IGNI.

IGNI

The tuna course ends on chutoro aged two weeks and then dressed with foie fat rendered down over the fire, which is the clearest statement of what the kitchen is for (Hot Dinners).

Why go

Theo Clench has the best recent star record of any chef cooking in London: he retained Michelin stars at Bonhams and Portland after higher-profile predecessors left, assisted the star at Akoko under named chef Ayo Adeyemi, and won one at Cycene inside five months of opening (Restaurant, The Nudge). He joined Creative Restaurant Group in January 2026 as its group operations chef, went in to support the struggling Humo, and ended up taking the site over. Humo closed in March 2026, a month after losing its star, and IGNI opened here on 22 April (The Staff Canteen, Hot Dinners). The four-metre wood grill stayed; the concept did not. Clench warned guests off big chunks of smoky meat with a three-word brief, Igni will be delicate, and pushed the menu toward seafood, tasting-menu only, with fermentation, preservation and dry ageing behind it (Harden's, venue). He is open about the target: The plan is to win a star. I'm not going to beat around the bush on that (Restaurant).

Order this / avoid

• Order: the bluefin tuna, which Hot Dinners called maybe the best course of the night and which finishes on the aged chutoro with fire-rendered foie fat1. The oyster goes into the coals shell-on and comes out at a texture The Nudge had not tasted before5. The Yukon gold potato bao with barbecued vegetable broth got a two-word verdict from Hot Dinners: Insanely good. Start with the caviar martini at GBP 26.
• Avoid: the assumption that fire means char. Also avoid booking the downstairs 10-cover room expecting a chef's table; it is running as overflow and private dining until a separate relaunch later in 2026 (Restaurant).

What locals & experts say

• Hot Dinners (21 May 2026), Catherine Hanly, on the food: he's serving up wonderfully inventive food, and on where this is heading: We'd be very surprised if Michelin didn't pay him a visit.1
• The Nudge (8 May 2026), Jason Allen: Clench has built a menu here that's subtle, surprising, and quietly subverts preconceptions of live-fire cooking. On the smoke: Instead of heavy char repeatedly slapping your tastebuds, smoke is a subtle presence here.5
• Restaurant (26 May 2026), Joe Lutrario: There is arguably nobody currently cooking in London with a stronger track record of both retaining and acquiring Michelin stars. When the South Coast-born chef shoots, he doesn't miss.2
• Harden's (17 April 2026) on the reset: the name comes from the Latin ignis, meaning fire, and Clench has warned guests not to expect big chunks of smoky meat. Instead, he says, 'Igni will be delicate.'4
• Theo Clench to The Staff Canteen (17 April 2026) on the consultancy years he has left behind: generally people are calling you when they're in a sticky situation... But at the same time, I missed having a team and working together towards something.3

Good to know

• Timing: lunch and dinner six days a week, closed Sunday. Doors opened 22 April 2026.
• Booking: essential in practice. The venue takes reservations online and says advance booking is recommended; the room is 34 covers plus the 10-seat basement.
• Menus and price: the structure changed over the summer. It now runs three, six or nine courses, plus a four-course Summer Menu at GBP 85 a head (venue). The prices the May reviewers paid, GBP 49 for a three-course lunch and GBP 135 or GBP 185 for five or eight courses at dinner, are for the superseded format. Confirm when booking.
• Where to sit: the counter, if there are two of you. It is deep enough to be comfortable and close enough to feel the embers, so dress lightly (Hot Dinners).
• Team: Theo Clench as executive chef, Gaelle Dubois as general manager, Alessio Ragusini as head sommelier, and pastry from William Scanlan, who came with Clench from Cycene.
• Hygiene: the premises is still registered with the FSA as HUMO, rating 5, inspected 6 October 2025 by Westminster, FHRSID 1578901 (record). That inspection pre-dates the rebrand and the new brigade, and no record exists under the IGNI name.
• Dietary: nothing published. For a tasting-menu-only restaurant where substitution is not on the table, call before booking with any allergy or restriction.
• The old restaurant: Humo launched in 2023 under Miller Prada, won a Michelin star, took a 5 out of 5 food rating in the Harden's Guide, and lost the star in February 2026 after Prada left. None of that belongs to IGNI. Most of Humo's kitchen team followed head chef Robbie Jameson to Alta in Kingly Court.

Verdict

should-visit — A four-metre wood grill in a Mayfair sleeve of a room, run by the chef with the best recent star record in London: retained at Bonhams and Portland, an assist at Akoko, won one at Cycene inside five months. What makes it interesting rather than just expensive is the direction he has taken fire in. His own brief was 'Igni will be delicate', and it shows in a shell-on oyster pulled from the coals at butter-soft, chutoro aged two weeks and dressed with foie fat rendered over the flames, and bao made from Yukon gold potatoes against a barbecued vegetable broth. It is not a trek yet: three months old, no accolade of its own, no critic has found a fault, and the menu structure changed once already.