Thomas Keller plans Harrods pop-up restaurant

By Becky Paskin

- Last updated on GMT

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Thomas Keller's London pop-up venue will be open for just 10 days
Thomas Keller's London pop-up venue will be open for just 10 days
Thomas Keller plans to launch a pop-up restaurant at Harrods in November, BigHospitality can reveal.

The restaurant, which will be an incarnation of both his US restaurants Per Se in New York and the French Laundry in California, will be his first venue in the UK.

The venue will run for just 10 days.

‘Fun’

Speaking to BigHospitality at the Bocuse d'Or in Lyon, Keller said: "We’re trying to do a promotion with Harrods so that would be kind of fun. The UK and certainly London has always been something that's been available to me but I just haven't taken the opportunity yet."

Keller added that he wouldn't be interested in running the restaurant for longer than 10 days, as Pierre Koffmann did with his pop-up restaurant at Selfridges last year.

"Even if it does prove popular I think 10 days is enough for us."

No rush for London

Plans are still to be finalised for the pop-up, but while Keller is excited about his first venture into London, he said he wasn't ready to find a permanent home in the city.

"I'm really happy with the restaurants I have now. For us it's a three year process to open a restaurant so I'm in no rush."

Thomas Keller has often been described as a strict chef with zero room for error, and the Michelin-starred chef agreed.

Strive for perfection

"We have to all strive for that position in life where we continuously move toward perfection, knowing that we'll never realise perfection but it continues to drive us and stimulate us in so many different ways.

"If we stop trying to do a better job tomorrow than we've done today we'll become a little bit complacent.

"Certainly there's no room for any complacency in any restaurant; especially a great restaurant. Being a perfectionist has always been a label that's put on me and I'm fine with that."

Keller is the President of the USA Bocuse d'Or entry, which will compete alongside the UK tomorrow.

Follow BigHospitality on Facebook for updates live from the Bocuse d'Or.

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