French Table owners take over Stepping Stone

Battersea restaurant the Stepping Stone has shut and been replaced by a new operation from the owners of the French Table in Surbiton, Surrey.

The new 60-seat restaurant is called the Food Room and opened on Queenstown Road this week. The owners, husband and wife team Sarah and Eric Guignard, said the kitchen would serve French-Mediterranean food at about £45 a head, including drinks.

Eric who heads up the kitchen at the French Table, will be executive chef at the new operation but day-to-day operations will be run by Sebastian Mondoulet, formerly at the Capital Hotel in London. Sarah, who runs front-of-house at the French Table, will also be based in Surbiton.

"The French Table has been open three years and has been so successful we felt it was time for a new challenge," Sarah said. "The new restaurant will be quite different in style from Surbiton but will have the same high standards of food and service."

Gary and Emer Levy, the former owners of the Stepping Stone, sold the restaurant for £150,000 but were not available for comment. It is understood they have moved to France.