Set to commandeer the London Eye this October, eleven of the capital’s most respected chefs will transform its viewing capsules into a mini restaurant as part of the 2010 London Restaurant Festival.

Introduced just last year, the festival was jointly founded by London Evening Standard food critic Fay Maschler and Simon Davis who together also run a restaurant consultancy called A Private View.

Running from for a two week period from 4-18 October, the unique restaurant experience is designed to raise awareness of the restaurants which are foregoing their leading chefs for the occasion as well as tapping the seasonally-related increase in restaurant trade.

Able to seat up to 10 diners, the pod-style restaurant will be catered for on a nightly rotation by chefs from some of the city’s finest outlets including Gordon Ramsay, Angela Hartnett (chef patron, Murano), Richard Corrigan (Corrigan’s Mayfair), Giorgio Locatelli (Locanda Locatelli) and Francesco Mazzei (L’Anima).

During the festival’s initial 2009 event, the pods were auctioned off each night, with Gordon Ramsay’s capsule restaurant fetching £23,000, the proceeds of which were donated to the charity StreetSmart.
Cooking on the ground as opposed to the logistically-tricky on-board alternative, a different course will be served as the pods come full circle.

Dizzyingly high dining concepts are not unprecedented amongst the city’s leading chefs, former three Michelin-starred chef Pierre Koffman having recreated La Tante Claire as an 80-cover pop-up restaurant on the roof of Selfridges as part of last year’s London Restaurant Festival.

Photo:Swgreed

Posted by Matt on the 21st June 2010