Laurence Henry, winner of MasterChef: The Professionals 2018 to open inaugural restaurant at The Island Quarter in Nottingham

MasterChef: The Professionals 2018 winner Laurence Henry has been named chef patron at Canal Turn, an upcoming restaurant at The Island Quarter development in Nottingham.

Spanning three floors, the venue is set to open in Spring next year as part of a development which will include a five-star hotel, offices and residential units. The restaurant will showcase Laurence's culinary style which saw him through to victory on the 2018 series of the BBC's professional cookery programme. 

Laurence, who worked for Sat Bains when he took the MasterChef title, had his heart set on a restaurant in his home city since 2019, but his plans were delayed due to the pandemic. 

The chef told Nottinghamshire Live that he was heavily involved in the development process, giving him "the freedom to create and evolve the project in my own direction which is incredibly rare." 

Because of this, he added, "it gives me the chance to present a guest experience unique to Nottingham and the Midlands.”

Robert Ware, CEO of Conygar, the developer behind the project, said: “We are absolutely delighted to announce Laurence as operator of Canal Turn. We have been working really closely with him for a while now and are now delighted to announce our partnership with him.

“Laurence is a well-known chef nationally and particularly in and around Nottingham; in part because of his winning BBC’s MasterChef 2018. We know that Laurence will make this venue his own with his unique style. Nottingham is on the map because of its Michelin star restaurants and we know that this will be strengthened with the addition of Laurence Henry.”