The Ledbury in London – Brett Graham's road back to three stars

During the pandemic, The Ledbury lost both its stars. Brett Graham rebuilt, changed the menu and made a comeback in 2022 – and in the 2024 guide, the restaurant in Notting Hill was awarded its third.

In June 2020, Brett Graham announced that The Ledbury would be closed indefinitely. The distancing rules made it impossible to run the restaurant as before, and in January 2021 both stars disappeared from the Guide Michelin. This happened to one of London's most celebrated restaurants, in a residential area of Notting Hill.

It reopened in early 2022. In the 2023 guide, The Ledbury regained its two stars, and in the 2024 guide, it was promoted to three. In the Guide Michelin Great Britain & Ireland 2026, the restaurant retains all three.

Brett Graham – from Newcastle to London

Brett Graham was born in 1979 in Newcastle in New South Wales in Australia. He trained at a fish restaurant called Scratchleys and moved at the age of 18 to Banc in Sydney. After winning Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year in Sydney, he came to London in the early 2000s.

In London he worked for three and a half years as sous chef under Phil Howard at The Square in Mayfair. In 2005 he opened The Ledbury with the same owners as The Square. Phil Howard and Nigel Platts-Martin remain his co-owners.

From one star to The World's 50 Best

The first star came within a year of opening, and the second in 2010. The same year, The Ledbury was voted Britain's best restaurant at the National Restaurant Awards, and this was repeated in 2011. In 2014, it was among the top ten on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list.

Restaurant critic Giles Coren described a hushed, affluent atmosphere. It's a restaurant where Notting Hill's villa life meets an international crowd who have travelled there for the food.

A new room and a new menu

When the restaurant reopened in 2022, Rose Murray from the studio These White Walls had redesigned the dining room. The layout is largely the same, but the expression is darker and more modern. In the middle stands a serving table made of resin and precious metals, created by the London artist Based Upon, and the room's artwork revolves around cracks and faults.

The number of seats was reduced from 55 to 45 to make room for the table. At the same time, the menu became a tasting menu of around eight courses. "The old Ledbury no longer exists," Graham told Restaurant Online, "we have a new direction and a new purpose."

Venison, mushroom and truffle

Graham is known for his work with game, and he has worked with deer in Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire. At the restaurant, he grows mushrooms in his own climate cabinet. Among the dishes on the menu when the restaurant reopened were sourdough waffles with Jerusalem artichoke and black truffle, Cornish crab with soured cream and frozen citrus, mushrooms from the cabinet with potato, yeast and rosemary, and sika hind with wild garlic, baked celeriac and smoked bone marrow.

According to Wikipedia, Graham leads the kitchen together with head chef Tom Spenceley, who was previously head chef at Kitchen Table.

Notting Hill around Ledbury Road

Ledbury Road is located on the quiet streets between Westbourne Grove and Portobello Road, in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The whole of London, district by district, can be found in VERA PI's London guide, and the neighbourhood itself in our guide to Notting Hill's hidden gardens, mews and Portobello Road.

How to make the most of your visit to The Ledbury

The Ledbury serves a tasting menu, so set aside the whole evening. At reopening, the restaurant was open for dinner from Wednesday to Sunday and lunch on Fridays and Saturdays – check current times before booking, and book well in advance.