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It’s time to eke out the dog days of summer by eating your dinner on the street. Not, like, off the actual pavement, but on an alfresco table at one of Covent Garden’s many restaurants.
The Mayor of London’s Summer Streets scheme will, by summer’s end, have seen four neighbourhoods turned into outdoor eating and drinking areas, with the West End reportedly now launching on August 22. The areas are spread across the city, with Brixton, Leyton and Shoreditch having already launched.
St Martin’s Lane will be made car-free from 11am to 11pm, and alfresco licences have been made available for up to 34 businesses. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (via My London) the scheme will start this Friday and run until the end of October.
The LDRS has visited St Martin’s Lane and spoken with several restaurants and cafés, all of whom said their licences are to become operational on August 22. It is understood they are to run until the end of October. They confirmed that Fumo, Côte Brasserie, the Real Greek, La Roche, Pizza Express and Browns are some of the restaurants that will be taking advantage of the scheme. However, they added that a number of the outlets thought the scheme should have kicked off earlier in the summer.
Antonio Simonte, general manager of Fumo, told the LDRS: ‘It's been a number of years I have tried to get tables outside. We should have started earlier I believe. It's the end of August.’
The best restaurants in London for outdoor dining.
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