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Michelin-starred restaurateurs Anthony Demetre and Will Smith are to launch a new restaurant in the capital, Guide Girl can reveal.

The co-owners of the critically acclaimed Arbutus and Wild Honey restaurants are planning a third West End site.

The duo has just exchanged on a property in Covent Garden, with high end restaurant specialist Restaurant Property understood to have brokered the deal for the site off market.

The news comes after Demetre and Smith, who won the Independent Restaurateur of the Year Catey in 2008, shelved plans for a City restaurant last year.

After working together for nearly 10 years, Demetre and Smith launched their first solo venture Arbutus in Soho in May 2006 and it became an instant hit with the critics.

With Smith in charge of front of house and Demetre behind the stove, Arbutus gained universal praise for its competitive pricing policy, excellent food and its casual, non-tablecloth approach to fine dining. It scooped up a string of awards for best new restaurant and received a Michelin star in January 2007.

In July 2007, Demetre and Smith opened their second restaurant, Wild Honey in Mayfair, which quickly repeated the success of its predecessor garnering critical acclaim and a Michelin star just six months after opening.

Providing top quality food and service at affordable prices, it's great news for the London restaurant scene that Demetre and Smith are continuing to roll out their winning concept.

Anthony Demetre and Will Smith masterclass - 2008 Chef Conference 

This week's Restaurant of the Week is the 2009 Catey Menu of the Year winner, the Harwood Arms in London's Fulham.

Good beer, a simple countryside-in-London atmosphere, and unfussy yet inventive British cuisine. This pretty much sums up the Harwood Arms, which launched last October as a joint venture between rural celebrity chef Mike Robinson, publican Edwin Vaux and Brett Graham, head chef at the Michelin-starred the Ledbury.

The menu at the 60-cover gastropub is the brainchild of Graham and head chef Stephen Williams and it's a menu of exclusively English produce. Its creativity is what stands the Harwood Arms apart from competitors and marks its appeal amidst a sea of so-called London gastropubs.

And of course there's the price point: à la carte starters rarely exceed £6, mains rarely £15. The key: everything is fastidiously seasonal and, beyond the protein, the luxuriousness of the dish is in the cooking alone.

Angela Hartnett was one of the big winners at last night's Cateys, picking up the sought after Chef award.

Angela, who is chef-patron of the Michelin-starred Murano as well as the York & Albany in London, became the first female chef in the Cateys' 26-year history to receive the prestigious accolade.

It's fantastic to see a woman recognised in the traditionally testosterone-fuelled world of professional cooking and Angela truly deserves her status as the first female chef to win the Chef Catey.

She beat off fellow Gordon Ramsay Holdings chef Jason Atherton of the Michelin-starred Maze and John Williams of the Ritz to win the coveted award.

The "F" word (female, not her boss, Gordon Ramsay's, trademark expletive), is an ongoing issue for Angela and she says there are still so few women in the hospitality industry.

"If being a woman is one of the assets that make you stand out because you're in a male environment, and as good a chef as, if not better than, a man, then use it. It's part of who you are," she told Caterer last year.

"I'm not saying parade yourself naked through the kitchen - but women have certain attributes that blokes don't have and vice versa. I don't see it as a problem."

See the full list of the 2009 Catey winners here.

UPDATE

Angela winning the Chef award has made headlines beyond the hospitality industry.

The Evening Standard says: "Hartnett beats the boys to be named top chef at food Oascars", while Bloomberg writes: "Hartnett becomes first woman to win UK chef award". The Daily Telegraph says: "Hartnett has become the first female chef to win a 'Catey', one of the highest accolades in the restaurant world."

Picture supplied by Jonathan Player/Rex Features.