Lorne to reopen in September after flash flood forced closure

Lorne in London's Victoria will reopen on 11 September more than three months after a flash flood left its kitchen under 2-3ft of water.

The restaurant's basement kitchen began flooding at 3.30pm on 29 May following heavy rain, and within 90 minutes was under water.

Co-owners sommelier Katie Exton and chef Peter Hall had opened the 48-cover restaurant, their first venture, in spring 2017 and it had since been awarded two AA rosettes.

Exton told The Caterer she and Hall were keen to get back to "business as usual".

"The building has been drying and it's a process that does not happen at a constant rate", she said. "Each week they come and measure it and this week we heard the drying can finish. The whole kitchen will now be reinstalled - right now all the walls have come off, the floor is up so we've got to refurbish and reinstall the whole of the basement.

"I'm really looking forward to getting back to what we do everyday, serving our customers,working with the staff we've got and continuing what we had been doing."

It's been a tough few months for Exon and Hall having being forced to close the doors of the restaurant after a successful first 16 months that saw Marina O'Loughlin describe its food as "the cure to whatever ails you" and Giles Coren left so happy he ordered a pudding.

Exon explained: "It's been quite a struggle and I think when we reopen we're also going to feel it, because we're not going to just open the doors and have the same level of busyness we had built up before we closed - even though we're letting people know."

While it may take time for word to spread the restaurant has managed to retain its kitchen team through the closure, so the glowing reviews can be expected to make a quick return.

While Exon and Hall are pleased to be reopening there will be no celebration, as she explained: "we did not want to reopen with a party or a celebration, because it wasn't a decision for us to close in the first place. We just want to get back open and get back to business as usual.

Lorne hit by flash flood>>

This much I know: Peter Hall>>

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