Clare Smyth celebrates the New Year with the news that she has secured a location for her first solo venture at 92 Kensington Park Road in London’s, Notting Hill.
After almost a decade at the helm of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea, the multi award winning chef left in April 2016 to set up her own restaurant but remained within the Group on a consultancy basis.
After many months of speculation, anticipation and planning delays throughout 2016, Clare has now signed a 15-year lease on the 3,921-sqft space and the restaurant is expected to open late Spring/early Summer 2017. The restaurant at 92 Kensington Park Road is within a mixed use building owned by Amazon Property, the leading London estate and investor developer. The agents were CBRE and Restaurant Property, representing Amazon Property and Clare Smyth respectively.
Clare explains, “It was pretty fraught at times in 2016, but I’m thrilled to have exchanged on this particular site. It was my first choice and I just love the history of the building.”
Charles Gourgey, Chief Executive of Amazon Property said: “Clare Smyth is an internationally renowned chef and her new signature restaurant at 92 Kensington Park Road will generate huge cachet for the local area, just as Leith’s did in the 1970s.”
Yet to be named, the venue will be housed within the historic Victorian building, built in 1861 and modernised in the 1960s into a mixed use building with the ground floor opened as a restaurant known as Leith’s in 1969, with Prue Leith at the helm. Leith’s went on to win a Michelin star and became a fashionable hang out for artists, actors and rock stars during its 26-year reign. Leith’s closed in 1995 and the restaurant became a local brasserie.
The site will be remodeled extensively before reopening.
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Notes to the editor
About Clare Smyth • Born in Northern Ireland, Clare first joined Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in 2002 and worked her way through the kitchen ranks to become Senior Sous Chef. She left London in 2005 to gain experience abroad before joining the team at Alain Ducasse’s renowned Le Louis XV in Monte Carlo. In 2008, she returned to London and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, this time as Head Chef and became Chef Patron four years later, retaining the restaurant’s 3 Michelin stars throughout her tenure. She left in 2016 but has remained with the Gordon Ramsay Group as a consultant. In 2013, she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the hospitality industry.
About Amazon Property • Amazon Property is a multi-disciplinary London and Home Counties estate owner, investment, development, sales and professional rental group. The Group has a £250 million portfolio of mixed use real estate assets, and over £250 million of Prime London residential property in development. Established in 1997 by Chief Executive Officer Charles Gourgey, Amazon Property has six divisions, each providing income for the Group. These divisions are: Amazon Prime, luxury residential; The Armitage Collection, professional rental division; The Armitage Vaults, the secure storage business; Amazon Commercial; Amazon hotel acquisition and development and Amazon Investment and trading. For further information on Amazon Property Group contact Tel 020 7298 8700 (corporate) or Tel: 020 7383 5952 (sales and lettings) or visit: www.amazonproperty.com
About Restaurant Property
• They use their extensive industry network and exclusive contacts list to offer unbeatable services across the whole sector, including restaurants, bars, pubs, cinemas, nightclubs and hotels. Their sales and acquisition team handle a diverse range of leisure property, working with the country’s biggest chains and estates, as well as industry-leading individuals and high-profile restaurant talents. Their disposals team have an unchallenged record of achieving outstanding results for clients looking to release equity from their property portfolios. They also provide a range of professional services for leisure landlords, from recruiting hospitality staff to fitting interiors, to surveying properties and negotiating leases.