Harrods calls in another wave of big-hitting international chefs for overhaul of fourth floor

27-Sep-2023 - Last updated on 29-Sep-2023 at 19:01 GMT

Related tags Harrods Ashley Saxon Fine dining Chefs London

Early 2025 will see Harrods overhaul its fourth floor restaurant portfolio by bringing in four high-profile international chefs as part of an ongoing shake up of its F&B.

One of the restaurants has already been revealed as chef Dave Pynt’s Singaporean-born modern Australian barbecue concept Burnt Ends, which is currently ranked 34 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

The other three are understood to have been secured but are yet to be revealed.

Speaking to Restaurant, director for restaurants and kitchens at Harrods Ashley Saxton said that all of them will mark the UK debut of an international chef with “multiple Michelin stars”.

The news comes as the Knightsbridge department store gears up to relaunch its ground-floor-level Grade-II listed Dining Hall.

Due to open on 7 October, the new iteration of the Dining Hall will also put the spotlight on international chefs.

Masayoshi ‘Masa’ Takayama will be the headline act, with the US-based sushi master being joined by ramen-specialist Neha Mishra, Greek-born-but-Canada-raised chef Athanasios Kargatzidis and two-Michelin-star Verona-based chef Giancarlo Perbellini.

Out with the old

The concurrent opening of the four new restaurants in either Q1 or Q2 2025 will replace Angela Musa’s patisserie, The Levant Bakery and the Dim Sum Terrace pop-up.

The only existing fourth floor restaurant to remain is Gordon Ramsay Burger and The Harrods Tearooms.

“I’ve opened about 60 restaurants in my time including at least 20 permanent restaurants at Harrods,” Saxton says. “But this is the launch that I’m really excited about.”

Ahead of these changes, The Harrods Tearooms will be rebranded to The Georgian as it is “brought back to life” by David Collins Studio with a design and F&B concept that will explore the history of afternoon tea.

The Harrods Tearooms is expected to close in April next year and reopen the following October. Saxton hints that the revitalised The Georgian could well become a blueprint for Harrods tearooms overseas.

“Harrods started out as a tea merchant. Afternoon tea is something we must have ownership of. It is our aim to offer the best afternoon tea, not just in the UK but globally. We do an amazing afternoon tea already, but we can do it better.”