Skye Gyngell, the Australian-born chef who has run Spring at Somerset House since 2014, is to open a second, more intimate restaurant within the same building in partnership with the Somerset House Trust. The new venue will occupy a previously unused section of the New Wing and is planned to open during the autumn of 2026.
Gyngell confirmed the project at an event hosted by the Trust this week, describing it as something she had been developing in conversation with Somerset House's leadership for several years. The partnership model — in which the Trust co-invests in the fit-out and lease in exchange for a share of the operation — is an evolution of the arrangement under which Spring was originally established.
"Spring has been one of the great privileges of my career," Gyngell said. "The building gives you so much. There is a space here that I have walked past for ten years thinking about what it could be, and we finally have the chance to do it."
The New Venue
The new restaurant will seat between 32 and 36 covers in a room that Gyngell has described as "candlelit and close" — a marked contrast to the voluminous, light-filled New Wing atrium that Spring occupies. The format will be an evening-only tasting menu of six to eight courses, operating four nights per week.
The culinary philosophy will share Spring's foundational commitment to organic and biodynamic British produce — Gyngell has maintained longstanding relationships with producers including Fern Verrow farm in Herefordshire, whose vegetables have appeared on Spring's menu since opening — but will allow a more narrative, course-by-course progression than the à la carte format that Spring uses for lunch and dinner.
A private dining room capable of hosting 10 to 14 guests will sit adjacent to the main dining room, serving both the new restaurant and Spring for exclusive bookings.
Spring's Position
Spring has held a Michelin star since 2015 and has been one of the most consistently admired restaurants in London over the past decade, known as much for Gyngell's commitment to sustainable sourcing and waste reduction as for the food itself. The restaurant was an early adopter of biodynamic winemaking and has maintained one of the most thoughtfully constructed natural wine lists in the capital.
The opening of a second, higher-ambition venue within the same building represents a deepening of Gyngell's relationship with Somerset House rather than a move toward broader expansion. She has been explicit over the years that growth for its own sake holds little interest for her.
"I am not interested in having restaurants everywhere," she has said previously. "I am interested in making this one place as good as it can possibly be — and now, it seems, two places."
The name of the new restaurant has not yet been announced. Further details, including reservation availability, are expected in the summer.