La Noisette, the newest fine dining member of Gordon Ramsay’s London empire, has closed after just over 18 months in business. The site is the group’s second consecutive failure on the Knightsbridge site (after Pengelley’s), and the third consecutive short-lived restaurant there (the first having been the Jamie Oliver-branded Monte’s).

Despite the public interest in all matters Ramsay, no ‘official’
announcement was made, and the closure came to light only when spotted by the eagle-eyed Andy Lynes, and posted on eGullet.com last Friday (29 February). By reference to Google records, it can be seen that it was at some point during the seven days previous to that that all references to La Noisette had silently disappeared from the website gordonramsay.com.

Noisette has always been an obvious failure in the making, and was described in the introduction to Harden’s 2008 as “a Kitchen Nightmare”. Yet the closure follows only a month after the restaurant was re-awarded not just its Michelin star but also four knives and forks for its “top class comfort” – another almost surreal example of the extraordinary credulity and bad judgement of the tyre men. (But let’s not be too harsh – at least Noisette was open when the guide went to press!)

La Noisette is Gordon Ramsay’s third London fine dining closure in a row, following on the closure of Angela Hartnett’s restaurant at the Connaught and of the Savoy Grill (currently revamping, but the return of the Ramsay group is uncertain).