In a quiet street in West Kensington, a portal into 1890s Paris is now open. The Lost Estate’s new show, La Chat Noir, offers a fine dining and immersive entertainment experience, and we were there last night.
It’s our second time at a show here, following The Great Christmas Feast. Tonight, the space is transformed by Thomas Kirk Shannon (set), Susan Kulkarni (costume), Mike Gunning (lighting) and Luke Swaffield (sound).
It’s a decadent collection of feline art, atmospheric lamps and lights, period banners, stained glass, and low-level mist. Here, the staff are welcoming, from the characters to the waiters.
It is a long evening – we arrived at 6.15pm and left just after 10.30pm – and an expensive one, with seating options starting from £149.85 per person. We were seated in the VIP section (£239.85 each).
The experience combines a three-course meal, drinks, and the three-act cabaret. We opted for the vegetarian and non-alcoholic options. Although the evening invites the audience to “get drunk”, you can always get drunk on art and life!
The food was very good: a starter of mushroom pate with bread, pickles and cheese; a main of vegetable farce, truffled spinach and potato duchesse; and a lemon tart.
Drinks included a welcome fizz and a choice of four cocktails (elderflower sadly sold out before I could sample it). Alcohol drinkers have wine and absinthe drip options included in some packages.
The performance was split into three sections: Art, Absinthe, and Anarchy. M Rodolphe Salis (played by co-writer Joe Morose, ‘the dandy king of cabaret’ last night) was our host, guiding us through the madness of La Chat Noir.
His four cohorts are the beautifully voiced and graceful Muse, Yvette Guilbert (Shitfaced Showtime founder Issy Wroe Wright), Dancer Cléo de Mérode (burlesque performer Coco Belle), the touching and playful Mime Paul Legrand (Alexander Luttley), and Magician Joseph Buatier (the peerless Neil Kelso).
Music is a vital part of La Chat Noir. M Erik Satie himself (played by Alex Ullman) is in residence on the piano. A violinist (Guy Button), cellist (Peteris Sokolovskis), accordionist (Áine McLoughlin) and percussionist (Will Fry) reinterpret French classical motifs of the period.
The strongest part of the evening’s performance is the Art section, running for an hour and allowing each lead performer to shine. Following the serving of the evening’s main course – at 8.30pm – the look and feel of the night changes.
The fever-dream approach of the Absinthe performance pulls us into a fog of intoxication under green lights. By Anarchy, anything could happen, but this portion of the show feels more low comedy than high art, with one routine definitely more panto than prestige.
The evening ends with a lively, quick-fire interpretation of Carmen, allowing farce, freedom and feminism to fuse together in the spirit of the club collective atmosphere in which we are all accomplices.
La Chat Noir is not as well-paced as it could be – and with audiences invited to arrive from 6pm, it is a long time before any entertainment happens, despite the best efforts of staff and performers to mingle. The starters are already on the tables, but if you eat them early, it is a long wait for the main course.
The ambience is welcoming and warm, the wait staff well-trained and offering impeccable service, although they disappear while the performances are in progress so as not to overcrowd the room.
From our seats – a comfortable nook for two – we could see everything going on in the room without having to look behind us or move around. Other options are further away, or more in the thick of the action.
Ultimately, what you get out of La Chat Noir is up to you. For the price of an average West End stalls seat, you can join the fun – for a little more, you can splash out, even adding oysters, snails or frog’s legs at additional cost.
I enjoyed the evening, but the pacing needs to be looked at to ensure a streamlined experience that doesn’t leave diners hungry, and the Anarchy section could use a tweak.
I’m giving this 3.5 stars. Do go and experience The Lost Estate’s latest creation if you want to catch the craftsmanship and commitment the 100+ strong team has created.
La Chat Noir is booking until June at The Lost Estate – details here.
Photo credit: Nick Ray