Jun Tanaka (pictured),
executive chef at Pearl since 2005, has left the restaurant with a view to opening his own
central-London venue next summer.
‘I had been thinking about leaving Pearl for a year,’ the chef told Square Meal. ‘We opened in 2005, so it was a case of the seven-year itch. I couldn’t look for a site and get a business plan
together with a full-time job. So I decided to make that commitment and leave my job.’
The new restaurant will be a complete departure from Pearl. ‘It will be totally different,’ said Tanaka. ‘It won’t be fine dining. I’m looking for a site now.’
Meanwhile, Pearl has reinvented itself as an informal all-day restaurant serving British dishes.
This article was published in the autumn 2012 issue of Square Meal Lifestyle.