Former Gordon Ramsay Group CEO Stuart Gillies to open second restaurant

Stuart Gillies, former CEO of Gordon Ramsay Group, is to open a second restaurant and bar in January 2022.

Gillies parted ways with Ramsay’s business in 2018 and launched his first independent restaurant, named Bank House, in Chislehurst with his wife Cecilia in 2019.

He will open Number Eight in a 16th century corner building with a courtyard terrace in Sevenoaks in Kent next year.

The menu will be based on Gillies’ time working as a chef in cities including Stockholm, Rome, New York and London, with dishes set to include whipped cod’s roe with hazelnuts, green beans and homemade focaccia; buttermilk chicken, barbecue sauce and blue cheese shavings; and fettucine of Dorset crab, chilli, spring onions, garlic.

Wines will be kept local, with bottles from English vineyards including Kingscote, Gusbourne and Chapel Down, and biodynamic and organic varieties from Cave De Pyrenne.

Private dining space the Gallery will seat up to 16 covers and double as a space to showcase young up and coming artists in collaboration with Charlie Smedley of A Space for Art, which curates art collections for restaurants, brands and corporations around the world.

Gillies said: “The opening of Bank House in Chislehurst in 2019 has given us the perfect launch pad from which to integrate ourselves further into the local community. Sevenoaks is such a vibrant town full of incredible independent operators, we can’t wait to be part of it all, sharing our passion for good honest food and great wine with locals and visitors alike.”