Three rooms, and how to choose one

People ask for "the private room" as though there is one, and then are pleased to hear there are three. Which one is right has almost nothing to do with how important the night is and almost everything to do with two questions.

Question one: how many

Under a dozen and you usually want a semi-private section: a dedicated part of the dining room, à la carte or as a tasting, running alongside regular service. The room stays around you. You get the noise, the pass, the sense of being out somewhere rather than shut in a box with your colleagues.

Larger, or with speeches, and the calculus flips. A toast that everybody has to lean in to hear is not a toast.

Question two: do you want the door closed

This is the real one. A birthday dinner is usually better in the room. A rehearsal dinner, a board dinner, or anything with a slideshow is better behind a door.

At the far end of that is the buy-out: exclusive use of the whole place, a custom menu built with the chef, and a private bar. It is the answer for a company night in December or a wedding party that has outgrown a table.

What we will ask you

Head count, date, and whether it is a sit-down or something looser. Then whether anybody has a dietary need, because gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan and kosher-style are all straightforward here and much easier to plan for than to improvise.

Menus are built with the chef and wines are chosen to match. If the night is not here at all, the food can still be: catering is the same kitchen, collected from us or dropped off for a larger order.

Tell us the number first. Everything else follows from it.