A Second Starred Kitchen At Lindsay House

After his first star on Fulham Road, Richard Corrigan wanted a place of his own. He found it in Soho, at Lindsay House^[4]. It was a long way from the hotel kitchens of his youth.

In 1997 the Michelin Guide gave Lindsay House a star^[1][2]. It meant that Corrigan had now earned stars in two different London kitchens, three years apart^[1].

A Star That Stayed

Winning a star is hard. Keeping it is harder. The Caterer notes that Corrigan held on to the Lindsay House star for more than ten years^[3]. Year after year, the inspectors came back and found the same standard.

Lindsay House became the place that defined him as a cook. It was his first restaurant, the one the Corrigan Collection still calls Michelin-starred when it tells its own history^[4].

Building On It

Lindsay House also gave him a foothold in business. Speaking to The Caterer, he explained that the equity he built up there helped him start the company he runs today^[2]. A starred dining room turned into the base for a group.

In 2008 he closed Lindsay House and opened Corrigan's Mayfair^[4]. It was a bold move. He left a famous address behind to start a bigger, grander room across town.

Looking back, those Soho years link the young head chef to the restaurateur. The cooking won the star. The star won the trust of guests and backers. And that trust paid for everything that came next^[2][4].

Soho Nights

Soho was a lively place to cook. Theatres, clubs and late diners filled the streets. Inside the townhouse, Corrigan's food stayed rooted in what he loved most: good produce from farms and the sea, cooked with care and without fuss. The Michelin inspectors kept rewarding that approach, year after year^[1][3].

When people today name Corrigan as a Michelin-starred chef, they are mostly thinking of these years: a townhouse in Soho, a decade of stars and an Irish cook at the very top of London dining^[1][3].