Owner of Living Room in Chiswick High Road given drinks licence until 2am at weekends

The Kitchen and Living Room; website

Owner Shahid Hirji given extended drinks licence despite objections

The owner of The Kitchen and Living Room in Chiswick High Road has been granted an extension to his licensing hours for the downstairs bar until 2am at weekends and on the nights before public holidays.

Shahid Hirji opened the basement bar, Living Room, at 299-303 Chiswick High Road a year ago and opened the ground floor of the premises as a restaurant, The Kitchen, three weeks before Christmas. Previously the premises was the Republic Indian restaurant, which he has knocked through into a takeaway pizza place next door.

He already had a licence to have both live and recorded music in the basement bar and the ground floor restaurant until 1am and the venue has already gained a reputation as:

‘a chic, upscale cocktail lounge and event space known for its stylish, modern-yet-cozy interior, soft lighting, bespoke cocktails, and DJ-led nightlife on weekends, creating a sophisticated yet warm ambiance for drinks and socializing – a destination for curated music, crafted drinks, and an “elevated nightlife experience” on the Chiswick High Road’.

Living Room; photograph tagvenue

The application to extend weekend drinking by an hour was opposed by both Hounslow Council’s Senior Principal Regulatory Officer from its Environment department, and by Cllr Joaanna Biddolph, in whose ward The Kitchen and Living Room is.

READ ALSO: Owner of The Kitchen and Living Room in Chiswick High Road applies for drinks licence until 2am at weekends

At Hounslow Council’s Licensing Panel on Monday 22 December there was a lot of discussion about the containment of noise. Mr Hirji explained there were doors at both the bottom of the stairs to the basement and at the top and he had security guards posted at both locations. It was only if both the bottom door and the ground floor door to the street were open at the same time, that sound leaked out.

Representing Mr Hirji, licensing agent Stewart Gibson suggested to the Panel that if the Regulatory Officer would be happier, they would drop the appliction to extend the licensing hours in the ground floor restaurant.

The officer Steven Maunders told the Panel there had been eight complaints about the premises since September, mainly concerning noise, and dropping the application to extend the licence for the ground floor restaurant would help with noise management.

Living Room; photograph tagvenue

‘We need to encourage businesses like this as they represent what we need in Chiswick’ – Cllr Ranjit Gill

Cllr Biddolph’s colleague Cllr Ranjit Gill, who also represents Chiswick Gunnersbury ward, wrote to the Licensing Panel to offer his support to Mr Hirji’s application.

He was not at the meeting on 22 December, but in his submission, he pointed out that both Connolly’s Bar opposite and The Old Packhorse pub a few hundred yards down the road had licences until 2am and that granting a late licence would be good for the nighttime economy of Chiswick:

‘It will help the economy grow and provide an alternative place for our young and club goers an extra alternative. The place is well decorated and provides an upscale venue without having to go into central London. We need to encourage businesses like this as they represent what we need in Chiswick’, he wrote.

The Kitchen and Living Room Instagram

Cllr Biddolph has opposed the development of The Kitchen and Living Room from the outset.

READ ALSO: Chiswick Councillor ‘smears’ local businessman over licensing application

READ ALSO: Owner of new Chiswick restaurant granted alcohol licence despite objection from councillor

Living Room; photograph tagvenue

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