Intimate: the room sits over the hotel’s entrance
(Picture: Press handout)Gordon Ramsay’s working relationship with the Savoy appears to be going from strength to strength, with the chef set to open his third restaurant inside the famed hotel on the Strand.
Following the launch of seafood spot the River Restaurant in October of last year, the chef is working on opening 1890 next month. With room for just 26 diners, it is slated to welcome guests from February 23.
Sat over the entrance of the hotel and almost directly next door to the celebrated American Bar, the restaurant is named in tribute to Auguste Escoffier, the famed chef who is credited with revolutionising both French cuisine and the London dining scene when he worked in the Savoy himself. 1890 was the year he joined the hotel, cooking to great acclaim for the next eight years or so, before he was dismissed after admitting to defrauding the hotel out of thousands of pounds.
The small restaurant will only open for supper, serving a £110 tasting menu with paired wines also available. While Ramsay is behind the operation and it is likely his name that will draw the crowds, heading up the kitchen will be James Sharp in the role of executive head chef. Sharp previously was Ramsay’s senior sous at Petrus, the Michelin-starred French spot in Belgravia.
“The tasting menu is seasonal modern French with European influences, prepared with great flair under the very talented executive head chef James Sharp and our hand-picked team,” said Ramsay. “It’s the third gastronomic jewel operated by our restaurant group at The Savoy and we’re incredibly excited to offer this new experience.”
Speaking exclusively to the Standard, Ramsay added: “Honestly, I’m very excited about this opening! The chance to celebrate the great Escoffier is a privilege I do not take lightly.
“The restaurant is stunning, and the incredibly talented team some of the best in London under James, who I am really happy to have at the helm. The menu will be a tasting menu only, a truly elevated dining experience. Incredible ingredients from providers I know and trust – like all my fine dining restaurants – and this will develop and evolve depending on what is in season.”
Ramsay added that signature dishes would include “vol-au-vent Lobster with a fragrant herb purée; caviar bisque; the Veronique garnish with the beautiful turbot and Champagne velouté and the stunning sauce Bordelaise accompanying the beef short rib – dishes that are, I hope, befitting our reference to the great M. Escoffier.”
Sharp said the opening fulfilled a long-held ambition of his: “It’s always been a dream of mine to run an intimate tasting menu restaurant in such a beautiful location.”
Alongside Sharp, the restaurant will be run by manager Sarah Rhone, who moves from Phil Howard’s acclaimed Elystan Street, with Emanuel Pesqueira as head sommelier. Pesqueira most recently worked at 67 Pall Mall, the private members’ club best known for its enormous wine collection.
The hotel, for their part, seem equally excited as all on Ramsay’s team. Franck Arnold, who joined the hotel as managing director just prior to the opening of the River Restaurant, said: “With 1890, our third exciting collaboration with Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, our guests will have a wonderfully contrasting choice of restaurants within The Savoy. Aesthetically stunning, with an elevated menu as befits its surroundings, 1890 reflects The Savoy’s history of providing luxurious, innovative experiences and we are very much looking forward to its opening.”
The announcement comes almost two decades since Ramsay took over the Savoy Grill, in 2003.
