The Fitzdares Club
Now closed. The review stands, as a fond memorial.
PICTURE A MEMBERS’ CLUB in Mayfair or St James’s. What are its prime characteristics? Prestige? Certainly. Elegance? Probably. Exclusivity? That’s a given. But fun? Let’s be honest: as you tiptoe through a labyrinth of codes, conventions and unspoken but inflexible rules that might have been expressly devised to catch you out, that’s not the trait that springs most readily to mind. Unless, that is, you belong to Fitzdares. A riposte to all that’s buttoned-up and stuffy, this newest and most vibrant addition to London’s club scene is predicated on the notion that members, far from desiring to sit up straight and converse in hushed tones, would rather kick off their shoes and kick back in a setting in which everybody is a friend and everybody feels at home.
Located, quite appropriately, above The Running Horse, The Fitzdares Club, which opened as recently as 2020, provides a forum in which you can sip a delicious cocktail and order a sumptuous supper as you watch the sport of your choice on one of nine state-of-the-art, wall-mounted screens. Upstairs, a number of smaller rooms stylishly decorated by Rosanna Bossom provide venues for dining, viewing and gaming for private parties of up to ten. If William Hogarth were to return to present-day London, you can bet he’d situate his Rake’s Progress here – just without the sting in the tail in the final act. Members only.
See also: Anywhere Recommended In This Book
