Romy Gill MBE will take over the kitchen at The Pem at Conrad London St. James this September, bringing a new menu shaped by India’s regional cooking traditions and the pleasure of sharing food around the table.
The appointment marks Gill’s return to a permanent restaurant kitchen for the first time in six years. The acclaimed chef, broadcaster and cookbook author will introduce an approach described as Indian social fine dining, drawing on flavours and dishes from across the country while placing generosity and communal eating at the centre of the experience.
The Pem takes its name from the childhood nickname of suffragette and writer Millicent Fawcett, while the restaurant’s quill emblem represents authorship. Gill now brings her own perspective to the dining room, beginning a new chapter for the Westminster restaurant.
Her menu travels across India, from the hearty cooking of Punjab and the coastal spices of Kerala to the street food of Bengal. Fragrant curries, slow-braised meats and freshly baked breads sit alongside dishes influenced by Gill’s childhood memories and the food that has followed her throughout her career.
At the heart of the concept is Neemat, a word meaning blessing, bounty and abundance. That spirit runs through a menu intended to be ordered generously and shared, with plates passed around the table rather than treated as a sequence of individual courses.
Gill’s signature butter chicken will be slow-cooked until rich and silky, while samosa chaat takes its inspiration from the street food she grew up eating. Other dishes include hand-dived scallops with raw mango and sweet date-tamarind, charred king prawns, ghee-roasted quail and slow-braised lamb served with Kashmiri morel mushrooms.
Desserts continue the menu’s use of Indian flavours and spices. Guests can choose from rose and pistachio cake with fennel and cardamom cream; golden fennel and ajwain churros with warm chocolate; saffron and black cardamom-poached pear with saffron ice cream; or panjri crumble with seasonal fruit.
The restaurant is intended to work equally well for a quick meal, a relaxed lunch, a pre-theatre dinner or a longer evening of shared dishes and cocktails. A feast menu will offer a handpicked selection of Gill’s favourite dishes for guests wishing to explore the menu more fully, while an intimate private dining room will be available for celebrations and special occasions.
Indian ingredients and spices also carry through to the drinks list. Cocktails include an old fashioned made with Amrut Indian single malt whisky and cardamom bitters, a coconut and spice highball with cumin syrup and sea salt, and a pomegranate negroni infused with cinnamon.
Every cocktail will also be available in an alcohol-free version. The wider drinks selection will include single-estate teas from Anandini in Himachal Pradesh, while the wine list will highlight women-led producers from Europe, South America and South Africa.
Gill will blend many of the spices used in the kitchen herself. Ingredients will be sourced from British producers and women-led suppliers, including Jess’s Ladies Organic Farm in Gloucestershire.
“I want The Pem to feel warm, lively and generous, the kind of place where people stay longer than they planned, order something else because they saw it on another table, and leave already thinking about when they can come back. That is how I love to eat, and that is what I want to create here,” said Gill.
Bernadette Gilligan, general manager of Conrad London St. James, added: “The Pem has always evolved through the people leading it, and each chapter has brought something different to the restaurant. Romy brings a completely new perspective to The Pem, and we knew very quickly she was the right person to lead this next chapter.”
Romy Gill at The Pem will open at Conrad London St. James in September, introducing regional Indian cooking and a relaxed, abundant style of dining to the hotel’s established Westminster restaurant.
To find out more about The Pem and book, visit the links below:
The Pem Restaurant
Conrad London St. James
22-28 Broadway
London SW1H 0BH
United Kingdom
Web: thepemrestaurant.com
Tel: +44 20 3301 8080
Email: the.pem@conradhotels.com
Instagram: @thepemrestaurant
Facebook: @thepemrestaurant