Theo Randall at The InterContinental Hotel

Formerly Head Chef and Partner of the Michelin starred River Café, Theo Randall has joined forces with a major hotel in the heart of London to do something rather different.

Against the background of the expensively refurbished InterContinental Hotel Randall has set up a restaurant offering his take on Italian cuisine, with a focus on the best seasonal produce and precise flavours. This is an unashamed attempt to recreate the great dining experience, and it is proving to be wildly successful.

If seventeen years at the River Café was the setting for Randall's induction and relatively rapid canonisation with a Michelin Star in 1997, his new project could be the cream on the cake that leads to the sort of fame enjoyed by the really great names in culinary history.

Randall describes with humour holidays as a boy with his parents, touring Italy in their Citroen DS accumulating exciting food and wine until the car could take no more. With such a background it comes as no surprise to find that he is more than usually passionate about his ingredients which are then translated into essentially simple Italian dishes, described by Fay Maschler in the London Evening Standard as 'irreproachable and generous', relying upon the flavours to make his point. If this simplicity is slightly at odds with the surrounding luxury with one of London's classically best hotels, so be it; the point is made.

The dinner menu is the one by which most restaurants tend to be judged - not always fairly I am inclined to think - but really it makes little difference here. Antipasti of smoked eel with beetroots, mache and fresh horseradish, or pan fried squid with borlotti beans from Lamon, chilli, anchovy, parsley and chopped rocket underline the inherent understanding of his customers' tastes, slightly alleviated by primi of fresh pasta stuffed with slow cooked veal, artichoke pancetta, or handmade pasta with asparagus, crème fraiche and parmesan.

Secondi could include wood roasted sea bass fillet with wild oregano, roasted carrots, beetroots and erbette, or pan fried Limousin calves liver with pancetta, sage, aged balsamic, crème fraiche Swiss chard and lentils di Castelluccio.

We all know what Italians are like over their dolci, but here there is a tendency towards a more European interpretation, though the vanilla ice cream with chilled espresso is authentic enough and il formaggio, with mostarde and moscatel grapes does not disappoint. Nor does the selection of some 160 wines, amongst which Italy is naturally well represented, and the champagnes both vintage and non vintage are worth very much more than a passing glance.

One might expect that such expertise at the heart of an American-owned hotel in central London would not come cheap, but be prepared for a surprise.

Their Website as ever is only a click away, giving news on constantly changing menus from this pro-active chef, and the plaudits of the reviews that they generate, plus a monthly nudge towards the best ingredients in season and how to use them to advantage. You can also join Randall in the kitchen at one of his monthly cookery classes.