Spring

Spring | Ex-Petersham Nurseries Head Chef’s Solo Restaurant in Somerset House

When highly acclaimed chef and food writer Skye Gyngell ended her extraordinarily successful run as Head Chef at Petersham Nurseries, two questions were instantly on everybody’s lips:

1) Will she open her own restaurant, and

2) How exactly is her surname pronounced?

Well the answer to question one is that she totally has opened her own restaurant. It’s called Spring, and it’s now open inside an old 19th Century drawing room at Somerset House which has been off limits to the public for over 150 years. Recently refurbished to its former glory, it’s a suitably spring-like space (being, as it is, filled with lambs and daffodils flooded with light from large windows that look out onto Somerset House) where Skye and her team are serving up a menu of dishes that change each day and reflect the current season.

To understand how this “seasonal menu” works in real time, consider the following highlights from October: slow cooked pork shoulder; turbot with bone marrow and porcini; burrata and speck with pickled pumpkin; and warm chocolate cake with candied chestnuts and sweet cream.

The answer to question two – which is obviously important to nail down before discussing Spring with anyone – is that Skye’s surname is pronounced “Gyn-gell”. In order to deliver it perfectly every time, just think about how you’d pronounce the surname of Jake and Maggie “Gyllenhaal” and then remember that it should always sound very different to that.

Ok, you’re good to go.

NOTE: Spring is open daily for lunch and dinner. You can reserve a table online HERE.

Spring | Somerset House, Lancaster Place, London, WC2R 1LA

Like being in the loop about the city’s newest bars and restaurants? Check out our excellent guide to recent openings in London