Chef Florence Knight is preparing to open Lunette, a new restaurant to sit on the 11th floor of the forthcoming St Clement hotel at 180 Strand in central London.
Lunette is set to be the hotel’s flagship dining room when St Clement opens, with the restaurant scheduled to open at the end of September 2026 alongside the hotel, although the developers say that timing could change. The hotel will also include a ground-floor Café Clement.
Per the plans, Lunette will offer wide views over the Thames, with sightlines running from Westminster to the Shard, and will feature an open kitchen and a relaxed interior design. The team describes the dining room as a place for long lunches and evening meals with a less formal format than a traditional fine-dining tasting menu.
Knight’s menu approach for Lunette is thought likely to favour sharing plates and a carte-blanche style service rather than a set tasting menu. Specific dishes are still under development and have been described as provisional; the final menu and plate presentations will be confirmed closer to opening.
The location on the 11th floor is intended to make the most of the outlook along the river, and the open kitchen is intended to create a visible link between the dining room and the kitchen team. The relaxed design is being positioned to complement those features rather than to read as a heavily formal or theatrical setting.
St Clement is the first hotel project from Nick Jones since he left Soho House in 2022. The launch of Lunette at St Clement will therefore mark a notable return to hotel development for Jones, and it will be the flagship food offer within the new building at 180 Strand.
For diners, the combination of river views and an informal, sharing-led menu could make Lunette appealing for groups and for customers seeking a more social dinner format; equally, the carte-blanche approach suggests a menu that may be shaped by season and kitchen creativity rather than a fixed run of courses. Those potential outcomes will depend on the final decisions Knight and her team take as dishes move from development to the finished menu.
Because many details remain provisional, prospective diners should expect changes to both timing and the menu during the months before opening. The current plan targets late September 2026, but the timing could change.
Further details about the plans are available in the detailed report linked below as the team progresses. For context on other recent riverside openings, see Coppa Club London Bridge opening.
As a central-Strand address, 180 Strand sits close to theatres, offices and tourist routes, so Lunette could serve hotel guests and day visitors alike. The 11th-floor setting may make window tables particularly sought after, and an open kitchen could provide a degree of theatre that complements rather than competes with the river views. If the menu skews to sharing and carte-blanche service, the dining format may encourage groups and flexible dining times rather than rigid, short-service sittings.
Industry observers are likely to watch how the project lands: St Clement is a visible new venture for Nick Jones and Lunette will be an early public face of the hotel. The next concrete milestones will be menu publication, staffing announcements and confirmed opening arrangements; each of these will be released by the team as plans are finalised.
Lunette’s prominence on the 11th floor, its open kitchen and its described emphasis on sharing and carte-blanche service set out a clear intention: to offer an elevated yet relaxed riverside dining option in the heart of the Strand. How those elements come together will become clearer once the hotel and restaurant open to the public.
