Gordon Ramsay reveals plans for Le Gavroche site
Gordon Ramsay has secured a lease on the site which was once home to Le Gavroche a year after Michel Roux Jr closed the legendary restaurant down.
The long goodbye to Le Gavroche on 43 Upper Brook Street finally concluded in January 2024 when the restaurant shut its doors for the final time, with the closure announced in August 2023.
Although Le Gavroche as a brand has survived in the form of pop-ups on cruise ships and at Roux’s daughter’s restaurant Caractère, and indeed Roux himself has been kept busy with his Chez Roux restaurant at The Langham, the address which housed Le Gavroche, the first restaurant in the UK to gain three Michelin Stars, since 1981 (having moved from its original 61 Lower Sloane Street site, where it opened in 1967) has been lying dormant for the past year.
However, now no less of a figure than Gordon Ramsay has swooped in. It first became clear that Ramsay had plans for the location last week when Union Street Café, part of his restaurant group, applied to Westminster Council for a license transfer for the premises.
Ramsay, himself one of the many alumni of Michel and Albert Roux’s kitchen, has signed a 15 year lease on the site, and plans to place Matt Abé, chef patron of his three-Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, behind the stove of the as-yet-unnamed 43 Upper Brook Street dining establishment.
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“Le Gavroche holds some incredible memories from my early career. When I heard the property was going to be available, it felt like the right moment to support Matt and come full circle with a restaurant that I loved so much,” said Ramsay, as reported by The Standard. “It has been incredible watching Matt grow throughout the 18 years we have worked together. He is such a talent and now is absolutely the right time for him to take this next step in his career.”
Abé’s solo venture, the first of his career, is expected to open later this year. He described the opportunity as “a dream come true” and thanked Ramsay for “his support, [and] the faith he has shown in me”.
2025 is already proving to be a big year for Ramsay, with the celebrity chef, TV presenter and restaurateur recently partnering with Formula 1 on a new hospitality offering, and opening London’s highest dining experience with a new development at 22 Bishopsgate.
These moves come amid a major restructure of Ramsay’s restaurant empire, with all of his eateries on both sides of the Atlantic (totalling some 94 restaurants) now unified under Gordon Ramsay Restaurants. Ramsay and private equity investor Lion Capital will each hold a 50% stake in the business.
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