Ladbroke Hall: Notting Hill’s home for dining, art and music

Ladbroke Hall has been a fixture in Notting Hill since 1903, when it opened as the Clément-Talbot car showroom, Britain’s first purpose-built car factory. Designed to resemble an English country house, the building has since served a variety of roles, from producing military vehicles during the First World War to housing Thames Television in the 1980s.

Today, under the vision of Loïc Le Gaillard and Julien Lombrail, co-founders of Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Ladbroke Hall has been reborn as a “stage for the arts”, a space where design, music, cuisine, and creative thought intersect. It welcomes artists, performers, and the curious alike to explore, engage, and be inspired, offering a programme of exhibitions, live music, and talks that showcase the best of London’s cultural life, all under one roof.

Dining

Pollini is the on-site restaurant at Ladbroke Hall, offering an Italian dining experience that mirrors the creativity and elegance of the venue itself. Led by acclaimed chef Emanuele Pollini, named Italy’s Best Chef by Gambero Rosso in 2020, the kitchen celebrates seasonality and quality, producing dishes that are both inventive and ingredient-driven. From the handmade pastas to the seafood plates and artisanal breads, each dish is crafted with evident care and attention to detail.

Click here for our review of Pollini at Ladbroke Hall.

Pollini at Ladbroke Hall. Image credit Melisa Coppola

The Gardens

Ladbroke Hall’s 12,500 sq ft garden is a remarkable feature of the Notting Hill venue. Designed by Chelsea Flower Show winner Luciano Giubbilei, it is planted with bamboo and maple trees and features a 1944 Jean Prouvé pavilion alongside sculptures by artists including Wendell Castle and Won-Min Park. Originally conceived as a temporary post-war housing solution, the pavilion exemplifies Prouvé’s innovative approach to prefabricated architecture and has been carefully restored to preserve its original design. The garden’s thoughtful layout provides a tranquil setting for alfresco dining at Pollini and a rare sense of calm in the heart of the city.

The Garden, Ladbroke Hall. Image credit -Benjamin Baccaran.

Art

Carpenters Workshop Gallery is a defining feature of Ladbroke Hall, bringing contemporary art and design into focus within the venue’s creative programme. The gallery is an international platform for functional art and collectible design, championing both emerging and established artists while encouraging work that pushes conventional boundaries. It presents a dynamic schedule of exhibitions and artist talks, offering opportunities to engage with innovative ideas and design approaches.

Real Time series by Dutch designer Maarten, Carpenters Workshop Gallery. Image courtesy of Carpenters Workshop Gallery.

Past exhibitions have included work by artists including Ingrid Donat, Charles Trevelyan, Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, Wendell Castle, and Roger Herman, reflecting the gallery’s commitment to both established and emerging talent. Its current exhibition, Lightness of Form (17 September – 1 November 2025), by British designer Terence Woodgate in collaboration with Formula 1 engineer John Barnard, explores carbon fibre in furniture design, balancing movement, form, and usability.

During Frieze Week, Carpenters Workshop Gallery will open Rust Never Sleeps (14 October - 14 February 2026), an exhibition by Rick Owens Furniture. Curated by Michèle Lamy, it features sculptural tables, beds, and seating inspired by London’s brutalist architecture, celebrating how metal transforms under the effects of time and environment.

Image courtesy of Ladbroke Hall.

Music and nightlife

Live performance is an integral part of the experience at Ladbroke Hall, reflecting the vision of co-founder Loïc Le Gaillard. Introduced to jazz at a young age by his father, he spent formative years visiting Ronnie Scott’s while the club was still under Ronnie Scott’s own direction. Le Gaillard sought to create a space where jazz could be celebrated in an intimate, engaging setting, a vision now realised in the Sunbeam Theatre.

Image courtesy of Ladbroke Hall.

Each week, the theatre hosts live jazz concerts, classical performances, and Breakthrough Beats, a platform for emerging artists. Curated by saxophonist Zhenya Strigalev, the programme balances established names with rising talent, while guests can enjoy a specially designed Jazz Menu from Pollini. October highlights include the Jean Toussaint Quintet on 3 October, Elaine Delmar on 17 October, and Giacomo Smith & The Hot Five on 24 October, featuring a modern take on pre-swing jazz classics with an all-star line up including Mercury-nominated trumpeter Laura Jurd.

Ladbroke Hall will also be one of the host venues for the EFG London Jazz Festival, with performances by artists including the trio By All Means, tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens, bassist Ben Street, and legendary drummer Billy Hart, delivering melodic, harmonically rich jazz inspired by Wayne Shorter, Kenny Wheeler, and Duke Ellington. Beyond jazz, the venue hosts late-night events such as Ladbroke Lates with DJ Arkestra, spinning jazz, funk, disco, and global sounds in a lively, intimate setting. The performance programme complements Ladbroke Hall’s broader calendar of talks, exhibitions, and creative gatherings throughout the year.

Click here for the full programme of jazz events at Ladbroke Hall this autumn.

Image courtesy of SANCTUM/ Ladbroke Hall

Wellness and live events

Ladbroke Hall’s programme extends beyond dining, music, and art. Wellness initiatives such as Sanctum combine ecstatic dance, martial arts, and primal fitness to create energising movement experiences, often followed by brunch at Pollini.

Meanwhile, artist talks, panel discussions, and other live events foster community engagement and dialogue, emphasising the venue’s role as a platform for ideas as well as entertainment.

Location: Ladbroke Hall, 79 Barlby Road, Notting Hill, London, W10 6AZ. Website: ladbrokehall.com. Instagram: @ladbrokehall