# Why 'The Founding Father of Modern British Cooking' Rowley Leigh Returned to the Kitchen After Almost a Decade Away
Key Highlights :
At 73, Rowley Leigh is one of the founding fathers of modern cooking and has been routinely referred to as such. After selling his restaurant Le Café Anglais in 2014, Leigh has stayed lightly involved in the culinary world as a culinary director of Sam’s Riverside. But in 2019, Leigh decided to open a new restaurant - Chez Rowley - inside Notting Hill’s Laylow.
So what prompted Leigh to return to the kitchen after almost a decade away? According to Leigh, he was simply bored and wanted a project. After a career that includes Joe Allen’s, cooking with the Roux Brothers and, most importantly, the 1987 opening of Kensington Place, Leigh was no stranger to the culinary world.
At Chez Rowley, Leigh will offer an Italian-leaning bistro with room for 65 in the Golborne Roadceleb-magnet (and former bordello). The menu at Chez Rowley will be “very, very simple”, Leigh says. Dishes will centre on a handful of ingredients, such as tomatoes and stracciatella, cuttlefish and clams on toast, or seared mackerel with bread sauce and pickled gooseberries.
Leigh admits that staffing is difficult, but is confident that he can overcome this hurdle. He is also determined to create a restaurant in these difficult times of rising costs, rates, and rents.
Leigh's food has been influenced by his many trips to Italy, and he hopes to create a restaurant that is simple and joyful. The most joyful of all will apparently be chicken roasted with anchovies, black olives, garlic, onion, thyme and white wine, all be plated with hispi cabbage and pangrattato.
Chez Rowley will offer a supper-only service and be open for lunch on Sundays only. Leigh will be cooking himself and be visible at the open kitchen. He is excited to have fun putting the restaurant together and to feel creative and sparking.
Leigh is confident that his partnership with Laylow’s team will be successful, as they have taken care of the drinks menu and the looks. He is looking forward to focusing on the food, and to creating a restaurant that is profitable and creative.
