Locatelli to open in London hotel

Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli has signed a deal to open his own independent restaurant at London's Churchill Inter-Continental hotel.

The restaurant, named Locanda Locatelli, will be on the site of the hotel's former Clementine's restaurant.

In Italy, a locanda is a rustic farmhouse where guests can eat and sleep.

The restaurant will open at the end of January or the beginning of February and will have 90 seats.

The food will be modern Italian and the average price of a meal with wine will be £25-£35 per person.

Locatelli was chef-proprietor of Zafferano's, the one-Michelin-starred restaurant in London that is part of the A-Z group.

He split with A-Z restaurants in March, a month after it was confirmed that he was acting as a consultant for Cecconi's restaurant in Mayfair, London.

Locatelli still has a shareholding in Zafferano's.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 13-19 September 2001