This Might Be London’s Chicest Summer Terrace

There are very few restaurants in London that feel entirely woven into the city itself. J. Sheekey is one of them. You don’t really “go” to Sheekey’s in the traditional sense. You arrive there before theatre shows, after opening nights, halfway through long lunches that accidentally become dinners. Actors, artists, tourists, people in gowns, people in jeans, all somehow spill through those famous red doors in Covent Garden as though they’ve been doing it for decades.

In Sponsorship With J. Sheekey

And now, for its 130th anniversary, J. Sheekey has been taken over by Vivienne Westwood. Which, honestly, feels entirely fitting.

For the eccentric Londoner, there may not be a chicer time to visit this famed institution.

London’s most theatrical terrace

The terrace has been ornamented using Vivienne Westwood’s “Evolution of Man” archive print, first shown in the Autumn-Winter 1996/97 MAN collection. The artwork now dances across menus, windows, tableware and linens, turning the terrace into something between a movie set, a theatre scene and a very glamorous London dream. It’s maximalist without being try-hard, something that I greatly value in a restaurant. Distinctive, but still recognisably Sheekey’s. Perhaps that’s because both brands have always shared a similar spirit.

Vivienne Westwood built an empire out of British irreverence, individuality and rebellion. J. Sheekey, meanwhile, has spent 130 years becoming one of London’s great cultural institutions — a place where actors, creatives and theatre crowds have gathered since 1896. Together, the collaboration feels less like a branding exercise and more like two very established London personalities meeting for a secret rendezvous… on the terrace with a martini.