A week in the life of 1 Lombard Street
Soren Jessen of Square Mile institution 1 Lombard Street on seven days in the City…
Monday
Dawn, and boxes of fresh fish on ice are arriving from Dorset. Chef checks the gills and the eyes for freshness and decides on the Fish of the Day for the menu. More boxes arrive packed with gloriously colourful vegetables and the sweet smell of just-picked herbs fills the room. Asparagus from Norfolk, Watercress from Hampshire, Tomatoes from the Isle of White and handpicked oysters from Colchester. Beef arrives carried in on shoulders and the place is alive with suppliers’ banter and news. The kitchen has become a bustling food market, and the chefs are lined up and ready to go. Breakfast kicks off with 1 Lombard Street‘s Eggs Benedict (150 eggs being gently poached) to make guests feel that they have earned their commute into the City, for the first day of the week.
Tuesday
For some people it’s perhaps too early in the week to drink. Some guests are trying to stick to the 2-5 routine; the GP meant two days on and five days off (the booze) but some have reversed it in their favour. Still, it’s only Tuesday so it’ll have to be a light lunch at Lombard with fizzy water. The table next to them with a bottle of wine gets a disapproving (read envious) look. Perhaps they’re visitors? The City welcomes huge numbers of tourists these days. 1 Lombard Street is a complete barometer of City activity, and it is buzzing. Did you know that City jobs are at a record high, 25% up from pre-Covid? Non-drinkers aside, there’s a champagne reception for 200 guests at 6pm. Tables are whisked away, music is on and canapés are ready. It was meant to end at 10pm but the guests are still having whiskeys at midnight (and it’s only Tuesday). The Lombard team rolls back the tables, crisp linen and polished cutlery neatly placed and ready for tomorrow’s breakfast for 150 people.
Wednesday
This is when true loyal patrons visit Lombard twice in a day. Breakfast and lunch – or lunch and a late afternoon cocktail (It’s 6 o’clock somewhere in the back of your mind). There is something quite smug about a midweek Martini and Lombard’s Dome Bar Manager recommends Konikstail Vodka with a hint of Noilly and a dash of orange bitters, finished with a lemon twist. It’s sophisticated and disciplined. Events are filling every space today, from breakfast through to lunch and dinner, upstairs and downstairs – the private dining rooms are full. One room has three different allergy notes, and another requires two digital screens. Lombard’s motto comes to mind: “The difficult we do right away, the impossible might take a little bit longer.”
Thursday
In the pre-lunch service briefing Elliot, Lombard’s flamboyant General Manager, goes through the guest table allocation and makes sure that the two tables from Rothschild’s are not next to each other and the government minister is at a discreet corner table. Allocating tables is like having a dinner party: it requires great finesse to ensure the best ambience in the Restaurant. Chef goes through the Fish of the Day dish and the staff taste and learn. There’s also a wine-tasting for all staff to try the new summer rosé wines… (yes, it is important to remind the new younger waiters to spit!). It’s always rewarding to have a supplier talk in depth and passionately to our team, everyone absorbed and learning the details of the vineyards and grapes. We’re planning a visit to the vineyard for the Management team.
Friday
The strangest day in the Square Mile. City folk are off to their country house or opting to end the week working from home, and the weekend visitors have not yet arrived. But the younger crowd find their way to Lombard in the evening for a special Steak frites and a glass of Lombard Claret and they continue in the Downstairs Lombard Club – open late, past midnight. Time for a Dorothy Parker Quote. “I like a martini, two at the most. Three I’m under the table, four I’m under the host.”
Saturday
The Party crowd comes into the City and there is a queue forming at the entrance to 1 Lombard just before 12pm. The restaurant is packed all day with Brunch and Bubbles (lasting well into the afternoon) and dancing to Lombard’s resident DJ. Staff get involved in the dancing, but not the bubbles.
Sunday
To put an elegant family finish to a pretty busy week, Lombard puts on the popular Sunday Roast. The spectacular Dome Bar is awash with a selection of Bloody Marys, from the Bloody Dane (Akvavit) to the Bloody Shame (Virgin Mary) and the Sunday Papers are spread out. Miles Davis in the background. Roast beef, pork or chicken with roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, honey roast carrots and parsnips cruise out of the kitchen, with sticky toffee pudding to follow – all washed down with a nice Claret.