Portobello pub Gold to swap rockers for royalty following luxury makeover

Hot spot: Nick House has transformed the venue into a VIP hangout
NIGEL HOWARD

A down-at-heel former “rockers’ boozer” in Portobello Market that once drew bands such as the Sex Pistols and Motorhead is set to become west London’s newest royal haunt after a huge makeover.

Entrepreneur Nick House, a founder of Noughties “It clubs” such as Mahiki and Whisky Mist, where regulars included Prince William and Prince Harry, launched Gold yesterday as a restaurant and late-night bar.

The 44-year-old, who lives in the area, bought the lease of the former Portobello Gold pub and hotel site with a group of local investors for £650,000 three years ago to stop a chain operator taking it over.

The overhaul has created a four-storey destination in Portobello Road that includes a garden room with a retractable glass roof. A mural by Portuguese street artist Vhils covers the front facade and the pared back “industrial” interiors were designed by locals Felix and Valerie von Bechtolsheim.

The restaurant is headed by former River Café chef Theo Hill, with dishes cooked in a wood oven or over an open flame.

Gold is the latest celebrity destination in an area situated between wealthy Notting Hill and the deprived communities of North Kensington, and is less than a mile from Grenfell Tower.

Makeover: Gold is relaunching as a VIP haunt (NIGEL HOWARD)
NIGEL HOWARD ©

It is close to The Walmer Castle pub owned by film director Guy Ritchie, a fellow founder of Mahiki, and David Beckham.

Stars known to be close to Mr House, who once dated Spice Girl Geri Horner, and who are thought likely to dine at Gold include Gwyneth Paltrow, Ed Sheeran and Madonna, while younger royals such as Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are also expected to visit.

Gold’s managing partner Alex Ghalleb said: “You have this amazing diversity round here. You could be sitting next to someone who looks like a tramp but he’s probably sold 10 million records.”

There is no wifi inside the venue, to encourage more face-to-face interaction.

Mr Ghalleb added: “We didn’t want a place where people whip open their laptops and just drink coffee all day.” In the Seventies and Eighties the pub was the Princess Alexandra. Motorhead frontman Lemmy was a regular and acts included Hawkwind, Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, Ramones and Stray Cats.

As Portobello Gold it was visited by Bill Clinton during a presidential tour in 2000.

The 50 best pubs in London

1/50

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT