Recently in restaurant closure Category

Gordon Ramsay is to end his involvement in his restaurant in Dubai after more than a decade.

The celebrity chef opened Verre at the Hilton Dubai Creek hotel as his first overseas restaurant consultancy in 2001.

The restaurant, which was first headed up by Angela Hartnett and then Jason Atherton, has won numerous awards. It is currently being overseen by executive chef Scott Price who will stay at the restaurant after working with Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH) since 2003.

It is unclear whether the restaurant will change its name.

A spokeswoman for GRH confirmed that the consultancy agreement between the company and Hilton was coming to an end.

"After a regular review of our commercial operations we have decided with Verre, Dubai, that the time is right to end our consultancy agreement with them.  We would like to thank the team at  Verre for the partnership, it's a superb restaurant and we wish them all the best for the future."

Stuart Gillies, managing director of GRH, added: "We have had a good look at the business and what's not working. We're now focusing on what will work pound for pound."

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.

It's been a busy week for Gordon Ramsay.

After getting annoyed at an L.A. restaurant for refusing to serve Victoria Beckham a plain salad, posting a return profit for his restaurants, extending his contract at Claridge's for another year and making his film debut, he's now also finally sold off the Devonshire pub.

His company, Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH), has sold the Chiswick pub to the team behind the Drapers Arms in Islington. The west London pub, which has been shut for a year, will reopen next month under the ownership of Nick Gibson.

Gibson aims to run a local community pub with a commitment to providing good food and drink in a relaxed and informal setting. The kitchen will be managed by David Philpot, who previously worked with Caprice Holdings and the Soho House Group, while restaurant manager will be Ryan Hayward.

GRH put the lease for the Devonshire up for sale last June after shutting the pub as it failed to meet trading expectations. The site was sold through Restaurant Property, which is currently also marketing GRH's Warrington pub in Maida Vale. The group still runs the Narrow in Lime House.

Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH) is to continue to operate its restaurant at Claridge's but the hotel's owner, the Maybourne Hotel Group, has extended the contract by only 12 months.

The celebrity chef, who has run the former Michelin-starred restaurant at the five-star Mayfair hotel since 2001, was widely tipped not to have the 10-year lease renewed after Maybourne closed his previous restaurants at the Connaught and the Berkeley.

"While the GRH contract was due for renewal this year, it has been agreed to extend it into 2012," said a spokeswoman for Maybourne.

GRH's latest accounts revealed that Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's saw a 6.3% decline in footfall in the year to 31 August 2010. The restaurant, which was previously run by Mark Sargeant, lost its Michelin star in 2009 after seven years.

GRH previously operated four restaurants at Maybourne's London hotels including Angela Hartnett at Connaught; and Pétrus and Boxwood Café at the Berkeley. None of the restaurants' contracts were renewed upon expiry and are now occupied by Hélène Darroze; Marcus Wareing and Pierre Koffmann respectively.

The feud between Gordon Ramsay and his father-in-law and former business partner Chris Hutcheson could be reignited after Hutcheson put the Warrington pub up for sale.

Guide Girl understands that Hutcheson, former chief executive officer of Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH), has instructed property agent Restaurant Property to market the pub in London's Maida Vale, putting its freehold up for sale at an asking price of £5.5m.

However, the Warrington, which opened in February 2008, is owned 50% by Hutcheson and 50% by Ramsay outside of GRH, which means Hutcheson would need Ramsay's approval to go ahead with a sale.

GRH last year shut its Devonshire pub in Chiswick after it failed to meet trading expectations and the property is also currently up for sale through Restaurant Property. GRH still runs the Narrow in Lime House.

After all the negativity surrounding Gordon Ramsay there's finally a bit of good news.

Gordon Ramsay Holdings is relaunching the Savoy Grill on 29 November, seven weeks after the official reopening of the iconic London hotel due to "structural issues with the building".

A spokeswoman for the company said that on the first day of the booking lines opening the restaurant was "swamped" with requests. "In the first six hours we took 904 reservations and 3266 covers. 61 chef's tables amounting to 480 covers have also been booked," she said.

The former Michelin-starred Savoy Grill, which will have 100 seats in the main room and a 40-seat private dining room, will be overseen by chef-patron Stuart Gillies and offer classic Escoffier-inspired grill dishes.

Meanwhile former GRH chief executive Chris Hutcheson has started legal proceedings against the company for wrongful dismissal. Hutcheson left the group suddenly last month after 12 years at its helm.

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.

Celebrity chef Oliver Rowe has closed his London restaurant Konstam at The Prince Albert blaming its challenging location and the economic climate.

The Konstam, located near Kings Cross, first opened in 2006 offering a menu focused on seasonal, local produce, with 80% of the ingredients sourced from within and around Greater London. 

Rowe shut the restaurant yesterday (2 August) citing a combination of the recession and a challenging location as the reason for the closure.

"It is extremely sad to be closing the doors of Konstam. I have always embraced the challenges that running a restaurant bring, however, in this unsettled economic climate it was beyond me to keep up with those challenges," Rowe said.

"I am very proud of what we achieved at the restaurant and owe a huge debt of thanks to everyone who worked there with me and helped to make it such a special place. What set Konstam apart was the suppliers - the farmers and growers who provided the restaurant with so much amazing local produce were always the real stars of the show."

Rowe added that he would continue to promote sustainability and local sourcing and will now concentrate on writing a book and developing new projects.

"Despite the closure, I remain extremely positive about the future and look forward to fresh challenges and fresh ideas," he said.

Gordon Ramsay's Maze restaurant in Cape Town has closed after the One & Only hotel terminated the chef's consultancy contract.

Maze Cape Town opened at the hotel in April last year, with Gordon Ramsay Holdings' Jason Atherton at the helm as executive chef and Phil Carmichael overseeing the kitchen as head chef.

While the restaurant gained critical acclaim, rumours began circulating that the consultancy agreement was going to be terminated after Atherton quit GRH in April. These fans were flamed when Carmichael announced he was leaving the restaurant earlier this month.

The hotel has now confirmed that GRH's "engagement as a consultant has terminated".

"As a result, the restaurant at One & Only Cape Town no longer trades under the Maze brand, but the restaurant will remain owned and operated by One & Only Cape Town," it said, in a statement. "All employees who worked at Maze Cape Town are employed by One & Only Cape Town and will not be affected by the transition."

The move follows the closure of Maze Prague last year and the departure of London Maze executive chef James Durrant.

The news broke on Spill before being confirmed by Bloomberg.  

Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH) has closed one of its pubs, the Devonshire in Chiswick, west London.

The Devonshire, which opened in 2007, is one of three pubs the company owns in London which also include the Narrow in Limehouse and the Warrington in Maida Vale.

A spokeswoman for GRH confirmed that the Devonshire has closed. "The Devonshire pub has not been meeting our expectations for awhile and we have taken the decision to close it while we consider future plans," she said. 

"There are a number of options and a final decision will be made in due course."

Last year, GRH was forced to deny that the Devonshire was up for sale after it appeared in the "for sale" section on the website of property agent Restaurant Property. 

The closure of the pub comes six months after the departure of Mark Sargeant, who left GRH last November and was instrumental in the group's roll out of its three London pubs.

GRH's most recent accounts revealed that the company made a loss of more than £4m in the year to August 2008.