For the first time in 35 years the public will be able to eat in the BT Tower restaurant.
The Post Office Tower (today known as the BT Tower) was opened in 1965 by Prime Minister Harold Wilson, featuring a restaurant, cocktail bar, and public viewing gallery. Standing at 189 metres high, it held the record as London’s tallest building for 15 years.
The renowned revolving restaurant sits on the 34th floor of the tower, and makes a full revolution every 22 minutes. In its heyday the restaurant was wildly popular, serving 800 lunches and 1300 dinners every day. Muhammad Ali famously dined in the restaurant, and the tower has regularly featured on television, including appearances Doctor Who and The Goodies.
Unfortunately the restaurant closed its doors to the public in 1980, as a result of fears the location may be targeted for acts of terrorism. Since then it has been used to host corporate and charity events, but has not been available for public visitation. This summer, to mark the golden jubilee of the tower, the restaurant will be reopening, giving the public a chance to dine whilst enjoying panoramic views of the city.
Gavin Patterson, BT group chief executive, said: “I’m delighted we’re able to re-open the restaurant. The BT Tower was a unique feat of engineering when it was built and it remains an important and much-loved building today. It has been a working icon of technological innovation for 50 years and what better way to celebrate that than by opening it to the public.”
The restaurant will be open from July 25th to August 7th to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic building. The head chef for the event will be Dan Perea, who in the past has catered for the Cabinet Office and Team GB House during the 2012 Olympics. You can take a look at the sample menu for the BT tower restaurant reopening below.
The diners will be selected by public ballot, with tables available for lunch and dinner. There will be only one sitting so diners are not rushed from their tables. A four course lunch will cost £49.95 per person, or a seven course dinner will be £67.95 per person. Any profits from the reopening will be donated to the ChildLine charity.
Anyone over the age of 18 is able to enter the ballot by entering their details on the BT website. For those who miss out on the dining opportunity, a second ballot will be held at a later date to allow visitors to enjoy the views from the cocktail bar.
Sample Menu
Cauliflower veloute, baked parmesan foam, cheese straws
Charred summer lettuces, parmesan crumb, slow cooked hen’s egg, summer truffle
Roasted hake, heirloom tomatoes, smoked tomato coulis, preserved lemon
*
Heritage tomato risotto, ciabatta crumb, black olive
Spiced Gressingham duck breast, crispy confit leg, broccoli, hazelnut
Crispy courgette flower, broad bean, pea puree, ricotta gnocchi
*
Lemon posset, burnt meringue, lemon sorbet
Dark chocolate mousse, white chocolate ganache, hazelnut salted caramel ice cream
Selection of British cheeses
Petit-fours & coffee
This is a sample seven course dinner menu, lunch will be a four course menu in a similar style