Frolics in a Ladies' Loo

The Ivy chain of upmarket restaurants seems to be doing well. There's the original concept; then a lighter bistro experience; and lately an Asian Fusion version. Brighton, my nearest big city, has two of the three, the original and the Asian, next door to each other in The Lanes. A prime position then. 

In the last four years I've been to the 'original' Ivy three times in the company of my Shoreham Beach and Rottingdean friends. We go there for an occasion, such as Christmas. 

But three weeks ago on the 30th July it was the venue for a joint celebration of our July birthdays. Five of the six of us had a birthday in July, though not actually on the day we went. And the sixth has now had her August birthday. All of us are summer-born at any rate; and so far as I know, nobody quibbled about going to The Ivy to celebrate.

Why might you demur? Chiefly because of what they charge. No meal there will be cheap. You will be prepared for purse-busting news at the end of the evening, but it will still come as a nasty surprise. On that occasion three weeks ago, my one-sixth share of the total bill was £73. Ouch! 

I admit I have paid more in the past for an evening meal. In October 2013 I dined on my own at The George Hotel in Stamford and paid £90, although I was deliberately treating myself, and was very willing to pay for it. Then in July 2016, as something of a posh birthday treat, again on my own, I lunched at The Randolph Hotel in Oxford and paid £68. In the evening I could have expected to pay half as much again. 

These instances tend to prove that if one is seeking a special experience, and can afford it, then one will happily pay a special price. But those two hotels were both unique, and both famous, and I certainly appreciated their atmosphere and the personal attention I got. The Ivy in Brighton isn't unique: there are now similar Ivy restaurants in several places around the country. So what is one paying for? The food is good, but no better in kind and presentation than a good dining pub can provide, and the portions are not generous. No, it's the sense of occasion: one is sharing a posh evening with lots of other customers in a big restaurant, all intent on having a really nice time. If it's an important birthday, The Ivy is the place to go. Promotion at work? The Ivy. Just graduated? The Ivy. First date, and want to impress? The Ivy. Going to propose (if one ever does that nowadays)? The Ivy. 

Who goes there? It's for all ages - if you have the cash - but I would say that under-35s predominate. Oldies like me aren't out of place though; not at all. 

One thing that strikes you about The Ivy is the decor. It's gorgeous, at least if you like rich strong colours, and a certain style that recalls Art-Deco. It helps that The Ivy in Brighton was formerly a large bank, and therefore the exterior is suitably formal, and the high-ceilinged interior lends itself to the kind of fittings and decoration that induce the required ambience. I'm not sure it would work the same in a modern building, although The Ivy at Victoria in London, which I passed last February, was in a modern building, with an artwork outside.

No, the artwork didn't really do that when I touched it. But no doubt the interior decoration was as unusual.

Inside The Ivy at Brighton, if one glances up from one's plate, are lots of mirrors and pictures and panels of this type:

But the lushest, most colourful decoration is in the Ladies' Loo. In 2018 through to 2021 it looked like this:

The above shots were taken with my previous phone (Tigerlily, a Samsung Galaxy S8+), which made a pretty good job of it. The next shots were taken last Christmas with my previous Leica camera (Lili, a Leica X-U):

Personally, I think the phone did better. The trouble with the Leica X-U was that I'd naturally used its fast f/1.7 lens at full aperture, and so only part of the picture - the bit I focussed on - was in sharp focus. Things closer or further away were progressively less in focus. The phone didn't have this issue. My latest Leica, LXV (a Leica X Vario) has a slow f/3.5 lens, but with that comes the advantage that most things in a scene are in sharp focus. Give me crisp rendering every time!

Well, three weeks ago I discovered that the Ladies' Loo had been given a makeover. It was even more gorgeous. The theme was Underwater. So there were fronds of seaweed and octopus arms and other submarine things. Pictures courtesy of LXV.

Of course, it was just the place to take a selfie or two.

Uh-oh. A bit of my slip is showing. Shhhh!

As you see, this is a place one can take a camera, and nothing will be thought of it. Why wouldn't anyone not take pictures of this sensationally-decorated subterranean palace? It's one of the reasons to dine at The Ivy. I don't know how the boys fare, but no doubt they do their stuff in correspondingly amazing surroundings, but slanted towards to masculine tastes. I don't know. Boxing scenes? Football? Who knows. But right here, we ladies get treated to flowers and fronds of waving seaweed in sumptuous red and gold. Maybe some women will tut-tut. And some might say it's way too gaudy. But I like it very much. And I certainly wasn't alone in that, nor the only one taking pictures. 

There's a great atmosphere in the Ladies Loo. And if one of the individual room-sized cubicles isn't free (and they really are room-sized), then it's a great place to hang about, or sit down on that circular central seat, or tweak the make-up or hair in those mirrors. 

And the frolics? I encountered Laura and Jennifer. They were two young mums on a night out together, their husbands looking after the babies at home. They were not going to go over the top, but they were in very high spirits, and we soon ended up posing for each other. As these pictures reveal. This is Laura.

Damn. That slip again. Jennifer is in the following pictures.

That lady in the background really makes those last two shots. You must understand that we had taken over half the loo for our shoot, and off to the left were several girls looking on. 

I was still having to get up steps one at a time, because of my bad knee. And so, having said our farewells, Laura and Jennifer caught up with me again while I was still negotiating the stairway. All part of the fun, of course. 

They were in the mood for dancing. Unhappily I couldn't join them. Hey ho.