Rowley Leigh returns to London to oversee the Don

Chef Rowley Leigh is returning to London to guide the kitchens at City restaurant the Don this autumn.

The chef, who previously ran the acclaimed Kensington Place in Notting Hill and Le Café Anglais in Bayswater, will oversee Rowley Leigh at the Don from November.

He has created a menu of “refined but unfussy” dishes for the menu, including raw bluefin tuna with horseradish and dripping toast; a ‘carpaccio’ of figs and raw ceps with chilli crumbs; maple glazed partridge with succotash; and a roast turbot loin with shrimps and girolles to share.

The menu will also feature some "old favourites” from Kensington Place and Le Café Anglais.

Leigh will work alongside executive head chef Madhi Chawki and head chef Simon Robinson, who will serve the menu on a daily basis. David Gleave of Liberty Wines has created a wine list to pair with the dishes while general manager Benoit Auneau will oversee the dining room.

Leigh said: “I have always loved the Don. It will be a treat to come back to the City: my first head chef job was at Le Poulbot in Cheapside about a hundred yards away so it will be fun to come back. 

“My cooking may have changed a bit but the old school principals still apply; do justice to the ingredients and keep it simple. The menu won’t be a greatest hits album but there might be a couple of old favourites lurking around.”

Leigh worked at the Roux family’s Le Gavroche and Le Poulbot in the 1970s and 1980s before opening Kensington Place in 1987. The Notting Hill restaurant was an instant success and was credited with helping to kickstart the renaissance of London dining.

Leigh left the business in 2006 and went on to open Le Café Anglais in Bayswater, which was sold in 2014.

He worked with Sam Harrison as culinary director of Sam’s Riverside around its opening in Hammersmith in 2019 and ran a residency at Notting Hill’s Laylow last year.

Gleave said: “Rowley and I go way back and have enjoyed many a glass together talking about what the Don is to become – it’s such an institution and we want it to be the place to go for people in the city."

Rowley Leigh at the Don will open from Monday to Friday for lunch and dinner.