London restaurant Papillon on the market?

Papillon, the French restaurant in London's Chelsea has closed, with owner Soren Jessen exploring the possibility of selling the restaurant.

The move comes after Jessen, who also owns One Lombard Street in the City, was refused planning permission to extend the restaurant. 

"We have had a number of tremendously good years at Papillon, and I wanted to develop the site for an exciting new and more casual concept," Jessen said.

"Once we realised it wasn't going to be possible at the Papillon building, we regretfully took the decision to look elsewhere for the perfect site. We may still come up with a new concept for this site, or we may sell outright."

Papillon first opened in 2006 on the site of a former Thai restaurant. It last year appointed a new head chef, Tom Hempstead, to lead a change of direction for the restaurant.

Jessen has appointed restaurant specialist property agent Davis Coffer Lyons to advise on options for the restaurant.