Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, star of the Glenfiddich Award-winning BBC2 series The Naked Chef, is taking on a chef consultancy role at the Knightsbridge club, Monte's.
Twenty-five-year-old Oliver, who worked as a senior sous chef at London's River Café until he shot to TV fame last year, is overseeing the refurbishment of the club's 70-seat restaurant and bar and drawing up its new menu.
He is also responsible for recruiting a new nine-strong kitchen brigade.
The existing brigade, including head chef Yannick Daniel, will work notice until 1 July, when the restaurant will close for a three-week refurbishment. They were given one month's notice of the personnel changeover, said D'Arcy Smith, Monte's club manager.
"I need to get my teeth into a restaurant," said Oliver, who is bringing in former River Café colleague Ben O'Donohue as head chef. "We've got a great team of young boys and girls and we can't wait to get it all going. Monte's is a beautiful space and we're going to be serving up some really tasty food."
For the first time since its 1995 launch Monte's will be opening its doors to the general public for lunch service. It will remain a private members-only club in the evenings.
"Lunchtime tends to be quiet," said Smith, "so we wanted to attract some more business at midday. We want to attract a younger membership, too, so Jamie suits the way Monte's is going."
The restaurant is jettisoning its 1930s ocean liner decor in favour of a more clean-lined, modern look.
The menu will be based around rustic Italian food, Oliver's speciality, and average spend per head is expected to be about £40 for three courses.