The editor and writer Alexandra Shulman has been a Late Night regular at Arlington (formerly known as Le Caprice) for decades. Now a columnist at The Mail on Sunday, she continues to visit once she’s made her weekly deadlines, and on a recent Thursday evening, she was joined by Dr Xavier Bray, the director of the Wallace Collection.
SO ALEXANDRA…
Is the Late Night a habit or aberration for you?
I was the child of a theatre critic. We would often have dinner when he came home after the first night, so I have always been used to eating late. I find something dispiriting about early dinners.
What makes a Late Night enjoyable, versus a chore?
Late Nights are all about anticipation. It’s essential to look forward to the company you are going to share.
What are the qualities endemic to a Late Night companion?
A Late Night companion must never start the meal complaining about their health or how tired they are. Usually, eating late is a special event and you want your fellow diners to feel privileged to be taking part in them. I like everyone to arrive determined to enjoy themselves.
Sounds like you made a perfect choice.
I took Dr Xavier Bray with me who is director of The Wallace Collection, where I am a trustee. Xavier is an inspirational leader of the museum and his passion for the place is contagious. He is also very funny and energetic. I had never had a meal with him one-on-one before so I thought this would be the perfect occasion to get to know him better. And it was.
What did you eat and drink?
I had a vodka and tonic to start with, and then two glasses of Picpoul. I ordered Tomato and Basil Galette, because that’s what I have been ordering at this spot for at least thirty years and it is still delicious, and Salmon Fishcakes with Sorrel Sauce. I resisted my own pudding, but Xavier chose one and of course I dug in.
The best day of the week for a Late Night is….?
Thursday. I have always liked Thursdays because there is the weekend to look forward to. You’ve knocked most of the week on the head.
What is your favourite time of year (or weather) in which to enjoy a Late Night?
I am a summer person, and my favourite Late Nights are when the light doesn’t go down until after ten o’clock. It makes you feel the evening could go on forever. But Arlington is a good winter spot—it’s glamorously cosy.
Will you share your favourite memory of Arlington or Le Caprice (in the Jeremy King era)?
I have so many memories of Arlington when it was Caprice but my favourite is the family birthday dinners we would have there with my siblings and parents and any current attachments. As a family, we rarely went to restaurants, but birthdays at Le Caprice became a tradition when we were adults, and they always started with a bottle of champagne from Jeremy.
ALEXANDRA’S DOSSIER
Hometown: London.
Go-to dinner: Usually I cook at home, and we eat about 8.30. I never order takeaway.
Cocktail: Vodka gimlet with Roses lime juice.
Workout: I try to run—without much success—two or three times a week.
Bookshop: Daunt’s in Marylebone is my favourite bookshop, although I also love browsing in the bookshop at the Serpentine Gallery.
Current projects: I write a weekly Notebook for The Mail on Sunday along with features for the daily paper, and I’m working on two books. One, a collection of essays and the other, with a co-writer, is fiction set in the magazine world of the 90s.
Any recommendations for us? The Channel 4 adaptation of the novel Trespasses by Louise Kennedy is unmissable. Unlike most of the Netflix nonsense I binge, this has stayed with me. Peter Doig House of Music at the Serpentine is very special and different.
XAVIER, IT’S YOUR TURN!
Is the Late Night a habit or aberration for you?
I enjoy eating late, having lived in Madrid as a student and working as a curator in Bilbao. Eating tapas at a bar and talking away with friends is one of my favourite moments of the day. You feel you have seized the day and by 21.00 it’s time to enjoy one’s achievements with small portions of delicious concoctions accompanied by a caña (glass of beer) and conversing with good friends from all walks of life.
What did your evening entail before you joined us for dinner?
I had just taken a group of patrons around the Wallace Collection’s display of Caravaggio’s Cupid, a painting I like to describe as the most provocative painting in art history. The special part of the evening was to walk around with fake candles so that we could simulate how it would have originally been seen when Vicenzo Giustiniani, friend and patron of Caravaggio, had the painting in his palace in Rome.
What makes a Late Night enjoyable, versus a chore?
A total abandonment of daily preoccupations and anxieties.
What are the qualities endemic to a Late Night companion?
To be able to look at each other directly in the eye and be totally present in time.
You and Alexandra seemed to have a grand time together.
I was delighted to have a tête-à-tête with her and be able to talk about lots of things in no particular order. She also happens to be my Trustee at the Wallace Collection, so it was wonderful to enjoy the informality of the setting and allow us to get to know each other better.
What did you eat and drink, and why?
A Negroni to start, then Crispy Duck and Watercress Salad and my favourite, a Lobster Soufflé, with Crème Brulée as dessert. I had a delicious organic red wine from Etna to accompany my dinner.
If you could Late-Night with absolutely anyone on the planet—no offence to your companion—who would it be?
If I could bring him back to life it would be Francisco de Goya, the Spanish 18th-century painter who I wrote my Ph.D. on. He was a bon vivant with an excellent sense of humour and he would have drawn me a few sketches on my napkin. If the person has to be alive, then it would have to be Gary Oldman. I have a few questions to ask him about the way he played the role of Churchill in The Darkest Hour.
What is your favourite time of year (or weather) in which to enjoy a Late Night?
It would have to be late autumn, when it is dark outside. I hate being inside when it is light. I’d rather be having an evening picnic en plein air.
The best day of the week for a Late Night is….?
Thursday evening, so that you can look forward to a more relaxed Friday—that’s when I go to other people’s museums and galleries to check out what is happening in the art world.
Do you have a favourite memory of Arlington or Le Caprice?
It was my first time [at Arlington] but it felt as if I had been there before. Maybe it is the nostalgia I experienced that evening. I love places that are like time capsules—the Wallace Collection is one—and Arlington shares that timeless quality.
Any parting thoughts?
Late Nights are when we are at our most creative and relaxed. I just hope places like Arlington continue to exist!
XAVIER’S DOSSIER
Birthplace: London.
Neighbourhood: Shepherd’s Bush.
Go-to dinner: Tapas at the bar.
Cocktail: Negroni.
Workout: Swimming in the Serpentine.
Bookstore: Daunt’s.
Current projects: Churchill the Painter exhibition for the Wallace Collection, opening in May.
Any recommendations for us? Caravaggio’s Cupid at the Wallace Collection. The mise-en-scène is theatrical, but as it would have been when shown behind a green curtain in Vicenzo Giustiniani’s Palazzo in Rome in 1602.
