Photography: Darren Chung
Sale e Pepe has been a fixture of the West London dining scene for half a century. To celebrate the Knightsbridge restaurant’s milestone golden jubilee, its interiors have undergone a glamorous polish, ready to kickstart another 50 years.
The Pavilion Road restaurant opened its doors in 1974 and is famous for attracting a who’s-who from the world of film, theatre, fashion, politics and even royalty. Interiors studio Hamilford Design was tapped for the refresh and has drawn on this illustrious past for the restaurant’s renovation, combining classical Italian design with modern lighting.
The bar is reimagined as a grand Italian ristorante, complete with wood panelling and bronzed mirrors, and set with a marble-topped bar. It sets the tone for the dining room, now daubed in a moody dark blue, patterned wallpaper and bronzed mirrors, inspired by the grandness of early 20th-century Milanese townhouses. It is simple but elegant.
Photography: Darren Chung
Photography: Darren Chung
Sale e Pepe’s original owner, Toni Corricelli, retired in June 2022, handing over the reins of the London restaurant to patron and restaurateur Markus Thesleff. His portfolio includes Los Mochis Notting Hill and Viajante87, and he’s gently steering Sale e Pepe into this new era.
Like the interiors, the menu has also been refreshed, with Sale e Pepe classics such as Vitello Milanese and linguine all’Aragosta offered as larger ‘famiglia’ style sharing dishes. Other highlights include salt-baked whole seabass, crude and tagliatelle caviar.
