Roussillon was a

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

on 16 St Barnabas Street in the

Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...

district of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It held a Michelin star from 2000 until 2011. The restaurant's name comes from the village in the Lubéron rather than the Catalan region. As of June 2012 the restaurant has ceased trading. The restaurant was named by Chef Alexis Gauthier after acquiring it in 1997 in partnership with James Palmer and his brother Andrew, who had made their money from the New Covent Garden Soup Company. It had previously been named Marabel's, but new ownership, combined with the confusion of Marco Pierre White's new restaurant

Mirabelle Mirabelle plum (''Prunus domestica'' subsp. ''syriaca'') is a cultivar group of plum trees of the genus ''Prunus''. It is believed that the plum was cultivated from a wild fruit grown in Anatolia. Description The mirabelle is identified by it ...

's, opening in the same week, prompted the name change. Roussillon has held its Michelin star since 2000. The restaurant offers a blend of

French cuisine French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...

with

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

seasonal vegetables. Favourite dishes include Blue Bembridge Lobster, Colchester Oysters, wild rabbit from the North Downs and Scottish venison. The herbs and vegetables are freshly picked each morning in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. It was the first restaurant to introduce a "garden" menu degustation for vegetarians, which made the news for its 5–course Flower Menu of petals and floral essences coinciding with the

Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the Great Spring Show,Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural So ...

. In 2005, Roussillon dropped chicken from the menu in response to the 2005 bird flu outbreak. Roussillon was the first restaurant ever reviewed by

Giles Coren Giles Robin Patrick Coren (born 29 July 1969) is a British columnist, food writer, and television and radio presenter. He has been a restaurant critic for ''The Times'' newspaper since 2002, and was named Food and Drink Writer of the Year at th ...

, in

Tatler ''Tatler'' (stylised in all caps) is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. It focuses on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper and upper-middle c ...

magazine. Chefs who have worked in the kitchen of Roussillon include Frederic Chabbert of Petrus,

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, Chatree Kachornklin of La Table de Tee in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, and Alexis Gauthier. Gauthier is due to launch a new restaurant at Lindsay House with Roberto Della Pietra, the previous head

sommelier A ''sommelier'' ( , , ), ''chef de vin'' or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the ''s ...

at Roussillon. Gauthier will retain his share of ownership in Roussillon. Roussillon's residence itself was previously built after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

bombing.

References

{{Coord, 51.49035, N, 0.15214, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title European restaurants in London Restaurants established in 1997 Defunct French restaurants in London

See also

References