New opening for the Stafford Hotel from Michael Caines and new Michelin star in 2026
The Stafford Hotel just off St James’s Street is one of the staples of London particularly their American bar and Blue Bell Courtyard open cigar and terrace area. The restaurant changed hands in Sep 2025 to the helmsmanship of Michael Caines formerly of 2 Gidleigh Park where he earned it 2 Michelin stars and latterly Lympston Manor. It is one of the fastest gains for a Michelin star London has seen and the restaurant is set in the bar area with adjoining room areas for more tables, which looks odd at first, but actually is extremely homely. The set menu for lunch is very reasonable at 3 courses for £50 or 4 courses for £60 pp. There is also an a la carte menu and a signature tasting menu £185 pp. I had the set menu on this first visit. The canapés of duck liver parfait was very good albeit with a tartlet that was a little too thick and cheese gougers were very good as was the home made bread and butter. Appetisers of pea were refreshing, the duck liver starter smooth and silky and the trout was cooked well but not entirely special. Actually I thought the flavoursome dishes were actually the mushroom vegetarian course and the absolutely knock out pistachio soufflé which I thought was going back for another meal for. A good meal and lovely setting – I sense another visit to get it from a better angle.
Food Grade: 75%
My hobby-turned-passion began to evolve during my assignments to London where I was fortunate enough to be able to explore all the Michelin starred restaurants in my spare time and as a result, I gradually built up a catalogue of all these venues.
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