La Giaconda
La Giaconda was a historic music-industry café and later restaurant in London's Denmark Street.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
La Giaconda was a café and later restaurant associated with 9 Denmark Street in London, a street widely known as part of the city's Tin Pan Alley music district. The original Gioconda coffee bar became a meeting place for musicians and people working in the music business. Among the musicians associated with the venue were David Bowie, Dana Gillespie and Elton John, who reportedly ate there and used it as a place to meet others from London's music community. The venue's importance came less from a large commercial network or packaged product range than from its location and social role. Denmark Street was historically linked to music publishing, songwriting, instrument shops and recording activity, and the café formed part of that creative ecosystem. It functioned as an informal hospitality venue where performers and industry figures could encounter one another away from formal offices, studios and stages. After the original premises ceased operating under the Gioconda name, the site subsequently became the Barino coffee bar. The Gioconda name was later revived in a new hospitality format. In 2008, the Giaconda Dining Room opened at the Denmark Street site, and it was later expanded or presented as the Giaconda Dining Rooms. The establishment was subsequently renamed La Giaconda. This later incarnation was recognized by Time Out as its best restaurant, indicating a shift from the venue's historical identity as a coffee bar toward a more formal dining proposition. La Giaconda's later operation remained tied to the cultural history of Denmark Street rather than to a broader branded restaurant chain. The business closed in 2014, during a period when the future of Denmark Street and its historic music-related buildings was subject to public concern and redevelopment debate. No reliable source material establishes a surviving corporate parent, a continuing branch network, a current owner, or an active successor brand. The name is therefore best understood as a defunct London hospitality brand and a historically notable venue associated with the capital's music scene.
History
La Giaconda's history is rooted in the Gioconda coffee bar at 9 Denmark Street in London. Denmark Street formed part of the area known as Tin Pan Alley, a center associated with music publishing, songwriting, musical-instrument retail and the wider professional music trade. In that setting, the coffee bar served as more than a conventional refreshment business. It became a social meeting point for musicians and people connected to the music industry. The original venue was associated with musicians including David Bowie, Dana Gillespie and Elton John. Their connection to the café reflects the way small hospitality businesses in central London could operate as informal industry spaces. Musicians could eat, meet colleagues and encounter other figures from the business without the setting being an official studio, office or performance venue. The Gioconda name consequently became part of the cultural memory of Denmark Street's music scene. The original coffee bar later ceased operating under that identity, and the premises became the Barino coffee bar. The site did not remain permanently disconnected from its earlier history, however. In 2008, the Gioconda name was revived through the opening of the Giaconda Dining Room. The revived business adopted a more restaurant-oriented format than the earlier coffee bar and was later expanded or styled as the Giaconda Dining Rooms. The restaurant's profile was supported by recognition from Time Out, which named the Giaconda Dining Room its best restaurant. The accolade distinguished the later establishment as a dining destination in its own right while also maintaining a link with the historic venue name. At a later stage, the business was renamed La Giaconda. Available reference material does not establish whether the renaming represented a change of ownership, a reorganization, or simply a new trading identity. La Giaconda closed in 2014. Its closure occurred amid wider attention to the future of Denmark Street, where redevelopment threatened to alter or remove parts of the area's historic music-related environment. The business did not continue as an active chain or documented national brand. Its principal significance is historical: it represents both a former London café and restaurant and a venue remembered for its connection to musicians and the Tin Pan Alley culture of Denmark Street.
- 2014
La Giaconda closes
[1]The establishment, by then trading as La Giaconda, closed in 2014.
- 2008
Giaconda Dining Room opens
[1]The Gioconda name was revived through the opening of the Giaconda Dining Room, a restaurant-oriented successor at the Denmark Street location.
Original Gioconda coffee bar operates on Denmark Street
[1]The original Gioconda coffee bar operated at 9 Denmark Street in London's Tin Pan Alley and became associated with musicians and music-business professionals.
Premises later trade as the Barino coffee bar
[1]After the original Gioconda coffee bar, the Denmark Street premises subsequently operated under the Barino name.
Venue expands as the Giaconda Dining Rooms
[1]The revived venue was subsequently presented as the Giaconda Dining Rooms, indicating an expansion or reconfiguration of the restaurant operation.
Restaurant receives Time Out recognition
[1]Time Out named the Giaconda Dining Room its best restaurant during the later venue's operating period.
Products and positioning
A culturally significant London café and restaurant positioned around hospitality, dining and association with Denmark Street's music-industry heritage.
Café service
Coffee-bar refreshments
The original Gioconda operation was a coffee bar serving refreshments to customers in Denmark Street. The available reference material does not provide a detailed menu or identify specific signature beverages.
Restaurant · 2008
Giaconda Dining Room
The 2008 revival shifted the venue toward a restaurant format. It later operated under the pluralized Giaconda Dining Rooms name and was recognized by Time Out as its best restaurant. Specific dishes, culinary concept and menu history are not established by the available sources.
Brand decisions
2008
Revival of the Gioconda name as a dining businessStrategyBackground
The historic coffee-bar identity was revived after the premises had previously operated as the Barino coffee bar.
Action taken
A new Giaconda Dining Room opened at the Denmark Street location and later operated as the Giaconda Dining Rooms.
Aftermath
The revived venue gained Time Out recognition and was later renamed La Giaconda before closing in 2014.
- Renaming as La GiacondaOther
Background
The revived restaurant business subsequently changed its trading name from the Giaconda Dining Rooms identity.
Action taken
The venue adopted the La Giaconda name.
Aftermath
La Giaconda later closed in 2014. The available sources do not identify the reason for the renaming or establish a related ownership change.
Sources1 sources
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