Laudable: the sustainability-focused Apricity in Mayfair
(Picture: Adrian Lourie)Near the bottom of Apricity’s website — deep in the relegation zone of small print that’s presumably only looked at by restaurant critics — there is a telling detail. Not the bit about it being a dog-friendly restaurant (though that feels, in its own way, reflective of a city increasingly in thrall to its furry overlords). No, next to that, there is a note on opening times. One that explains the observance of a 9pm closure and 11pm curfew so the team can “finish before midnight and can safely take public transport home”.
It is a piece of quietly radical common sense; a heavy hint that this venture — a new sustainability-focused spot in Mayfair from ex-Treadwells chef patron Chantelle Nicholson — is about challenging all manner of outmoded industry norms. However, if this commendable prioritising of staff wellbeing feels like it runs contrary to the prevailing, hellraising spirit of many openings in these supposedly roaring 2020s, then that, for better or worse, is also another form of clue.
