Number Eight Sevenoaks: Café Royal chef cooks 23 September

The chef of the Café Royal Grill in London will cook a one night dinner at a Sevenoaks restaurant next month. Kevin Gratton takes over the kitchen at Number Eight on London Road on Wednesday 23 September, starting at 7.00pm. Booking is already open. (Number Eight Sevenoaks, Guest Chef With Kevin Gratton)

The dinner is priced at £85 a head. That covers four courses and an arrival drink from what the restaurant calls “a specially curated menu”. A wine pairing will be offered at extra cost, and the restaurant has not published a price for it. (Number Eight Sevenoaks, Guest Chef With Kevin Gratton)

Who is cooking

Gratton is currently chef of the Café Royal Grill on Regent Street. The restaurant’s own listing sets out a career of more than 30 years. He started in Yorkshire, then joined Marco Pierre White at The Canteen in Chelsea Harbour and at the Oak Room, where White won three Michelin stars. He went on to Le Caprice, becoming head chef, and opened Scott’s in Mayfair as executive chef. He later oversaw Soho House’s UK kitchens and spent seven years as chef director and group executive chef for HIX Restaurants. (Number Eight Sevenoaks, guest chef night)

The menu will be entirely his own. The restaurant says it will be “rooted in classical technique, British seasonality and exceptional produce”, drawing on the style of the Café Royal Grill. (Number Eight Sevenoaks, Guest Chef With Kevin Gratton)

A series, not a one off

The dinner is the next in Number Eight’s guest chef series, run by owner-chef Stuart Gillies. Previous dinners have sold out. (Number Eight Sevenoaks, guest chef night)

The series so far, and what has been announced:

• 6 November 2025: Tom Anglesea, executive chef at Dovetale. The two had first worked together at Gordon Ramsay’s Boxwood Café 20 years earlier.
• March 2026: Erion Karaj, executive chef of The Groucho Club, who worked with Gillies for 10 years at the Gordon Ramsay Group. The restaurant says the evening sold out in less than a week.
• 23 September 2026: Kevin Gratton, Café Royal Grill. Booking open.
• 21 October 2026: Gillies cooks at Atul Kochhar’s restaurant Essence at The Pantiles in Tunbridge Wells.
• 18 November 2026: Kochhar cooks at Number Eight, a six course tasting menu with three dishes his and three Gillies’. Booking “coming soon”.
• January 2027: Dave Wall of The Unruly Pig. Booking “coming soon”.

Kochhar was the first Indian chef to be awarded a Michelin star. (Number Eight Sevenoaks, guest chef night)

The chef behind it

Gillies set up his own company with his wife in 2018, and Number Eight followed. Before that he spent seven years as managing director and then chief executive of the Gordon Ramsay Group. (Number Eight Sevenoaks, Stuart’s Journey)

His own account of the years before that, in his words on the restaurant’s site, runs like this:

• Sweden at 19, for three years, trained by French, Swiss and Austrian chefs.
• A year in Italy at the two Michelin star Hotel Lord Byron in Rome.
• Eighteen months at Gravetye Manor in Sussex, then sous chef at Le Caprice in Mayfair.
• Two years at Restaurant DANIEL in New York.
• A brief spell with Gordon Ramsay at Aubergine, then his first head chef role launching Teatro.
• Head chef at the Connaught under Angela Hartnett, then chef patron at Boxwood Café in Knightsbridge.
• Chef director for Plane Food at Heathrow Terminal 5, the Savoy Grill and Bread Street Kitchen.

He appeared in the second series of Great British Menu in 2007. (Number Eight Sevenoaks, Stuart’s Journey)

What it means for you

If you want a seat on 23 September, book now rather than nearer the date. The restaurant says earlier dinners in the series have sold out, and it records the March evening as going in under a week.

The practical details:

• Where: Number Eight, 8 London Road, Sevenoaks TN13 1AJ, opposite the Stag.
• When: Wednesday 23 September, from 7.00pm.
• Price: £85 per person, four courses plus an arrival drink. Wine pairing extra.
• Booking: through the restaurant, on 01732 448088 or at no8sevenoaks.com.

The November dinner with Kochhar is not open for booking yet, so watch the restaurant’s own page if that is the one you want.

For more places to eat and things to do across the district, see our guides to what’s on in Sevenoaks this month, the best pubs in Sevenoaks and afternoon tea in Sevenoaks. If you are driving in, our parking guide covers the town centre car parks and their charges.

Sources

• Number Eight Sevenoaks, guest chef night
• Number Eight Sevenoaks, Guest Chef With Kevin Gratton booking listing
• Number Eight Sevenoaks, Stuart’s Journey
• Number Eight Sevenoaks, home page and contact details

Image: The Stag Theatre, Sevenoaks by Chris Whippet, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.