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

The Kitchen and Living Room; website

The Council’s Senior Principal Regulatory Officer and Cllr Joanna Biddolph object to the drinks licence being extended

The owner of The Kitchen and Living Room in Chiswick High Road has applied to extend his licensing hours 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 ago. Previously the premises was the Republic Indian restaurant, which he has knocked through into a takeaway pizza place next door.

He already has 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’.

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.

Living Room; photograph tagvenue

The officer Steven Maunders told the Council’s Licensing Panel on Monday 22 December there had been eight complaints about the premises since September, and his department had sanctioned Mr Hirji for breaching waste management regulations.

Mr Hirji told the meeting he had underestimated the amount of waste the bars would create. They had stacked the rubbish at the back of the building and ordered a skip which had failed to turn up, but he had rectified the problem by ordering bigger waste bins.

He said he was only aware of one complainant who had complained several times. He had spoken to her as recently as the day of the Licensing Panel and she was now happy.

Cllr Biddolph said she had received more complaints than that, but representing Mr Hirji, licensing agent Stewart Gibson told the Panel that as these had not been presented as evidence they were just ‘hearsay’, and the Council’s legal officer present at the meeting agreed they should not be taken into consideration.

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 Monday, 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.

Stewart Gibson also pointed out the Government had recently published new guidelines for licensing authorities instructing them to prioritise economic growth, and he quoted them:

‘When making licensing decisions all licensing authorities should consider the need to promote growth and deliver economic benefits’.

The Kitchen and Living Room Instagram

Cllr Biddolph urged the Panel to turn down the application on three grounds:

‘There is a high risk that this business, and the way it is run, will lead to an increase in crime, risks to public safety and public nuisance’, she wrote in her submission.

In the meeting she added residents did not trust Mr Hirji to stick to any agreement made on noise or managing the number of people congregating outside the premises.

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

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

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Living Room; photograph tagvenue

The Kitchen’s owner withdraws application for 2am licence in ground floor restaurant during the meeting

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.

During the meeting Mr Gibson asked the environment officer whether he would be happier if the extension to 2am applied only to the Living Room bar in the basement. Mr Maunders said he would, so Mr Hirji withdrew his application to extend licensing hours until 2am for the ground floor area.

The Panel, chaired by Cllr Dan Bowring, said they would try and let him know the outcome before Christmas, as it would affect his New Year trading.

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