Tom Kerridge is to open a new restaurant at what was Massimo on the ground floor of the Corinthia hotel in London.
The restaurant has been operated by the Corinthia since the hotel parted company with Italian chef Massimo Riccioli in 2012.
It will close in June for a rebrand, which will include interior design by David Collins Studio, and reopen as a relaxed British brasserie-style dining room run by Tom Kerridge. It is expected to launch in September.
Kerridge had been planning to open at the Rib Room restaurant at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower last year until Dubai Holdings, owner of Jumeirah, appeared to change its intentions for the restaurant. It would have been the chef's first opening in the capital.
Having now completed a deal with Corinthia London, the 2017 Catey Chef Award winner said that the menu for his new opening would take inspiration from his current sites in Marlow, the Michelin-starred pub The Coach, the Butcher's Tap, and two Michelin-starred The Hand and Flowers.
Corinthia hotel managing director Thomas Kochs said that bringing Kerridge to the Corinthia fitted with the hotelâs aim of providing guests with an experience of true British hospitality.
"Itâs a great milestone in the history of the hotel," he told The Caterer.
"The conversations with Tom have been a pleasure on many fronts. When you talk to him about food, hospitality and people, itâs just inspiring. The staff are in the right place to create phenomenal restaurant.
"The new restaurant will add definition and charisma and character to the food and beverage offering."
Kochs confirmed that the existing Massimo restaurant would be closed for six to eight weeks for "a substantial facelift, so that itâs a recognisably new space".
He added that the opening would also mean a change of direction for the hotel's Northall restaurant, which currently offers a seasonal British menu.
Kochs said: "To have Tom Kerridge as a British chef at the hotel will change the direction of the food and beverage considerably. Northall will continue to operate as a hotel restaurant, but with a different culinary direction so that thereâs no competition in house."
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