Party Dining: How late-night restaurants are supplanting clubs

The pandemic left swathes of consumers deprived of experiences, eventually driving many towards hospitality occasions which ramp up the volume, push boundaries and ultimately entertain.

That trend has continued post-Covid, as diners continue to expect more from their nights out, with an elevated demand for restaurants that bring the life of the party straight to the table side.

Since 2015, Alan Yau’s one-off Park Chinois has drawn on the glamour of 1930s Shanghai supper clubs and cabarets on Berkeley Street.

Next door, Richard Caring’s Mayfair estate invites in seekers of the sublime, with a host of experiential concepts, including Bacchanalia and Sexy Fish.

Nearby the likes of Amazonico are bringing carnival-inspired samba to Mayfair, while Tattu London’s elevated Chinese-inspired dining experience on Denmark Street naturally comes with DJ entertainment.

Even Manzi’s, the long-awaited Soho seafood restaurant from The Wolseley Hospitality Group has been amped up to include a DJ in a bid to appeal to a younger crowd – something that would have been unheard of under previous operator Corbin & King.

Into the regions, Gaucho’s modern reinvention is an ode to the tango halls of Buenos Aires, with dance shows and DJ sets drawing in the late-night trade.

The trend coincides with a startling decline in nightclubs, with 400 venues disappearing between June 2020 and June 2023, according to the Night-Time Industries Association (NTIA), with a drop of more than 10% in the past 12 months alone.

The concept of entertainment over dinner is of course nothing news, and consumers are naturally drawn to novel experiences. Yet during cost-of-living pressures, they especially drawn towards bolder, more captivating occasions – a trend which is magnified by video sharing on Instagram and TikTok.

Food Consultancy Egg Soldiers points out that in times of economic insecurity, consumers are drawn to operators with diverse and enticing offerings.

For Kateline Porritt, head of trends and insights at Egg Soldiers, when consumers face the choice of whether to go out or stay in, the more extraordinary the concept, the better.

“It’s about creating a difference, can the consumer have it at home, or is it a bit more avant-garde?”

Katie Gallagher of Lumina Intelligence also notes that experience-driven behaviour is being ranked as a top long-term trend impacting the eating out market.

Operators are having to do more to create an occasion for consumers, to encourage them to visit and justify spending on an experience that cannot be easily replicated at home, she says.

And as operators face the quandary of how to extend hospitality time; creating a full “night out” occasion seems key.

For Sexy Fish CMO Piers Walker, curating an evening from start to finish is what creates a truly experiential offer.

The brand’s new Mancunian outpost sets its sights on a programme of internationally renowned DJs amid opulent interiors, theatrical dishes and Damien Hirst showpieces.

“Food will always be the main event,” he tells MCA. “But we also curate in finite detail all other elements, around the menu, whether it be working with local or international DJs or transitioning from a fabulous dinner experience to a surreal party.

“The journey really begins from the moment that you walk through the door to how you’re greeted by reception.”

Delivering all these elements simultaneously is what differentiates Sexy Fish from competitors, Walker says.

“It is testament to Richard Caring’s drive and vision for a space to be able to bring all of these different things to life across all of these different touch points.”

Optimising a late-night entertainment offer is also an opportunity for larger groups to differentiate against competitors while increasing consumer spending.

Martin Williams, CEO of Rare Restaurants, explains that Gaucho’s modern reinvention was influenced heavily by a focus on late night entertainment and experience.

The Argentinian-inspired steak house chain has a late-night licence for its ‘Gaucho Lates’ concept, offering tango shows, DJs and post-theatre entertainment at the weekend in selected venues.

“People want to come out and have a very full experience”, he tells MCA.

The trend for F&B plus entertainment, has been amplified by the fall of nightclubs, Williams believes.

“Pre-Covid many diners would go to a bar, a restaurant, and then a nightclub, they’d have three stages on the journey.

“After Covid, they were like, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to get in, I don’t know what the rules are, I don’t know whether it’ll feel safe.’

“They started just going to one place for whole evening, and that legacy continues.”

Gaucho doesn’t give guests get-out times, offering the chance for consumers to stretch their experiences late into the night. If their table is required, they are offered the chance to move to the bar, allowing them to experience a new part of the venue.

“That’s been our strategy, to make sure they have an amazing night rather than kick them out and turn the table,” Martin adds.

While the experience might be stretched out, later nights shouldn’t necessarily mean booze-filled debauchery, Porritt says.

Despite the allure of restaurants with a “party atmosphere”, there is a parallel trend for reduced alcohol consumption, perhaps reflecting the more international dining demographic, particularly in hubs like London.

“We will continue to see the shift in what that nighttime trade looks like,” she says.

“How do you get that party, rave experience, but perhaps with not as much of the alcohol”, she says, with table-side entertainment a potential provider of that “sustenance”.

With the world increasingly well-connected, and trends moving almost as rapidly as their globe-trotting customers, what is next for this fast-evolving dining experience?

One major influence seems to be the mega clubs of Las Vegas, such as Hakkasan at the MGM Grand, an “all-encompassing nightlife experience”, with reams of VIP tables and bottle service, and a high-tech AV show and A-list DJ.

Closer to home, Mission Mars have one of the most successful concepts in the sector in Albert’s Schloss, a Bavarian beerhaus meets party palace, known for its raucous entertainment and dancing on tables.

For Piers Walker at Sexy Fish, the party-dining experience will only get “more and more bold”.

“I think you will see that those ideas are stretched, and boundaries pushed,” he adds.

“There is huge demand for new and exciting restaurant concepts, all across the world.”

“We’re aware of the current economic landscape. However, we’ll always strive to provide our guests with that quality experience.”