The chef is taking on the site that was formerly Little Social, which is part of Jason Atherton’s restaurant group, to open French bistro Chez Rose.
Launching on 1 June, Chez Rose is named in honour of Metzger’s grandmother and will be a casual yet upscale French bistro that draws on Metzger’s time spent cooking classical French food at The Ritz as well as his love for eating in France.
“Chez Rose will be inspired by the great French classics but not necessarily just French produce,” says Metzger. “We’re not French so we’re not trying to create a traditional French bistro but one that inspired by France and its great dishes.”
The restaurant’s food offer will be “super seasonal” and it will also have “a great wine list”, Metzger adds. It will have space for around 46 covers inside as well as some additional outside seating.
Metzger, who is executive chef at Mayfair restaurant Row on 5, which he opened in partnership with Atherton, will cook at the restaurant when Row on 5 isn’t open for service, with head chef duties at Chez Rose going to Mark Catchpole, previously senior sous chef at Roganic in Hong Kong and whose CV also includes time at Attica in Australia, at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and The Fat Duck.
Metzger says that Chez Rose is being opened “on a shoestring budget” to stay true to its bistro roots.
“We are not opening it with lots of money to show that you can create a good restaurant humbly,” he says. “That’s what we want it to be.
“My family came from nothing - my grandma was always very generous with her time, but she never had any money and the reflection of that in the restaurant is really important to me.”
The opening is one of a number of new projects that Atherton is involved with. This summer he will open Riviera restaurant MARIAS located within the newly launched Principessa Forte dei Marmi on Italy’s Tuscan coast.
Led by executive chef Giorgio Cicero, MARIAS will serve a seafood-forward menu using high-quality Tuscan produce.