French Michelin-starred chef to open restaurant in London

French Michelin-starred chef Jean-Christophe Ansanay-Alex is to open a restaurant in London, Caterersearch can reveal.

The two-Michelin-starred chef, who runs the Auberge de l'Ile restaurant on l'Ile Barbe in Lyon, plans to launch a small fine dining restaurant in South Kensington in the late spring.

The yet-to-be-named venture will be housed in an Edwardian building on the site of the former Lundum's restaurant on Old Brompton Street.

Previously the site was home to Frances Atkins's restaurant Shaw's and the bistro Chanterelle.

Formerly the private chef to Christina Onassis, Ansanay-Alex is launching the London restaurant as a joint-venture with business partners Jean-Michel Aulas.

Aulas is the founder and chairman of software company CEGID as well as president of Olympique Lyonnais football club and is partnering with City trader Marc Grosjean on the project.

Ansanay-Alex's move to the capital comes just two weeks after the Connaught hotel's announcement that two-Michelin-starred French chef Hélène Darroze is to take over in its kitchen this summer following a nine-month, £70m renovation of the property.

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By Kerstin Kühn

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