London gets into festival mode

Over 600 London restaurants have already signed up to take part in the first ever London Restaurant Festival.

The week-long festival – the brainchild of legendary Evening Standard restaurant critic Fay Maschler and fellow journalist and broadcaster Simon Davis – runs from 8-13 October.

At the core of the festival lies the idea that every participating restaurant will offer a special fixed-price menu designed to showcase the spirit of its cuisine.

It is largely by means of this initiative that the organisers hope to achieve a 20% uplift in restaurant sales across the capital. However it’s also worth watching out for a host of exciting one-off events taking place in various locations across the capital.

Champagne GH Mumm is sponsoring “The Gourmet Odyssey”, which will see London’s iconic Routemaster buses transporting diners from one course to the next at a series of top restaurants, including Nobu, Hibiscus and Maze.

In Leadenhall Market, 800 people will take part in a giant Sunday Roast, cooked by a team of big name chefs, from Rowley Leigh to John Torode, Fergus Henderson and Mark Hix.

Why not try your luck on Lucky Dice Night? Participating restaurants, which include The Cinnamon Club, Racine and Salt Yard, will give you the chance to roll a six at the end of the evening and have your meal on the house.

Each night during the festival, 10 lucky diners can enjoy a meal with the London Eye as their private dining room. Gordon Ramsay and Richard Corrigan are just some of the big names timing their courses to perfection as the capsule returns to ground every 30 minutes for the next dish to be served.

One event has already been so heavily subscribed that its run is to be extended by an extra week. Pierre Koffmann will be presiding over an 80 cover “pop-up” restaurant on the roof of Selfridges.

He will be aided in the kitchen by former colleagues including Tom Kitchin, Eric Chavot and Tom Aikens, all of whom have now established themselves as serious chefs in their own right.

Despite appearances, the London Restaurant Festival does not revolve entirely around expanding your waistline, as Maschler explains: “We want to introduce different levels of appreciating food”.

As a result, the line up includes a lecture by historian Simon Schama; a chefs versus critics quiz, “Starter for Ten”, hosted by the legendary Bamber Gascoigne; and Eat Film, where guests will be able to watch a foodie film such as Goodfellas, Ratatouille or Julia & Julia, followed by a meal at a nearby restaurant with the menu inspired by its plot.

Commenting on the thinking behind this event, Maschler said: “Like all good ideas, you think, why hasn’t this been done before? London is an exceptional city and restaurants play a huge part in its warp and weft. That needs to be celebrated.”

For more information or to book tickets, click here

Gabriel Savage, 22.09.09