other clubs – one move at a time, silently. This tells you everything you need to know about this place. Simpson’s has never been about spectacle. It’s about concentration.”
The Grand Divan: A Refuge Through the Ages
“That’s why people like Winston Churchill came here. Not for celebration, not for speeches, but because if you wanted to talk seriously about the country, about the future, you came somewhere calm. He sat in the Grand Divan, ate properly, spoke quietly.
Writers understood this too. Dickens, Conan Doyle, P.G. Wodehouse – they didn’t come to be seen. They came because the room gave them permission to slow down, and the rituals mattered.
The carving trolleys were designed to move silently so the chess players wouldn’t be disturbed. The knives, the pace, the way food arrives without interruption. That restraint is the theatre.”
Survival on The Strand
“My job isn’t to reinvent this place, it’s to protect it”
“The building has been demolished, rebuilt and moved across the Strand. It survived wars, rationing and social change.
In 2020, the doors closed. The trolleys stopped moving. The knives were put away, and for the first time in nearly two centuries, the room went quiet. When we reopen Simpson’s, we’re not trying to make it louder or trendier or faster.
My job isn’t to reinvent this place, it’s to protect it. To make sure that when someone sits here today, or in fifty years’ time, they feel the same thing people have always felt – calm, confidence and continuity.
Simpson’s has never chased the world. It simply waits. And eventually, the world finds its way back.”
If you would like to be notified when our reservations lines open, please join our mailing list to keep apprised of our news.