Recently in D&D London Category

Lee Bennett, executive chef at Le Pont de la Tour, is to leave the London restaurant to move to Singapore and join the Swissotel the Stamford.

Bennett, who has been at the helm of the D&D London owned restaurant near Tower Bridge for more than three years, will depart for Singapore at the end of August. His replacement has not yet been announced.

He will join the five-star Swissotel the Stamford as executive chef of its Equinox Complex, which includes five restaurants and bars as well as four private dining rooms with a total capacity of 900 covers.

In his new role Bennett will be in charge of the Equinox restaurant, which includes three private dining rooms, as well as the New Asia nightclub which also serves food.

Commenting on his move Bennett said: "I've been at Le Pont de la Tour for three and a half years and in that time have had lots of offers but it had to be something really special to get me to leave. This offer came out of the blue and it's a fantastic opportunity for me."

Bennett, who joined Le Pont de la Tour in 2008, has worked under three-Michelin-starred chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Pierre Gagnaire and Alain Ducasse. His first head chef position was at the Michelin-starred Savoy Grill, under executive chef Marcus Wareing, where he won the Craft Guild of Chefs 'Restaurant Chef' award in 2007.

Tim Tolley, executive chef at Spice Market, the new London outpost by US-based French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, is leaving the restaurant just weeks after it opened.

US-born Tolley, who returned to work with the three-Michelin-starred chef after running D&D London's Plateau for six years, helped launch the restaurant housed at the W hotel London Leicester Square. He previously worked with Vongerichten at Vong at the Berkeley where he was head chef until it closed in 2003. Former Vong and Plateau manager Bertrand Pierson will remain as general manager at Spice Market.

Commenting on his departure Tolley said: "Yes I am leaving. There's no specific reason, it just feels like the right thing to do. I have no future plans as yet but will definitely stay here in the UK."

When asked whether his departure had anything to do with the scathing review Spice Market received from the Telegraph's food critic Matthew Norman, Tolley said: "It has nothing to do with that. This decision was made some time ago.

"I still have a good relationship with Jean-Georges. I'm not sure when I will be leaving, it will be when they have found a replacement."

Spice Market opened in the 192-bedroom W Hotel London Leicester Square in February. Serving a menu inspired by South East Asian flavours, it is the sister restaurant to the original Spice Market in New York's Meatpacking District and marks Vongerichten's return to London after nearly eight years.

What was your best subject at school?
Maths - the school head was my teacher and I was scared of her

What was your first job?
Washing up at Redcoats farmhouse hotel and restaurant in Hitchin, Herts. I used to turn up in my chef whites just in case the chefs needed a hand in the kitchen

What do you normally have for breakfast?
Fresh mint tea - it's my only vice

What is your favourite restaurant?
A little buffet restaurant in Sweden, where I love the cured herrings and flatbreads

What is your favourite hotel?
Hotel Madrisa in Gargellen, in the Austrian mountains. It's fantastic for skiing and has its own organic farm

What is your favourite food/cuisine?
British - I'm British through and through, in taste and preference and manner

Which ingredient do you hate the most?
Tomato ketchup

Are there any foods/ingredients that you refuse to cook with?
Okra - it's slimy and flavourless

Cast away on a desert island, what luxury would you take?
A bunch of mint, a kettle and a cup

Which person in catering have you most admired?
Michel Roux

What daily newspaper/website do you read?
BBC news in the morning, and Metro on a Wednesday for its restaurant review

Describe your ultimate nightmare
An epidemic that wipes out the world's mint

When and where was your last holiday?
The Maldives over two years ago

Tell us a secret...
My twins were conceived in the Maldives, hence no more holidays

If not yourself, who would you rather have been?
James Bond - who wouldn't?

When did you last eat a hamburger?
Two weeks ago - they are a guilty pleasure of mine

What is your favourite prepared product?
Marmite

What do you always carry with you?
A bunch of fresh mint

What's your favourite film?
The Italian Job - the original

What's your favourite book?
I'm infatuated and I always have my nose in a book involved in the industry - such as Fast Food Nation and Not on the Label

Tristan Welch, head chef, Launceston Place, London

The winner and finalists from the BBC's MasterChef competition will cook at a pop up restaurant hosted at D&D London's Meza next month, as part of the London Restaurant Festival.

