15/8/22 - updated with more details on the opening
After the shock closure of the Greenhouse, along with its stablemates The Square, back in 2020, all eyes were on the restaurant's chef Alex Dilling to see what he did next. Fast forward two years and the answer to that is he's opening a brand new restaurant at the Hotel Cafe Royal.
Called Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal the restaurant will take over the space that once housed the equally eponymously named Laurent Tourondel at The Cafe Royal, which didn't fare too well with the critics.
Overlooking Regent Street, the space is serving just 34 diners so it's quite different from what's come before. We're told to expect hand-painted silk panelling around the room and "cosy booths" so it does look like they've splashed out on a bit of refurbishment.
It'll be contemporary French food with menus changing throughout the day. They'll range from a £65 three-course lunch to a full six-course affair in the evening for £155 (plus an extra chef's menu for £195). On that menu will be:
- “Boullibase” - Marinated red mulled with cockles and oyster cream
- “Oeuf Dore” - Smoked sturgeon, potato & aged Kaluga caviar- Golden Egg
- Araguani chocolate Smoked Piedmont hazelnut, Tahitian vanilla (pictured below)
Dilling has worked with some of the best French chefs such as Alain Ducasse and Helene Darroze so we're expecting big things here. The chef himself says it "will represent everything that I love about French cuisine and being able to work with the most incredible products meticulously sourced from artisans and producers from the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe."
The Café Royal has struggled to make a real name for its main restaurant - could this finally be the one to succeed? We'll have to see.
More about Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal
Where is it? 68 Regent St, Soho, London W1B 4DY
When? 1 September 2022
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @alexdillingcaferoyal
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