AJ Records, London’s first Urban Culture Dining Club, will open at the former Hakkasan Hanway Place in Fitzrovia in early 2027. The 7,000 sq ft destination will bring together a 160-cover southern French restaurant, late-night cocktail bar, live performance venue and state-of-the-art recording studio. AJ Records has been created and developed by co-founders Josephine Garreau and Alexandre Santamaria, with French rapper, lyricist and producer Dinos as music director and shareholder.
AJ Records originated with Garreau, a French theatre actress and multidisciplinary creative raised between Corsica and the Côte d’Azur. She conceived a place where the generosity of southern French hospitality could meet the energy of live contemporary urban culture. Three years ago, Garreau approached Alexandre Santamaria and his team at AWARE Hospitality, the hospitality consultancy he founded in 2019, to help develop the concept. Drawing on more than two decades of international restaurant, brand and concept-development experience, Santamaria soon joined Garreau as business partner and co-founder. Together with Dinos, they have built relationships with artists and music-industry partners and assembled a collective of performers, lyricists and producers to shape the entertainment programme.
Opened by Alan Yau in 2001, Hakkasan Hanway Place became one of London’s most influential restaurants and later earned a Michelin star. It traded at the Fitzrovia address for 24 years before closing in February 2025. Securing the site brings the project full circle for Alexandre Santamaria, who previously held a senior global brand role at Hakkasan Group and participated in its international expansion.
Alexandre Santamaria, co-founder of AJ Records, says: “After three years developing AJ Records, we now have the opportunity to create a new chapter for a site that played such an important part in my own career. Hospitality is increasingly expected to offer more than food and drink, and entertainment can no longer be outsourced as an afterthought. Restaurateurs need to lead it with the same care they bring to their cuisine.”
Josephine Garreau, co-founder of AJ Records, adds: “We are restaurateurs and artists at heart, but we also know how to throw a proper party. The food will be cooked with love, the drinks taken seriously and, when the plates are cleared, the night will not stop – it will shift. Having worked in and experienced nightlife across global hotspots, I look forward to bringing London a distinctive, human-focused nightlife experience.”
Dinner to Late Night
AJ Records will be a destination restaurant rooted in the warmth, generosity and sociability of southern French hospitality. The menu will feature à la carte and sharing dishes, including premium grill cuts, seafood platters, tableside service and a dessert trolley. Further details of the culinary team and opening menus will be announced in the coming months. The restaurant will include an open kitchen and 12-seat chef’s table, dedicated cocktail bar, elevated booths, flexible stage and private artist lounge. Its interiors will bring together contemporary urban culture and the glamour of 1920s art de vivre. From 5pm to 8pm every day, the focus will be on food and drinks accompanied by live, unamplified performances. From 8pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, AJ Records will introduce party dining, with the energy building as the evening progresses. A 3am licence will allow the experience to continue into the early hours, while a kitchen open until midnight will ensure food remains part of the night.
A Platform for Artists
AJ Records will provide a home for established and emerging artists working across music, spoken word, slam poetry, dance and other forms of live creative expression. Programming will favour raw, live work and direct contact between artists and audiences. Selected emerging musicians will receive free access to the venue’s professional recording studio, paid performance opportunities and connections to established artists and music-industry figures. Guests will be invited to support the programme through a voluntary £5 donation to an independent artist-support association. AJ Records will pay all performers and will not add a compulsory entertainment charge. Music direction will be led by Dinos, a London-based French rapper, lyricist and producer with four platinum albums, more than one billion streams and a record of sold-out concerts. Working with a dedicated talent-scouting and production team, he will oversee the venue’s music and performing arts programme.
Dinos, music director and shareholder at AJ Records, comments: “We want to close the gap between recorded music and reality. Artists need a physical space where they can create, perform and connect directly with audiences, and AJ Records will give them that space in central London.”