Why Is The Chiltern Firehouse The Hottest Restaurant In Town?

With its daily rollcall of A-list diners we think it's safe to say that the Chiltern Firehouse is the London restaurant du jour. Kate Moss, Rita Ora, Suki Waterhouse, Cara Delevingne, and Lily Allen have been spotted there. Kylie Minogue, Tom Cruise and Chris Martin have also dropped by. Even David Cameron and SamCam have made the pilgrimage (although Tony and Cherie Blair went there first - ever the trendsetters). The paparazzi has snapped some stunning entrances, and some slightly bleary-eyed exits - like Gary Lineker and wife Danielle who were seen leaving looking as if they’d really enjoyed their evening. Oh and then there's Lindsay Lohan, who has been photographed there so often we're wondering if she's set up home there.

But what’s all the fuss about? Since its opening in February, the question is not who has been to the Chiltern Firehouse, but who hasn’t. Infact so much so, that in recent weeks, there have been rumblings amongst more fickle foodie circles that the restaurant's hotness is on the wane, that it’s ‘losing its exclusivity’.

But we really can’t see this happening any time soon. Infact we can confirm that CF is still so in demand that you can’t even book a table for dinner right now, it's fully-booked for the foreseeable future; when we phoned, they told us they had ‘briefly opened the books for September but were inundated so have closed them again'. Their advice? 'Keep checking back - it may change!’.

So what is it that’s made Chiltern Firehouse London's most exclusive A-list hangout? We assess...

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Word of mouth?

Grace Dent, Evening Standard Magazine’s restaurant critic, thinks so: ‘Nothing works as well as a tipsy text from a trusted source at 11pm saying, “I’m at so and so, you’ve got to come here!”’

The location?

Housed in one of London’s first fire stations, CFH sits in a gothic red-brick building in Marylebone. It’s elegant, low-key and, yes, it bleeds fashion...

The people?

Well, American hotelier André Balazs knows his stuff – he’s responsible for LA’s Chateau Marmont and The Mercer in New York.

Must be the food, then?

Yep. Michelin- starred chef Nuno Mendes (formerly of elBulli) is one of the best conceptual chefs in the world. Think roast turbot, aged beef, rhubarb sundae with milk ice cream. Nuno loves milk.

So can I ever get a table there?

Brunches and lunches, yes. And in a month’s time it’s expected that The Chiltern Firehouse will be opening for breakfast. Happy days!

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