Chef Dom Taylor (pictured) has launched the Good Front Room restaurant at the Langham London hotel following his victory on Channel 4’s Five Star Kitchen: Britain’s Next Great Chef.
It comes after the grand finale of the cooking competition aired on 14 July.
The programme, which gave competing chefs the chance to run their own restaurant at the five-star hotel for six months, was filmed at the Langham and judged by the hotel’s culinary director Michel Roux Jr, pastry chef and hospitality consultant Ravneet Gill, and restaurateur and chef Mike Reid.
The Good Front Room, which operates in the Langham’s Palm Court space, showcases Taylor’s Caribbean heritage and south London upbringing.
Taylor studied professional cookery at Lewisham College and Hospitality Management at Thames Valley University before taking on head chef roles at Belgrave hotel in Belgravia and the Courthouse hotel in Soho. He was also previously executive chef at the Jam Tree resturant in London.
The name of his winning restaurant was inspired by Taylor’s great aunt, Myrtle, who kept a sacred room for ‘very special guests’ called the Good Front Room.
Taylor's menu demonstrates both his classical training and desire to modernise Caribbean cuisine with dishes such as jerk chicken, plantain jam, plantain crisp and blackened sweetcorn dressing; banana leaf baked sea bream with lemongrass, pimento and ginger; and toasted spiced bun, sweet blue cheese, sour cherries and spiced plantain chutney.
Cocktails such as Piña Verde with chartreuse, pineapple, coconut and lime; and Sorrel Cosmo with Grey Goose Citron Vodka, sorrel and ginger, are also available.
The design of the restaurant features palm trees, dried flowers and artwork from Caroline Chinakwe, a Nigerian-born, mixed media artist from north west London.
Taylor said: “It is a dream come true to open a restaurant at such a prestigious address as the Langham. The modern Caribbean menu we are serving at the Good Front Room brings something totally new to the world of five-star hotel dining in London, and I’m excited to get cooking!”
Roux added: “With Five Star Kitchen, we set out to find a hidden gem of a chef with an original vision to revolutionise five-star dining and to launch an exciting new restaurant at the Langham.
"Dom’s concept is personal, it’s what makes it unique, and after many months of planning and getting everything ready for the launch, I can’t wait for the first guests to try the Good Front Room.”