London: The Gourmet Capital

Joel Antunes, the high-profile chef of 1990s fame is returning to London with a new restaurant at the Park Plaza Hotel by Westminster Bridge next year. If that weren’t enough, the culinary legend Pierre Koffmann, who was most recently seen at his pop-up restaurant on the roof of Selfridges during the London Restaurant Festival, has just decided to open a fulltime restaurant somewhere in central London.

This is fantastic news for foodies living in and around London, and is yet another sign that the culinary elite regard London as the world’s greatest gastronomic hotspot. The city has traditionally vied with Paris and New York for the accolade of Foodies Mecca, and it seems that London diners are voting with their wallets when it comes to eating out. With over thirty top restaurants reporting that business has been better than expected during the recession, and with the likes of Le Gavroche and other leading haute cuisine institutions totally booked out until January, these are good signs that London is still a world class city for both fine dining and a diversity of cuisine.

We will be visiting the three above mentioned restaurants when they are open for business, and we are especially excited to see Koffmann back at the helm. As one of Marco Pierre White’s greatest mentors, Koffmann’s legendary cuisine is sure to rock the London dining scene as it did once before, with bold flavours and rustic Gascon generosity.