Ibiza Lands on Oxford Street with Alto by San Carlo, Selfridges
- James Massoud
- 20 hours ago
- 3 min read
Ibiza is coming to Oxford Street. For two nights only, Alto by San Carlo at Selfridges is joining forces with the White Isle’s iconic Cotton Beach Club for a rooftop celebration of Mediterranean food, cocktails and Balearic energy.
Taking place on 29th August and 26th September, the UK-first collaboration brings together a bespoke menu, roaming caviar, Champagne, live DJs, saxophonists and percussion, turning one of London’s best-known rooftops into a little slice of Cala Tarida.
Ibiza Calling
Perched above Cala Tarida on Ibiza’s southwest coast, Cotton Beach Club has become one of the White Isle’s most recognisable beachside destinations, known for its all-white aesthetic, Mediterranean views and that particular style of Ibiza afternoon where lunch has a habit of quietly becoming sunset drinks.
For two dates, Alto by San Carlo, Selfridges is attempting to recreate some of that atmosphere in considerably more urban surroundings. Reservations begin from 4pm, allowing the experience to move from late-afternoon dining into an evening of live entertainment before the restaurant’s bar takes things later into the night.
Cotton Beach Club resident DJs will provide the soundtrack, accompanied by live saxophone and percussion performances designed to bring something of a Balearic sunset session to the London skyline.
The first event, on Saturday 29th August, arrives just in time to stretch out the last of the Bank Holiday weekend. The second, on 26th September, offers one final excuse to pretend summer isn’t quite finished.
Two Kitchens, One Menu
A special menu has been created specifically for the residency, combining Alto’s contemporary Italian cooking with some of Cotton Beach Club’s signature dishes.
From the Alto side comes red prawn tartare with burrata, lemon and pea shoots, alongside pappardelle with veal ragù and summer black truffle and tagliolini with lemon and caviar – the sort of dishes that feel particularly well suited to long lunches and rooftop terraces.
Cotton Beach Club, meanwhile, brings a distinctly Ibizan flavour to proceedings. There is John Dory with homemade Canary Island sauce, Hierbas Ibicencas sea bass baked in salt, Tom Kha saffron mussels and sirloin with chimichurri, adding a broader Mediterranean and international influence to Alto’s Italian foundations.
It is a menu that makes the partnership feel more interesting than a straightforward venue takeover. Rather than simply importing Cotton Beach Club branding to Oxford Street, both kitchens are contributing to the experience.
Caviar on Tour
Then things become rather more theatrical. Throughout the afternoon and evening, a roaming caviar belt will make its way around the restaurant serving Italian sturgeon caviar with blinis.
Dessert continues in much the same spirit. Guests can choose from a trio of Mediterranean-inspired dolci (lemon sorbet, classic tiramisu and crema catalana), while a roaming cannoli bar provides another reason not to leave the table too quickly.
There will also be Sgroppinos, the wonderfully Italian combination of lemon sorbet, Prosecco and vodka that sits somewhere between cocktail, dessert and an extremely good holiday decision. Drinks otherwise lean firmly towards the Riviera, with cocktails and spritzes joined by limited-edition tableside serves of rosé and Champagne over ice.
Subtle? Not especially. But subtlety has never really been the point of an Ibiza beach club.
La Dolce Vita
Cotton Beach Club is arriving at a particularly good moment for Alto. The Selfridges rooftop has already undergone its own Mediterranean transformation for summer, built around the Italian idea of La Dolce Vita and, more specifically, dolce far niente – the sweetness of doing nothing. A specially commissioned installation trails across the restaurant and entrance, turning the rooftop into a colourful ode to Mediterranean summers and giving the Ibiza residency a ready-made stage.
London is very good at pretending to be somewhere else during summer. Terraces become the Amalfi Coast, courtyards are decorated with an abundance of bougainvillea, rooftops discover lemon trees and Aperol consumption increases exponentially. What makes this collaboration more compelling is that one of the destinations being imitated has actually turned up.
Cotton Beach Club brings genuine Ibiza pedigree; Alto already has the rooftop, the food and the Mediterranean setting. Bringing the two together turns what could easily have been another summer pop-up into something rather more transportive.
For two Saturdays only, Ibiza is coming to Oxford Street. The hardest part might be remembering that when the lift doors reopen at street level, you’re still in W1.
