D&D London – formerly known as the Conran empire – is to re-open Launceston Place W8 on Monday 17 March, after a major refurbishment.

As formerly reported, the head chef will be none other than Tristan Welch, former head chef of Pétrus SW1 – London’s best all-round restaurant, according to the survey for Harden’s 2008.

D&D management are keen to play down expectations of the new restaurant, suggesting that it will have no more than ‘local’ aspirations. This protestation, however, has to be seen in the light of the fact that the locality is a Kensington backwater where the price of a typical house exceeds the GDP of some small countries, and it would be surprising if this didn’t turn out to be one of the more notable (re-)openings of the spring.