MasterChef winner Dhruv Baker will be joined by finalists Tim Kinnaird and Alex Rushmer at Soho's Meza during the festival, which runs from 4 to 18 October 2010.

Baker, who will be heading up the kitchen every night with Kinnaird and Rushmer joining him every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, said: "We're so excited that we've got the opportunity to work together again."

D&D London marketing director Simon Willis added: "Nearly seven million people watched Dhruv become this year's MasterChef champion and the three finalists did capture the hearts of food lovers across the country.

"We're delighted to be working with them to provide the platform for their first 'pop up' together and particularly during London Restaurant Festival."

Allan Pickett, head chef at the Aviator hotel in Farnborough, Hampshire, is leaving the property to return to restaurant group D&D London.

Pickett, who previously worked with D&D London (formerly Conran Restaurants) at Orrery, Bluebird and the Aurora restaurant at the Great Eastern Hotel, has been appointed head chef at Plateau in Canary Wharf.

He will start at the restaurant, which is located on the fourth floor of Canada Place, on 7 June replacing current head chef Tim Tolley, who has overseen Plateau since its launch in October 2003 and is returning to the USA.

Pickett said he was "very excited" to be returning to the capital. "I joined the Aviator about two years ago and it was a great opportunity for me to diversify," he said. "But I do miss London. It's got a more discerning clientele and keeps you on your toes."

Pickett added that while his cooking at the Aviator had been traditional English, he was returning to his roots at Plateau offering a modern French menu with Mediterranean influences. "I would really like to introduce a tasting menu at Plateau," he said.

Pickett joined the 169-bedroom Aviator, which is a joint-venture from operator Ken McCulloch and Farnborough Airport, in 2008. He was previously head chef at the then Michelin-starred Orrery in Marylebone before joining Chris and Jeff Galvin as head chef at Galvin Bistrot de Luxe in 2007.

Groves won the competition after a gruelling final under the watchful eyes of judges Michel Roux Jr and Gregg Wallace in which he beat fellow competitors private chef Marianne Lumb and agency chef Daniel Graham.

The judges praised Groves for his innovative style of cooking. "Steve has got what it takes, he oozes talent and really pushes the boundaries," said Roux.

Groves said: "This is the proudest moment of my life. To achieve this is unbelieveable."

The final of Masterchef: The Professionals comprised four days of challenges.

These included a patisserie challenge hosted by London restaurant Sketch and judged by a panel including Michel Roux Snr, chef-patron of the Waterside Inn and holder of the coveted Meilleur Ouvrier de France for patisserie.

Another challenge saw the contestants create a three-course menu for a dinner held at London's Browns hotel for some of the UK's most acclaimed chefs with more than 40 Michelin stars between them. They included Pierre Koffmann, Alain and Albert Roux, Raymond Blanc, Michael Caines, John Campbell and Phil Howard. 

The Masterchef: The Professionals final culminated in a cook off during which the chefs each created a three course meal.

Groves's winning menu comprised a starter of roast quail with morels, asparagus and quail's Scotch egg; followed by roasted venison with potato rosti, watercress purée, roasted beetroot and red wine jus; and mille feuille of raspberry and bitter chocolate and honey lavender ice cream. 

You might recognise head chef Tristan Welch from this year's Great British Menu series where he impressed judges with his rhubarb and custard crumble ice cream (pictured below).

He joined Launceston Place in autumn 2007 from the former Pétrus where he worked under Marcus Wareing. The move saw the young chef not only front his own restaurant but also switch from modern French to modern British cooking.

Launceston Place is perched among rows of quaint multimillion-pound housing - all stucco frontages and cherry blossom gardens - and there's certainly no lack of loaded local custom here for Welch to woo. Interiors include chocolaty walls, white tablecloths and a convivial, chic feel that maintains a formality to suit the moneyed Kensington crowd.

Welch's menu is littered with seasonal British produce - nettle, peas, asparagus, rhubarb - a springtime Top of the Crops.