Harris steps down as Fifth Floor chef

Harvey Nichols' Fifth Floor restaurant will lose the only head chef it has ever had next month.

Henry Harris, who has run the kitchens of the 120-seat restaurant at the Knightsbridge store in London since it opened nine years ago, has handed in his resignation and will leave at the end of October to join Mayfair restaurant Hush.

The 50-seat Hush, in Lancaster Court, is owned by entrepreneur Jamie Barber and Geoffrey Moore, son of actor Roger Moore.

Harris said: "I designed the kitchen at the Fifth Floor and I opened it from scratch. I have had a fantastic time there but I have gone as far as I can go. Hush is a great site but it needs to go up a notch or two, and I can do that."

The three sous chefs who will be teaming up with Harris at Hush have all worked with him at the Fifth Floor. They are Adrian Watters, who is leaving the Fifth Floor in the next few weeks, and Jeremy Bloor and David Gale, who worked there in the past.

Gale joined Hush a couple of months ago from the Asia de Cuba restaurant at Ian Schrager's St Martin's Lane hotel. Bloor joined last week from St M, another restaurant at St Martin's Lane.

Harris will replace Simon Barnet, who left his post as head chef of Hush earlier this month. The restaurant said it did not know what Barnet was doing now.

by Louise Bozec