How Notting Hill - London's original party zone - got its groove back

‘Luca [Longobardi, his business partner] really had to talk me into coming to the area. When we opened I thought I could stay living east and have the best of both worlds.’

Although the life of a chef doesn’t leave much time to party, Denney has indeed found the Ladbroke Grove area a welcome change. ‘There’s a very warm, chatty community here,’ he says. ‘From the Moroccan fish guys next door to Pizza East to Galicia — they bang on the window and come in and talk. It feels a bit like the late 1990s in east London and I think you feel that on the party scene, too.’

Certainly, there is plenty to suggest that this is the case. Whether it’s the influx of cool, party types who make their way across the capital for Mark Ronson’s annual loft bash, the soon-coming Soho House at the old BBC TV Centre in White City or the opening of places like new members’ club, Laylow, west London feels more alive than it has in some time. ‘I think there is definitely a bit more of a party scene, which I’ve noticed spring up over the past six months,’ says fashion designer Charlie Casely-Hayford, 31. ‘There’s always been an energy here, but I’ve noticed a lot of friends transitioning from east to west.’

Having come of age on the social scene in Dalston and moving west five years ago, Casely-Hayford is familiar with what makes a party tick. ‘I’ve always been into going out and when I moved here I felt a bit deprived — but things seem to be kicking off. I think you can always judge an area by its house parties and a couple I’ve been to recently have been on the level of the ones I grew up with in east London — raw and a lot of fun.’

In many ways, what is happening in the area is completely logical. Where once Hackney and Dalston were all cheap but characterful warehouse spaces, now — after half a decade of ‘luxury’ flat developments springing up — these areas are no more affordable than those at the opposite end of the Overground line.

East London rents still generally mean more bang for your buck, but the differential is narrowing. Foxtons says the average rent for a one-bedroom flat in Hackney is £1,600 per month, where as in Notting Hill it’s £1,800 — not quite as big a difference as you might expect. West is also more convenient — an Uber to Soho is just a tenner; from Hackney it’s nearly double that. And let’s face it, the property is nicer. Whereas your one-bed flat on Mare Street is probably above a chicken shop, W11 is full of beautiful Georgian terraces that have been split into perfectly apportioned flats. W11 is safer, too. According to the Metropolitan Police website, almost twice as many violent crimes were reported in Hackney in the past year than in Kensington and Chelsea.

It is the availability of a bit of luxury and the mix of high and low which is luring thirty-something trendies to the area. Yes, already, there are long established places like the Electric (whose Saturday brunches are among the most star-studded in all of London) and Pizza East (which newly anointed British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful says he visits ‘five or six times a week’), as well as the more exclusive likes of Casa Cruz (Prince Harry, the Beckhams).

Age-old favourites in the area, meanwhile, provide the perfect foil to the influx of new openings — west Londoners love Friday-night dancing at The Globe, Sunday afternoons at The Cow and pints at the newly refurbished Cock & Bottle. You can expect to see local residents such as party planner Fiona Leahy and hip designers Molly Goddard and Shrimps’ Hannah Weiland around the area, plus the occasional glimpse of current Vogue cover girl, Adwoa Aboah. Even former east London girl Sharmadean Reid now lives just off Golborne Road, having been seduced by the area’s community feel.

But more of interest to this crowd, it seems, are the likes of the aforementioned 108 Garage (which has a six-course tasting menu for £55). The restaurant has been such a success, in fact, that it spawned a sister restaurant on Golborne Road — Southam Street, offering a BBQ grill on the ground floor, a raw sushi bar on the first and a speakeasy serving cocktails on the second — within 12 months of opening.

‘There have been a lot of openings recently that mean you can afford to go out for dinner and drinks in the area and it’s not going to cost you £80 a head,’ says Matt Paice, owner of Killer Tomato, another much talked about destination (tacos, burritos) that recently opened on Portobello Road. ‘I think affordability and accessibility go hand in hand and it’s attracting a younger, cooler customer.’

Paice has definitely felt the party vibe starting to drop there, too. ‘The mezcal margarita is the best-selling item on our menu,’ he says. ‘We’re selling gallons of it and lots of tequila. People will come in at 6.15pm and start their evening with a round or two of shots.’

Ultimately, though, the vibe on this side of town is different. ‘I’m happy to admit I’ve got to a stage in life where I want to go somewhere where they treat you right and you don’t have to shout over people at a bar,’ says Casely-Hayford. ‘If that’s in Casa Cruz then so be it. There feels a shift to spending time somewhere that’s perhaps a little swanky but where the lighting and the vibe are just right and it feels like you’re enjoying a lock-in.’

So, listen up, east London. Bored of takeaway boxes, nitrous oxide canisters and empty cans of Stella on your doorstep every Saturday morning? There is another option. It’s time to hop on your fixie and hit the A501, because we’re heading to Notting Hill.