French chef Cyril Lignac to open Bar des Prés in London

French television chef and restaurateur Cyril Lignac is planning to open a version of his Paris restaurant Bar des Prés in London this spring.

It will be the first international launch for Lignac, who held a Michelin star at his Paris restaurant Le Quinzième for eight years until it closed in 2020.

The chef has published more than 40 cookbooks and is a familiar face on French television, judging Le Meilleur Pâtissier, a Gallic version of The Great British Bake Off.

His 100-cover London opening will be spread across two floors on Mayfair’s Albemarle Street, with counter dining on both levels.

It is set to be an "evolved" version of Bar des Prés, which launched in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area of Paris in 2016.

While the original restaurant focused on raw food, the UK menu will draw inspiration from both French and East Asian cuisines and carry a wine list of nearly 250 French varieties.

Dishes are set to include crunchy crab galette; madras curried crab with avocado; and satay fillet steak. Desserts will be based around French pâtisserie, including Lignac’s take on French toast and a vanilla and pecan praline mille-feuille.

Lignac said: “I have always adored London, its culture, its energy and lifestyle. I naturally wanted to open a restaurant in London to spend more time there, but also – most importantly – to integrate myself in the community, discover a new way of working, a different sensitivity and a new type of creativity.”

Lignac grew up in Aveyron and learned his trade working with chefs and pâtissiers including Nicole Fagegaltier, Alain Passard and Pierre Hermé.

In 2005 he was spotted by a television producer and began presenting his own cooking show* Oui, Chef!*, a spin on Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Kitchen.

He has since presented programmes including Le Meilleur Pâtissier and* Tous en Cuisine*, which launched during the spring 2020 lockdown.

Lignac now runs four restaurants in Paris: Le Chardenoux, Aux Pres, Ischia and Le Bar des Prés, alongside the Dragon cocktail bar and six chocolaterie and pâtisserie stores.