Ex-Chiltern Firehouse head chef to open London venture

Patrick Powell, former head chef of celebrity hotspot Chiltern Firehouse, is set to open a new restaurant in Stratford offering modern European cuisine.

Allegra will open on the seventh floor of the new Manhattan Loft Garden development in Stratford next month.

Owned by Harry Handelsman’s Manhattan Loft Corporation, the London-based property development company behind the restored St Pancras Renaissance hotel and Chiltern Firehouse restaurant in London, the Manhattan Loft Garden skyscraper will include residential appartments, a hotel, three sky gardens and two restaurants with a triple-height lobby featuring a nine-metre high fireplace.

The 180-cover restaurant will overlook the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offer guests the opportunity to dine outdoors in the hotel’s sky gardens, which will also be used to grow fresh produce for the restaurant’s kitchen.

The restaurant will feature a Scandinavian-style stone bar and a walk-in wine room, with details of the menu and wine list yet to be unveiled.

Powell’s culinary history includes stints at Wild Honey, Demetre at Tower 42 and most recently as head chef at Nuno Mendes’ Chiltern Firehouse.