Clare Smyth, former chef patron of 3 Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, will open her first restaurant, Core by Clare Smyth, on Tuesday, August 1, 2017.
Located in London’s Notting Hill at 92 Kensington Park Road, Core by Clare Smyth will be a modern fine dining restaurant with a strong British ethos, in an elegant, relaxed interior.
Clare explains: “With it being my first solo venture and very close to my heart, it wasn’t easy deciding what to call the restaurant, but ‘Core’ seemed right; it’s a seed of something new, with strong ties to nature.”
Renowned for her fastidious attention to detail, her food will concentrate on a central tasting menu with 10 to 12 constantly evolving dishes. Guests will be able to order in full, or choose just 3 or 5 courses depending on preference.
Given her heritage, Clare will work closely with British farmers, fishermen and artisan producers to source her ingredients.
She said: “Brought up on a farm you understand from an early age just how good our ingredients are and how important it is to support local producers. As chefs, we have access to some of the finest native produce in the world here in Britain, and I want to continue to celebrate that in every menu.”
Wine too will play a huge part. The extensive list will have a core selection of over 400 fine wines and champagnes, but will also include some at more accessible price points. Fine wine in particular will be celebrated, with a collection that Clare, together with the sommelier team, has spent months curating. Focussing on some big names from Burgundy, Bordeaux and the north of Italy, it will also feature the cream of the crop from California. Producers will include Chanin Wines, Kutch, Liquid Farm and Ridge Vineyards as well as, for example, the BLANKbottle Winery and Badenhorst Family Wines from South Africa to name a few.
The entrance cocktail bar will seat up to 18 guests offering classic and contemporary cocktails, including a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic options that will pair with dishes on the menu.
Her dedication to British artisan producers does not stop at the kitchen, and she has sourced manufacturers from across the UK for her dining room too.
The restaurant’s crockery has been created to reflect some of her own designs, with delicate threads of copper and green representing the copper pans traditionally used for cooking and green inspired by nature. For this, she collaborated exclusively with Royal Crown Derby, one of the oldest remaining fine china manufacturers in England, who still produce in the Midlands. Her silverware too has been sourced from the UK and made by Carrs of Sheffield in Yorkshire.
Design elements will centre on a natural colour palette of stem green, aubergine, almond milk, copper and burnished gold, with a link to the exterior provided through a picture window to a feature living wall.
Access to the 54-seat main restaurant will be past a bespoke 3.2-meter table positioned directly in front of the kitchen, giving direct views of the chefs at work. Seating groups up to 10, the walnut table has been specially commissioned and can be split, offering guests the additional option of two separate tables for 4.
