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This week, The London Standard is unveiling The Standard 100, a list of the top hundred men and women shaping the capital in 2024.
The line-up covers a range of categories and sectors from politics and media through art, music, food, to science and medicine.
Today the Standard can reveal those named among the categories in food and restaurants. It was, at you might imagine, a tight run thing. So many huge names to consider; so many that, for whatever reason, that didn’t make it in. This list could have stretched to 100 by itself — Angela Hartnett, Jeremy King. Adam Park, the CEO of Hello Fresh. This city is lucky to have the talent that it does.
London’s dining scene is arguably the best in the world. Certainly, it’s a world of its own, rich in diversity yet distinctly unified by the city’s adventurous palate. Eating out here is about more than flavours; it’s about curiosity, conversation, and the interplay of global influences that constantly evolve London’s culinary identity.
How so? A day here might begin with a cradled Italian espresso in a quiet Covent Garden café, move on to meticulously prepared sushi on a throwaway street in Soho, or perhaps inventive Peruvian fusion in Shoreditch.
What makes London exceptional is its balance of tradition and innovation. Culinary traditions from every corner of the globe find space here, not as novelties but as integral parts of the city's fabric. And in this city, the boundaries of cuisine are continuously tested. From casual markets where up-and-coming chefs experiment to Michelin-starred venues where artistry takes centre stage, dining in London offers both richness and accessibility. Each meal can feel like an invitation to explore, whether perched in a tiny bistro or navigating the unfamiliar in hushed, hallowed surrounds. This is the essence of London as a dining capital — the way it embodies a world of culinary possibility, unfailingly distinctive and endlessly intriguing. And none this would be possible without those below.
Food
Nina Planck and Mark Handley
Founder and MD, London Farmers’ Market
After opening the first ever farmers market in London 25 years ago, LFM now runs more than 20 buoyant weekly markets on streets across London, giving locals the chance to get closer to the source of their food by buying fresh, British produce direct from the farmer, the fisherman, the baker and the cheesemaker.
Pano Christou
CEO, Pret a Manger
Pret a Manger works day in, day out to feed hungry mouths on every street corner in the city — and the airport. Expansion shows no signs of slowing down under the tutelage of CEO Pano Christou — whose charity, the Pret Foundation, also does invaluable work fighting homelessness.
Tom Athron
CEO, Fortnum & Mason
Athron wants London’s upmarket grocer to be about extraordinary food and drink for Londoners, in line with its heritage, and not simply for tourists. He also wants it to be “more relevant to more people”. With four shops in London now and targeting a younger, more foodie audience, partly thanks to a series of “supper clubs” with well-known chefs, we think he might just succeed.
Restaurants
Clare Smyth
Chef-patron, Core by Clare Smyth
The patron chef at Notting Hill’s most elegant restaurant, Core by Clare Smyth, has previously won the award for World’s Best Female Chef and is a globally renowned culinary goddess. Core by Clare Smyth is also one of only six London spots to hold the coveted three Michelin stars.
Markus Thesleff
CEO, Thesleff Group
One of the biggest trends on the London gastronomy circuit is fusion food — and Thesleff is the best to do it. The founder and CEO of Los Mochis, a Japanese Mexican joint which recently expanded from Notting Hill to the City, is among London’s most innovative restaurateurs.
Thomas Straker
Head chef, Straker’s
The king of butter is also the king of Golborne Road. Straker’s, the achingly popular restaurant just north of Notting Hill, is a hit with Nick Cave and anyone keen enough to spend £10 on a garlic-and-anchovy flatbread. Thomas, or Tom to his fans, is the bad boy chef everyone loves to hate; and with more than fivemillion followers across social media he is the undisputed enfant terrible of London’s culinary scene.
Richard Caring
Restaurateur
The man who gave Mayfair its sense of humour back, Caring has transformed the London restaurant scene by injecting a keen sense of glamour. He is the very definition of “a good time”. The owner of The Birley Clubs, Caprice Holdings and The Ivy and a Soho House board member, his grip on the capital’s dining scene — from the elite to the mid-market — is almost pervasive.
Read the rest of our 100 Power List in the following sectors:
