Our History
The Caprice group encompasses London’s favourite restaurants, from some of the oldest and most classic establishments in London to its most exciting and innovative new openings.
When talking about the Caprice group, history and tradition play an important role. Le Caprice’s unique brand of urbanity and elegance dates back to 1947. Scott’s can trace its origins to an oyster warehouse of 1851, long before it moved to its current home where Ian Fleming discovered the dry Martini, shaken, not stirred. With them are other iconic restaurants, including Daphne’s, where authentic Italian regional cuisine is served in an atmosphere of perfect sophistication, and J Sheekey – founded in 1896 – where theatre-goers enjoy truly legendary seafood.
There is, of course, a lot more to the Caprice group than history. Covering a variety of atmospheres and clienteles, this restaurant group ranges far and wide through the cuisines of the world – traditional and modern British, Italian, French and Asian included – in some of the best restaurants London has to offer. And far from resting on its laurels, the Caprice group is always looking for new ways to innovate and entertain. Since Richard Caring took over as Chairman in 2005, there have been acclaimed new ventures in 34 Mayfair, J Sheekey Atlantic Bar (formerly J Sheekey Oyster Bar) and outposts of a true New York institution in Balthazar London.
The group covers a members’ club in The Ivy Club; and a thriving catering company in Urban Caprice, who are listed at the Natural History Museum, Kensington Palace and the Saatchi Gallery, to name but a few illustrious venues. In recent years, there have been two major refurbishments in Daphne’s (2014) and the Private Dining Rooms at Scott's (2019) & Balthazar (2019) – as well as the opening of a number of sister restaurants to The Ivy under the moniker of The Ivy Collection, with close to 40 so far, including restaurants in Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester and Cheltenham. Last, but by no means least, there is the much-talked-about Sexy Fish, launched in October 2015.
Although each restaurant in the Caprice group is very different, they share a devotion to quality, demonstrated in the sourcing, seasonality, preparation and presentation of their food and drink, in the imagination of their design and in the warmth and skill of their service.
