Alex Dilling to open eponymous restaurant at Hotel Café Royal

It is understood the site will take up the main dining space which previously housed French chef Laurent Tourondel's Laurent restaurant, which closed before the pandemic. The new restaurant will have a different look and feel and the kitchen will be completely stripped out.

Dilling said: "The opening of my restaurant at Hotel Café Royal is a culmination of my experiences working around the world and with some of the most exciting and talented chefs for over 20 years.

"Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal will represent everything that I love about French cuisine and being able to work with the most incredible products meticulously sourced from artisans and producers from the UK and the rest of Europe.

"My dream, together with my talented team, is to not only be one of the most ambitious restaurants in the country but one where our guests feel at home and can come time and time again. There is no better location for this than in the iconic Hotel Café Royal."

Guillaume Marly, managing director of Hotel Café Royal, added: "Oscar Wilde chose the Café Royal – and its unmatched wine selection – for his salon, while Winston Churchill favoured our steaks, Stilton and champagne. Even those who differed on most things, came together here to enjoy an atmosphere and range of gourmet pleasures found nowhere else, and it's clear our latest venture with Alex Dilling looks set to continue this illustrious tradition. Alex joins Albert Adrià as another world-class chef we are proud to be able to showcase to Londoners and international travellers alike."

Sheppard – who worked as PR and marketing director with Dilling at the Greenhouse and owns the coffee shop Queens of Mayfair and Café Juliette situated in Harrods – is the majority shareholder in the new venture, while Hillier has just opened the Revolve Brasserie in London's Liverpool Street.