What: A whopping new restaurant in the Corinthia hotel in London’s Westminster that’s taken the place of Italian restaurant Massimo.
Who: Tom Kerridge and long-term right hand man Nick Beardshaw have made their debut in the capital, having been enticed to open in the hotel by its managing director Thomas Kochs. Beardshaw comes from his head chef role at Kerridge’s The Coach in Marlow, which won a Michelin star under him.
The vibe: Kerridge and Corinthia have gone all out to create an impressive dining room with dark walls and ceilings, glass wine and meat cabinets and deep red banquette seating that screams steakhouse grandeur. The imposing room has been cleverly sectioned off throughout with seating areas, giving it an more intimate feel than when it was Massimo - it’s the type of restaurant where you could easily lose a few hours (and a couple of bottles of wine).
The food: Refined British comfort food using traditional techniques and reborn classics is how the food is described, in keeping with the cooking at Kerridge’s two-star The Hand & Flowers. Its gutsy, with starters including glazed omelette lobster thermidor (coming to an Instagram account near you soon); duck liver parfait; and coronation chicken terrine; and mains of pig’s cheek pie; rib of beef and chips; loin of venison with black pepper cottage pie; and saddle of lamb with smoked aubergine. Two huge rotisseries in the open kitchen area of the dining room will also allow the restaurant to serve an array of meats, including game, and roasted vegetables depending on seasonality.
And another thing: The room is home to two striking sculptures, ‘Steve’ and ‘Dorsal Angel’, made by no other than Kerridge’s wife Beth.
