606 Club

This iconic door­way is the entry to one of Europe’s finest jazz clubs. It’s the 606 Club in Lots Road, a stone’s throw from fash­ion­able Chelsea Har­bour. No lesser author­ity than Jamie Cul­lum has described it as “London’s best music venue”. Curi­ously, there is no 606 Lots Road, the Club takes its name from 606 Kings Road, where the Club spent the first 11 years of its life. In the best tra­di­tion of jazz clubs, its suc­cess is meas­ured by atmo­sphere and enter­tain­ment val­ues rather than décor or fur­nish­ings. With its metal stairs, stark brick walls and bare wooden tables and chairs, one critic has likened it to a Chica­goan Speak­easy dur­ing prohibition.

All this pres­ages fine enter­tain­ment and good food at afford­able prices. Pro­pri­etor, Steve Rubie, took on the Club from the ori­ginal founder over 30 years ago and the “6”, as it is known to its mem­bers, con­tin­ues to attract the best in musical tal­ent. Him­self a respec­ted musi­cian, Steve has worked with the world’s finest musi­cians, many of whom have per­formed at the Club, includ­ing John Dank­worth, Claire Teal and Mica Paris. In fact, as many as ten bands per­form here weekly, mak­ing the 606 the biggest employer of Brit­ish and UK-based jazz talent.

There is no stage as such; acts per­form eye­ball to eye­ball in close com­mu­nion with their audi­ence. Food is served at table, cheek by jowl with your neigh­bour. If this leads you to lower your expect­a­tions of the cuisine, then the sur­prise is that much greater when you real­ise the food is of a remark­ably high standard.

In charge of the kit­chen these past 14 years is Jean-Pierre, known to all and sun­dry as “JP”. His menu offers a choice of seven mains, accom­pan­ied by an eclectic wine list. You would really have to party hard to break a £50 note — and that’s not just for a meal, it rep­res­ents a full night’s enter­tain­ment. Where else in afflu­ent Chelsea could you find such value?

Most diners con­clude their meal with a cof­fee and, dis­sat­is­fied with his sup­plier, Steve turned to Café du Monde, who installed a free on loan cafetière ser­vice. Now, the qual­ity of the cof­fee is without ques­tion and served in an eleg­ant way that does full justice to a fine meal.

Says Steve: “In frus­tra­tion, I turned to the man­ager of my other estab­lish­ment, Lot’s Lar­der, just round the corner and he recom­men­ded Café du Monde. We haven’t looked back since and that was two years ago. Not only is the cof­fee top rate, it’s afford­able and just as in the jazz world, it’s a bonus to be able to deal with nice people!”

For Club details see www.606club.co.uk

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