Private Dining Rooms

Overview

Sophisticated and elegant, The Rib Room Bar & Restaurant is the ideal location for special occasion, corporate events and celebrations.

With three private dining areas – each with their own unique story – The Rib Room’s fresh look is courtesy of acclaimed interior designer Martin Brudnizki. With private rooms in each corner of the restaurant, you’ll enjoy a sense of seclusion as you savour the extensive wine list and fabulous food by head chef Ian Rudge.

The Topolski private dining room holds up to eight guests and boasts a stunning collection of Feliks Topolski’s artwork chronicling key 20th century events and faces, including the Henley Regatta and Princess Margaret’s 1960 wedding.

Named after The Rib Room’s signature dish, The Buccleuch accommodates up to 12 guests and features private access to the cigar terrace.

The Boardroom holds up to 16 guests and has full audio visual facilities – ideal for business meetings. Decorated with Topolski artwork including Noël Coward, Theatrical Garden Party and a feature mirror, the room builds upon The Rib Room’s club-like atmosphere.

The Rib Room offers the British cuisine with a range of private dining menus available from £40 per person for three courses.
 

Insider View

“Quintessentially English” is a phrase that’s being bandied about a lot these days, but The Rib Room off Sloane Street has always been thus. A destination English meat restaurant – where rib of beef can never be taken off the menu for fear of upsetting the locals and regulars.

Even a super duper refurbishment of the whole room hasn’t dampened the Britishness of the place, although it has softened the masculinity of the décor somewhat with distressed mirrors, sumptuous drapes and a generally lighter more accessible atmosphere. The feature bar, now sitting in the middle of the restaurant with tables arranged around the outside, has improved the set up no end. It gives an almost amphitheatre style feel for the diners, overlooking the fabulously oversized marble bar, luxury velvet sofas and glistening drinks display. (which can even be hired for exclusive events – poa).

The refurb, which was completed at the end of last year, has also seen the addition of two private dining rooms. The first private room is the Buccleuch Room, named after the estate the beef comes from. It’s walls are slate grey with a paint roller effect, while the white linen table clothes are offset by a silver vase, art deco geometric ‘chandelier’ and red standard lamps. Able to seat 12 on a large round table, it has the added benefit of access to the outside terrace area, enabling guests to smoke cigars.

The private room is separated from the main restaurant by a curtain, enabling degrees of privacy according to the type of party and there's now access directly from the street. The walls are adorned with a Buccleuch cow and artwork from Feliks Topolski – to whom the second private dining room, at the other end of the restaurant, is dedicated.

The Topolski Room has no fewer than a dozen pictures by the artist. Seating up to 8, it can be fully closed off from the main room by curtains.

The Board Room is also available to hire for private dining events and has seated capacity for up to 16.

Menus start at £40 per person – 3 courses, no choice including tea, coffee and petit fours, or £75 for a three choice option.

Wines are another speciality at the Rib Room – which now boasts its first ever sommelier – and not only that, she’s a woman and she’s British. With a selection of over 450 bins, as well as an amazing array of whiskies and cognacs to go with the cigars, it’s not the place to be the designated driver. Ideal for lunch meetings or dinner with friends with a little added privacy and quiet, there’s a minimum spend guide of £100 a head depending on time and date of event.

The private dining rooms are available for hire at breakfast as well as lunch and dinner.

Louise Gordon

How long have you been at the restaurant?

8 months - about a month before we re-opened after the refurbishment.

What attracted you to become a sommelier?

I fell into the wine industry by accident on the retail side, but I chose to become a sommelier in order to learn more about food and wine and to learn a different side to the industry.

Where did you do your training?

On the job for the practical side of service and through the WSET (Wines & Spirits Education Trust) on the knowledge side. This along with a fair amount of home study!

What would you say were the essential skills required to be a sommelier?

A passion for wine and the enthusiasm to learn. All the rest can be taught.

What wines complement your personal favourite three course meal and why?

I would start with an aperitif of Krug NV and then move on to a older Burgundian white wine such as a Montrachet or a classic New World Chardonnay like Kistler. I would pair it with some pan seared Foie Gras with rhubarb chutney and brioche to enhance the texture of the Foie Gras, but still have a touch of acidity. For main course I would go for a classic Fillet of Beef, medium-rare, with Béarnaise sauce and drink a good vintage of Hermitage or a good New World shiraz like Henschke’s Hill of Grace, something that is fruit-driven with well structured tannins to stand up to the beef. Dessert would have to be a Tart Tatin with a good Sauternes, and of course a nice Cognac or single malt Whisky with petit fours to finish.

What are your thoughts on the "Red wine with red meat, white wine with white meat and fish" age-old debate?

I am a firm believer in giving the customer what they want. If they do not like white wine, then there is no point in recommending it just because it may go with a dish. As long as they’re happy and are enjoying the wine then that is what matters, but if you can match the wine to the food, then that’s perfect.

How does the choice of the right wines complement the different food courses served?

The right choice of wine can enhance food courses, not only by complimenting the flavours within the dish, but by such things as using acidity to cut through creamy textures or tannins to support rare beef dishes, thus enhancing the enjoyment of the meal.

What's the best part of your job?

Training enthusiastic staff members who are genuinely interested and want to learn, and also discovering new and interesting wines.

And the worst?

The (thankfully) rare customer that wants to show off in front of their guests by doing such things as insisting they know more than you and that they are right, when they don’t and they are not.

What is the most unusual wine that you have ever tasted and why?

Deviation by Andrew Quady, it is a dessert wine based on Orange Muscat, but it is infused with Damiana and Geranium which adds a really interesting and unusual, yet superb floral quality to the bouquet.

What is the most money that you’ve ever seen spent on a single bottle?

About £100.00 retail, for a friend’s 30th birthday. Unfortunately most sommeliers cannot afford to drink like kings and queens on a regular basis!

How many wines do you have?

We have about 455 active bin lines at the moment on the restaurant list.

How often do you find that customers complain about wine being corked and - in your opinion - how often do you think that they are right?

Not very often. The staff are trained to spot a corked bottle before it goes to the table. On the occasion that someone complains it is usually warranted and the bottle has genuinely slipped through the metaphorical net.