Looking to clean up. Thomas Keller brings The French Laundry to London

Thomas Keller, he of the famous French Laundry restaurant, is bringing the experience to London for those of us who find the flight to Yountville in Napa Valley, California a bit far

He’s not just bringing his knives, he’s also bringing in some fixtures, fittings, crockery and over a dozen members of staff when he sets up shop in the Georgian Restaurant in Harrods, London sometime at the start of October.

A ‘pop up restaurant (yes, yawn, another) it will be called “The French Laundry at Harrods” but we hope the cooking will have a bit more imagination than that. It should do, Keller has a fine reputation at his home restaurant (he lives next door) which he started in 1994 and he has other starred restaurants to his name across the USA, such as the 3 Michelin starred Per Se in New York.

Foodies will be keen to book but the price may put them off a bit – the  nine-course tasting menu at lunch and dinner, could be as much as  £250 per person. Does that include coffee and water?

As it will only last ten days and the room seats 70, Mr Keller should make a pretty penny out of this venture despite the recession. The rich are always with us, after all.

To get a taste of Thom, you could do worse than check out his book - The French Laundry Cookbook & Ad Hoc at Home. Two books in one sleeve and a snip at £52. If, as the blurb claims, you can recreate The French Laundry at home, maybe you can avoid the cost of a meal at the pop-up

ISBN: 1579654371

Buy now at Amazon

Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road London SW1