Jeremy King on Reviving London's Grand Restaurants and His Personal Rituals

Jeremy King, the iconic British restaurateur behind the Ivy, the Wolseley, J Sheekey, and more recently Arlington and the Park, discusses his approach to hospitality and personal life. King, who started as Searcys's youngest-ever manager at 21, and his former business partner Chris Corbin are known for transforming historic London restaurants into modern cultural institutions. He reopened Le Caprice as Arlington in 2024, a former favorite of Princess Diana. Simpson's in the Strand, which King had pursued for over 25 years, reopened in March 2025, featuring its upstairs bar Romano's. The restaurant's 19th-century patrons included Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle. King shares his daily rituals, including waking at 5 am with his cockapoo Teddy, and his style signifiers: suits from Timothy Everest or Anderson & Sheppard, shirts from Volpe's Adrian Holdsworth, and other clothing from Connolly. He admires designer Shayne Brady, with whom he has done eight restaurants, and architect Amanda Levete. King's personal advice includes "Only strive to what you 'want' to do with your life—not what you feel you 'should.'" He recently forgave himself for the first time and would have liked to be an architect or artist in another life.