The Belvedere Restaurant opens for business

So many people have been waiting for the treat of being able to eat in the Belvedere restaurant once again. Now you can!  The new proprietors, George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev, are experienced restaurant owners with a successful restaurant, Wild Tavern, in Chelsea. Immediately after the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea granted them the lease, they set about discovering the history of the building and planning what they could do to link a modern, welcoming restaurant with its past. Their research paid off and planning consent was granted in August 2021. Since that time, they worked diligently with architect David Archer and their teams to return the interior to a place of beauty.  

What is now the Belvedere building, the adjacent Orangery and the brick arches leading up to Roger’s Seat, were once the stables for the Holland House estate. These stables were built at a cost of £4,000 by Sir Henry Rich around 1638, as a display of status and wealth. In the early 19th century, the impressive stable block was turned into The Orangery and a summer ballroom. Both could be reached from the main house by an upper and lower walkway built in the 1840s by the 4th Baron Holland. The summer ballroom, now The Belvedere, has been a place of eating, drinking and merriment for over 200 years, entertaining many famous guests. The last private owners of the Holland House estate, the Ilchester family, sold it to the London County Council in 1952 for use as a public park, and work started on clearing the badly overgrown grounds and making use of the buildings. The park itself is Grade II listed and is now owned by RBKC, who converted the former ballroom was into a restaurant space, and who grants leases for the park’s buildings.

George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev have turned the interior of the Belvedere into a warm and welcoming space. It has been opened up, with a view of the kitchens to give a lively atmosphere. The walls are covered in apricot-coloured terra cotta plaster and the brick pillars revealed to show the history of the building over the ages. There is even a trace of the fire that damaged the interior in 1971.

The floor of the restaurant is polished parquet and two gas fires have been installed to add warmth on cooler days. The bar is at an island site on the ground floor, with comfortable seating areas and dining tables set around it. Diners are reminded that the restaurant is in a park by the many plants, while elegant lamps hang from the ceiling.

Achille Pinna, the executive chef, is Sardinian and, with head chef Stefano Ponzani, will offer a menu that is modern Italian and caters both for a special night out as well as affordable meals for the family. Look out for lemon and truffle chicken, meat from the grill and home-made pasta. Wines will be a specialty. George Buckhov-Weinstein said: “We are very lucky to have an opportunity to bring this amazing building back to life and open a restaurant in one of the most beautiful parks. It will be a unique and beautiful restaurant. We are also very thankful for the warm welcome that we are receiving from the local community and the council.”

The restaurant does not extend to The Orangery, whose operation is managed solely by the council for weddings and celebratory events.  Nor does it extend to the lawn or terrace outside the building, which is part of the park.

Opening will be in mid-November and bookings can be made on info@belvedererestaurant.co.uk and Tel. 020 8191 1407.

A written description is nothing like as good as seeing the restaurant for yourself. Please do make a booking and judge for yourselves.

Belvedere building photos and text by Jennie Kettlewell   

[November 2022]