Ever since he started out in the restaurant industry, Gordon Ramsay has been driven to succeed at home and abroad. Having trained under the likes of Marco Pierre White in London and Joël Robuchon in Paris, Ramsay has been dominant figure in the fine dining arena ever since creating a name for himself at Aubergine Restaurant and later, at his eponymous restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea. Now after achieving worldwide success in the restaurant industry, he is turning his hand to the hotelier trade and critics are expecting him to fare just as well as he has done in the restaurant industry.
York & Albany Hotel
The York and Albany Hotel is a boutique guest house in London's trendy Camden Town. Combining a gourmet restaurant, delicatessen and ten unique bedrooms, the York & Albany is a glamorous hideaway that spices up the not-so-chic end of Parkway, by the corner of Regent's Park.
For £200 a night, the major reviewers have declared the Y&A a triumph in hospitality. The Guardian described it as having a "Lovely London buzz ... everyone's dressed down not up, girls are knocking back fizz, white-aproned bar staff ferrying cocktails, and I'm in a high-backed velvet armchair with an apple mojito watching a suited Jean-Baptiste glide past" Jean-Baptiste Requien, the famous head-waiter who featured weekly in Ramsay's TV series, The F Word, appears once again as the prominent, and charming, front-of-house manager.
Dining at the Y&A
Despite just opening her own Italian restaurant, Murano, near London's Green Park, Angela Hartnett is overseeing the dining operation, including all private dining, the main restaurant, bar and Nonna's Deli, named after her Italian grandmother. Colin Buchan is the competent head chef serving up this Italian-inspired modern European cuisine.
Nonna's Delicatessen is next door to the hotel, in the former stable block, and has retained its original door leading onto the street. Here customers are able to find a host of Italian delicacies, home cured meats and preserves.
Inside the hotel the horse-shoe bar attracts a local clientele as well as guests. Behind the bar you will find expert cocktail-makers and the mistake should not be made that this is a lager lout's pub - it is certainly one for cocktails and high-class wines by the glass.
This new venture is rumoured to be a snub to The Connaught Hotel, who recently ended their partnership with Angela and Gordon, and hired French chef Hélène Darroze to head up their main restaurant instead.
York & Albany Hotel
127-129 Parkway, London NW1 7PS
Restaurant Reservations
T: 020 7388 3344
F: 020 7592 1603
yorkandalbany@gordonramsay.com
Bedroom Reservations
T: 020 7387 5700
F: 020 7255 9250
yandareception@gordonramsay.com
Private Dining Reservations
T: 020 7592 1373
F: 020 7592 1366
privatedining@gordonramsay.com