MW Eat to move Chelsea's Chutney Mary restaurant to West End

The restaurant, which was opened by MW Eat chairman Ranjit Mathrani and his wife Namita Panjabi in 1990, is set to re-open on the former site of Wheeler's in St James's Street at the end of April. 

Before re-opening Panjabi and her sister Camellia Panjabi, responsible for creating the menus and design at the restaurant, will work with its chefs to create a new menu. 

The new site, which will open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, will also be split into two spaces - a 60-cover 'informal' bar area serving cocktails and food and a 110-cover restaurant. There will also be two private dining rooms. 

Mathrani said an expiring lease and the need to reach a wider audience had prompted Chutney Mary's move to a new site.

“Moving Chutney Mary, a highly-regarded, long-established restaurant, to a new location with very different demographics is an unusual and complex challenge," he said. "Hopefully the new Chutney Mary will receive the same affection as it did previously."

Masala Grill​

MW Eat, which also operates Veeraswamy and Amaya as well as seven Masala Zone restaurants, has extended the lease for the Chutney Mary site at Chelsea which it is planning on using for a new restaurant - Masala Grill. 

The restaurant space will be refurbished before re-opening in March. It will offer an 'informal but exotic ambience' with a focus on grills, street food dishes and select curries. 

"Positioning Masala Grill in a location where there are many customers with fond memories of Chutney Mary will also present its own challenges. Another interesting experience,” said Mathrani.