Paris sensation Bruno Verjus to cook at Pollini at Ladbroke Hall on 24th and 25th of September

West London’s Pollini restaurant is set to host a series of collaborations dubbed Chefs Table, starting next week with Bruno Verjus of the two-Michelin-starred Table in Paris, the French capital’s hottest reservation and recently voted the third best restaurant in the world by 50 Best. The event will take place over two days, kicking off with a dinner on the 24^th followed by both lunch and dinner on the 25^th of September, all taking place at Ladbroke Hall

Each chef will serve a selection of their signature dishes, such as Verjus’s acclaimed Ni-cru-ni-cuit Blue Lobster and the Dark Chocolate and Capers Tartelette, topped with Oscietra caviar.

We spoke with chef Pollini to discuss this exciting collaboration, what guests can look forward to, and his visions for the restaurant’s future.

What was the inspiration behind launching this series at Ladbroke Hall?

We started the Chefs Table series because we wanted to highlight how cooking can really be an art form. Our aim is to champion and bring together great chefs from around the world to show off their skills and blend the worlds of art, design, and food. It reflects the wider vision of Ladbroke Hall and Carpenters Workshop Gallery to celebrate creativity in all its forms and push beyond the traditional boundaries of artistic genres.

How did your collaboration with Bruno Verjus come about?

Bruno has a close relationship with Carpenters Workshop Gallery’s founders Loïc Le GailIard and Julien Lombrail, who have known the chef’s work for some time and have been looking for a way to bring his artistry to London audiences for the first time. Bruno really loves the arts, he’s a regular at the Louvre and an admirer of designers like Vincenzo de Cotiis and Charlotte Perriand. That passion makes him a perfect fit for the creative vibe we have here at Ladbroke Hall.

What aspects of Verjus’s cuisine and Table’s unique approach to hospitality do you admire?

He is a self-taught chef and has lived many lives. His two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, Table, highlights the best of French culinary traditions and seasonal ingredients but reinterpreted in surprising, innovative ways. I very much relate to Bruno’s approach to embracing heritage through his cuisine, producing dishes that relate to ideas of home, family and identity but always with masterful, inventive flair.

What can guests expect from this collaboration? Will you be presenting individual dishes or will you create some dishes together?

In a specially curated set menu complete with wine pairings, guests at Chefs Table will enjoy two signature dishes by Bruno Verjus – ni-cru-ni-cuit blue lobster and dark chocolate and capers tartelette with Oscietra caviar – while I will also contribute three of my dishes, including tapioca mortadella with black truffle and my take on my mother’s

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Could you describe Pollini at Ladbroke Hall and the concept behind it?

I opened Pollini, my first London restaurant, here at Ladbroke Hall in September 2023. The menu takes diners on a journey of taste through my childhood in Italy, with dishes inspired by my experiences eating in my grandmothers’ kitchens. I always maintain a strong connection with my roots in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, but also to the entire traditional Italian gastronomy of excellence, reinterpreting it through my own personal lens. 

How does your vision align with the artistic ethos of Ladbroke Hall?

Ladbroke Hall is a vibrant community and ecosystem born from a shared passion for creativity in all forms. The idea is to provide visitors with a holistic experience of creativity, whether enjoying art, music, theatre, dance or gastronomy. I’m constantly inspired by the energy of this cultural space, from the live jazz events to the amazing exhibitions of art and design, and I feel that my approach to food reflects its ethos of creativity, excitement and community. I try to tell stories with my dishes and to fill my plates with emotion.

Do art and design influence your work in the kitchen?

The restaurant shares its home with Carpenters Workshop Gallery, which focuses on redefining the boundaries between artistic genres. Working in such close quarters with the gallery, art and design play a part in the work we do in the kitchen, even if indirectly. The restaurant’s space is designed by the Italian artist Vincenzo De Cotiis and features specially commissioned artworks by Christopher Le Brun and Nacho Carbonell, so diners experience the dialogue between these works of art and design and the gastronomy on their plates – both elements influence each another.

Tell us about your favourite dishes on the menu

Can be a banality as I’m Italian, but all pastas in the menu are in my heart. Starting from the most simple ravioli – caramelle, which means candies, as their shape remember it – stuffed with the family recipe of mix cheeses from Emilia-Romagna, or the see urchin spaghetti with the addition of bottarga it’s an explosion of flavours for the seafood lovers like me. Also I want to mention the risotto with seafood, as we say in my home town city Risotto Rosso, as we add in it tomatoes as per traditional recipe, only the smell bring me to the seaside of Cesenatico.

How does London’s culinary scene compare to other major food cities you’ve worked in, like Milan and Moscow?

Every city I’ve worked in has its own individual identity and each has left its mark on my work. Milan is a world-leading design capital and Moscow is steeped in a unique historical heritage, while London is saturated with global cultural influences, all of which enrich the culinary offer.

What are your long-term ambitions for Pollini at Ladbroke Hall?

A year since it opened, I believe Pollini at Ladbroke Hall has established a strong position as a leading West London culinary destination, located in one of the area’s most stunning dining rooms. I hope the impact that Pollini has already had on its audiences will continue for a long time and that we will keep making an impact on how London diners perceive the relationship between gastronomy and culture.

Following this collaboration, do you have other guests lined up for future Chefs Table events?

For now we are focussed on our plans with Bruno Verjus but we will always strive to seek out chefs who combine creative flair with innovation in flavour, technique and aesthetic. After all, we want to offer works of edible art that push diners’ perceptions of the gastronomical experience.

Food Desk

Chefs Table with Bruno Verjus will take place on 24^th – 25^th September at Pollini at Ladbroke Hall. The six-course tasting menu is priced at £165 and can be booked via the restaurant’s website here.