Boisdale restaurant will reopen with live music that ‘does not contravene’ government guidelines, it says

The founder of restaurant group Boisdale has said it will continue to host live music events when it reopens its Belgravia restaurant next week, a move contrary to government guidance discouraging musical performances.

The Scottish restaurant, which has hosted live music on a nightly basis for 21 years, will reopen Boisdale of Belgravia on July 8. It has confirmed that it will host a residency by Frank Sinatra impersonator Stephen Triffitt from July 14 to August 15, as well as a jazz trio every Sunday from July 12.

Currently, government guidance says that “venues should not permit live performances” and that they should also “ensure that steps are taken to avoid people needing to unduly raise their voices to each other”, which includes “refraining from playing music or broadcasts that may encourage shouting”.

“After carefully studying the Government’s advice concerning live music performances, I do not consider all live music is contrary to HMG Guidelines,” founder and managing director Ranald McDonald said in a statement.

“It is counter intuitive that pre-recorded music, at a volume that does not cause customers to raise their voices, is acceptable in restaurants and bars, but not live music at the same volume,” he continued.

“Fortunately, the advice, as we understand it, is set out as firm guidance and is not statutory.”

The restaurant has written a set of “Boisdale Live Music Covid-19 Protocols”, to comply with the government’s call to “mitigate the risks of aerosol transmission” of the virus.

Protocols involve barring brass or wind instruments “which could funnel and blow possible contagion” from its jazz trio, making sure all musicians are socially distanced by 1.5 metres and placing perspex screens around on-stage vocalists to separate them from the audience.

Boisdale has said that dancing and singing from audience members will be prohibited, and that sound will be “vigilantly controlled remotely by management” to ensure that the “volume of music is maintained at a level to ensure that the dining audience can easily converse over a table without raising their voices”.

The Boisdale group also has three more London restaurants in Mayfair, Bishopsgate and Canary Wharf, but has so far only released reopening details for its Belgravia location.

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