Emily Roux to open London restaurant Caractère
Roux and her husband Diego Ferrari, who is currently head chef at her family’s restaurant Le Gavroche in Mayfair, will open Caractère later this year.
It means Roux, who is the daughter of Michel Roux Jr and granddaughter of Albert Roux, will be the third generation of the family to operate her own restaurant in the UK.
The c2,500 sq ft Notting Hill site was formerly home to the Bumpkin restaurant and has some notable neighbours, including The Ledbury and Granger and Co.
BigHospitality reported in March that the chef had put an offer on a site with Ferrari. Speaking at Hotelympia, she said she would like the menu to offer a mix of French and Italian food with “accessible” pricing.
She added that she would like the restaurant to have a sustainable focus, and was partnering with a grower to transform kitchen waste in to compost to grow vegetables.
Roux trained at catering college in France before working in the kitchens at Alain Ducasse’s three-Michelin-starred restaurant Le Louis XV in Monaco and then Akrame in Paris.
She returned to the UK to work for Restaurant Associates and also runs a pop-up series at Le Gavroche with her father, Michel Jr.
Property advisors AG&G secured the Caractère deal.
“Our client is delighted to have secured such a prestigious family name and reputation into its premises,” says James Grimes, director at AG&G.
“The attention to detail of Emily and her advisors so far as the planned fit out is concerned, bodes well for the business focus they will have when it opens. I am sure it will be a great success.”
