Jason and Irha Atherton
Jason Atherton and his wife Irha topped off what has been a busy 12 months with their latest restaurant Row on 5 being awarded a Michelin star only a few months after opening. Row on 5 is the Athertons’ new flagship restaurant, following the closure of Pollen Street Social after 13 years, but is by no means their only new restaurant, with the couple also recently opening Sael, led by long-term colleague Dale Bainbridge, in St James’s, Three Darlings in Chelsea, and hot dog pop-up Hot Dogs by Three Darlings in Harrods. The pair have also had recent success on the international stage with their Row on 45 restaurant in Dubai winning two Michelin stars.
George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev
The duo behind the Goodman steakhouse group and its sister restaurant Beast have spent the past few years creating a portfolio of London restaurants that are nurturing some of the best cooking talent in the country. George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev started with restaurants including Wild Tavern in Chelsea, Wild in Notting Hill, and Belvedere in Holland Park but have more recently joined forces with chefs including Chris Denney for the launch of Fantômas in Chelsea. Their most recent projects are the super stylish Greek restaurant Krokodilos in Kensington, and Pinna in Mayfair in collaboration with Sardinian chef Achille Pinna, which opened at the start of the year. Bukhov-Weinstein is also an investor at newly anointed one-star restaurant Lita in Marylebone, run by restaurateur Daniel Koukarskikh and Irish chef Luke Ahearne.
David Carter
The man behind brilliant London restaurants SMOKESTAK and Manteca, David Carter continues to help shape the capital’s dining scene and his latest project – a double-header Greek restaurant in Borough Market – is proving to be his most successful to date. Less than a year after launch OMA, his fine dining leaning restaurant was awarded a Michelin star, while the more casual AGORA below has fast become a firm London favourite. Carter has become a zeitgeist restaurateur who not only seems to know instinctively what Londoners want but has the capability to deliver it at a very impressive level.
John and Desiree Chantarasak
When John and Desiree Chantarasak opened AngloThai at the end of last year it marked the culmination of years of pop-ups, supper clubs and residencies from the husband-and-wife team in order to make their restaurant dream a reality. The couple have made up for lost time in the short period their progressive Thai restaurant has been open, with it garnering numerous excellent reviews as well as recognition from the red book in the form of a Michelin star. As the Chantarasaks have proven, all good things do eventually come to those who wait, provided you are prepared to work for it too.
Luke French and Stacey Sherwood-French
Luke French and Stacey Sherwood-French have showed their ambition this year with the opening of JÖRO 2.Ö, an evolution of the couple’s original restaurant in Sheffield. Located in the city’s Oughtibridge Paper Mill development within a renovated 19th-century paper mill, their new Nordic/Japanese restaurant is a statement of intent and the result of a lot of hard work that has seen them create one of the most impressive new restaurants of the past 12 months. As well as being home to a stunning dining room, the new venue has a bar, intimate four-cover private chef’s table AXL, shop, and House of JÖRO, a four-bedroom boutique hotel with a 10-seater chef’s table.
Duncan Robertson and Kyu Jeong Jeon
The couple behind popular Bristol restaurant Bokman are pioneering authentic Korean cuisine in the West Country city having opened a more refined second restaurant last year. Called Dongnae, it has received rave reviews for its premium yet accessible approach with a menu inspired by Jeong Jeon ‘s upbringing in Seoul and the couple’s time living there. None of this should come as a surprise given that they have both worked at Michelin-starred L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon and then went on to open Restaurant L’Envie, which won a star two years after opening.
The Restaurateur of the Year 2025 award, sponsored by Chapman Ventilation, will be announced at The National Restaurant Awards on 9 June.