Tucked away in a stunning, candlelit former courthouse, Sessions Arts Club serves artful European dishes in a glamorous yet cozy setting that's perfect for a romantic night out.
"Getting a booking at Sessions is one of the toughest reservations around, and that’s just one reason some people will be put off. Glamorous, sceney, and very likely to rack up an enormous bill—this Clerkenwell restaurant is the epitome of a love/hate silly little sharing plates spot." - jake missing, heidi lauth beasley, sinead cranna
"Sessions is the kind of place you daydream about when you’re thinking about the perfect grown-up restaurant for your birthday dinner. It’s almost entirely lit by candles, the ceiling feels 100 feet high, and the artfully dilapidated room looks like a setting for a raucous party scene in a Paolo Sorrentino film. The food is rustic, tasty, and European, and the wine list is similarly brilliant." - jake missing, rianne shlebak, sinead cranna, heidi lauth beasley
"First impressions may not be everything, but the one Sessions Arts Club makes upon everyone cannot be understated. The feeling is wonder. Pure, unadulterated, Disney-ish wonder. Not at big mouses or giant turkey legs, but at a towering balconied room. A home to waltzing candle flames and charming staff who serve nonchalantly elegant food made for swilling and seducing over. This is an adult kind of wonderment: at improbably long panisse, lusciously interchangeable squid and calamarata, a wine list that wills you to stay forever, columns that would have Kevin McCloud keel over, and the wondrous feeling of hours flying by in a perfect restaurant on Clerkenwell Green." - heidi lauth beasley, jake missing, rianne shlebak
"For anyone who has ever typed ‘artfully distressed’ into Pinterest. You enter Sessions, in Clerkenwell, through a red, lantern-lit door, via a wonderfully hazy Diptyque-ish and boudoir-like reception desk, before being directed into a small brass-detailed lift. The drama of which must never be understated. The lift takes you to a vast, regal room with carefully distressed walls that are art-covered, and the entire place feels like it’s solely lit by flickering candlelight. You could picture a modern day Miss Havisham holding up the bar here. Only she wouldn’t be wasting her time alone, she’d be having an illicit affair. Or some equally seductive buttery squid, tomato, and calamarata." - heidi lauth beasley, rianne shlebak
"Sessions Arts Club is for anyone whose dream view is carefully distressed, art-covered walls, and a vast, regal dining room lit solely by flickering, throbbing candles. It’s easily one of London’s most glamorous and grandiose restaurants, and even the reception at this modern European spot in Clerkenwell has a wonderfully hazy Diptyque-ish and boudoir-like feel. The food—crab croquettes, panisse, chocolate tart—is all plate-mopping stuff and feels as special as the space itself. Try and get a booth on the upper level so you can look down on the space in all its dilapidated glory." - rianne shlebak, jake missing, sinead cranna
