Tripping the Light Electric

As Notting Hill’s favourite cinema turns 100, Ilona Varga pays tribute to the iconic blue sign, and what lies behind its doors

Above: The Electric's red curtain

The Electric has graced the tourist mecca that is Portobello Road for the last century, and in its current incarnation is, as Soho House CEO Nick Jones puts it, “home from home”: sumptuous without being opulent; beautiful, yet comfortable.

“It is a stunning place with a great history,” says Jones, “and is regarded by Londoners and locals with lots of affection. It was a combination of these different factors which made it so irresistible.”

The Electric first opened in 1908 as an art-house film cinema. Above it were flats (now a swish members bar), and to the left a supermarket (where you’ll find the Electric Brasserie), but the cinema closed in 1992, unable to compete with mounting cineplexes in the area.

Soho House took the lease over seven years ago and rapidly set about transforming the space. “The original concept for the Electric was to play on its colourful history of antique dealers, drug dealers and wheeler dealers,”says architect Ilse Crawford. “It’s Jimmy Hendrix meets Jimmy Choo.”

The cinema’s classical design was preserved, with the necessary addition of modern comforts. The plush leather seats beg to cosy up in, with the kind of footrest all cinemas should sport. The Electric Brasserie’s dark wooden tables can be found occupied at any time of the day. Ladies-who-brunch sip peppermint tea, jeans-clad entrepreneurs power lunch and Notting Hillites wine and dine as the sun goes down.

Tickets to special martini screenings of the new Bond film Quantum of Solace with Daniel Craig are on sale now. Time to indulge your inner super sleuth...

Electric, 191 Portobello Road, W11 2ED
020 7908 9696