Chef and food writer Romy Gill marks her return to frontline hospitality – and her London debut – with the launch next week of Romy Gill at the Pem, where she will present a menu of regional Indian cooking.
She ran Romy’s Kitchen in Thornbury, near Bristol in south Gloucester, from 2013-19, and was awarded an MBE for her services to British hospitality in 2016. Since the restaurant closed she has focused on writing, with the publication of three cookbooks alongside regular appearances on television and occasional one-off meals.
At the Pem, part of the Conrad hotel in St James’s, Romy follows another high-profile female chef, Sally Abé, who left last year to launch Teal in Hackney.
Her menu is billed as ‘social fine dining’ and is based on her travels across India, taking in ‘the rich and comforting flavours of Punjab and the street food of Bengal to the coastal spice of Kerala and the aromatic kitchens of Rajasthan and Kashmir’.
She says: “I want The Pem to feel lively and full of energy. The kind of restaurant where people stay longer than they planned, order another dish because the table next to them had it, and leave already thinking about when they’re coming back. That’s how I love to eat, and that’s what I want to create here.”
