Phil Howard takes over Tom Aikens restaurant site

Revered chef Phil Howard, who sold his two Michelin star The Square in March, is to open a new restaurant venture on the former site of Tom Aikens in Chelsea.

Named Elystan Street after the road it resides on, the 64-seater modern European restaurant will open on 27 September.

Elystan Street is a collaboration between Howard and restaurateur Rebecca Mascarenhas, who owns the Michelin-starred Kitchen W8 in Kensington.

Rather than take early retirement, Howard is keen to “stay at the stoves” as he still has a lot to say about food.

Interiors are bright and contemporary, featuring air force blue and salmon seating, teal leather banquettes, and resin spun pendant lights.

Focusing on British ingredients, among the dishes on offer will be smoked mackerel velouté with Porthilly oysters, leek hearts and eel toasts; and roast calves’ sweetbread with truffled autumn slaw, seeded nut butter.

Also plated up will be roast grouse with celeriac and pear purée, root vegetables and elderberries; and roasted figs with goat’s milk ice cream, lemon and thyme fritters and olive oil.

Prices reflect the Chelsea postcode – a three-course lunch costs £42.50, while dinner mains start at £22.

Curated by head sommelier Yann Prigent, the wine lists stretches to 200 bins, with 19 by the glass from £7 and bottles from £26.

Howard and former business partner Nigel Platts-Martin owned The Square, which has held two Michelin stars for the last 19 years, since 1990.

In March the pair sold the Mayfair restaurant to Marlon Abela, owner of The Greenhouse and Umu in Mayfair.

The Square has just appointed Japanese-born Yu Sugimoto as its executive chef, former head chef of the three star restaurant at the prestigious Le Meurice hotel in Paris.