Former Dorchester chef Tom Booton has opened Ralphie's, a British bistro in Belgravia named after his dog, aiming to become a neighbourhood place with regulars. The 33-year-old, who became the youngest chef to command the grill room at the five-star hotel at 26, parted ways with the Dorchester in 2025 and has now gone it alone.
A first solo restaurant
"This is my first solo restaurant," Booton tells The Standard over calamari and champagne. "It's a British bistro, a dream I've always had and one I've been working on for a long time. I want it to be a neighbourhood place — somewhere with regulars."
Guests will get free bread when they sit down, served with a cup of soup and individual butter portions shaped like Ralphie, the chef's fluffy white maltipoo. Ralphie's face is etched into each slab by way of bright red paprika oil poured into moulded grooves.
Menu and prices
Starters range from £14 for Waldorf salad to £18 for cured brill with grapefruit. Main courses start at £30 for trout with pickled grapes and tarragon, and include dishes that helped Booton become one of London's most sought-after young chefs, from pork and mushroom pie with mustard to roast venison with lardons, clapshot and lingonberries. The "skate diane" also shows promise, while on Sundays, lunch comes with a Yorkshire pudding stuffed with shepherd's pie.
"We'll be doing my take on moules marinière, cod cheek scampi, and signature steak tartare with shoestring fries and an egg yolk confited in beef fat," Booton says. Next year, there'll be a homemade Viennetta.
Dog menu and neighbourhood spirit
Four-legged guests may choose from plates such as venison leg and duck neck, Baltic sprats with a fish skin roll, or, for dogs visiting on a Sunday, a big pig-in-blanket with crispy pig's snout and wild boar. "Dogs are welcome, of course," Booton adds but stresses: "We can't have everyone turn up with dogs. And they still need to be well behaved. It's not doggy daycare."
Booton has spent the last 12 months or more touring West Country auction houses for furniture, designing a kitchen, commissioning artwork from friends and finding a blackboard for his daily specials — there'll be a changing main course for under £20 each lunch time. "I've self-funded this, with a bit of investment from four others," he says. "A lot of people have helped me out, there have been a lot of mate's rates, friends doing me favours. The Royal Opera House gave me some marble tables, and my friend Pritesh Mody [of Sunday Brunch fame] put together the drinks list. Basically, I want this to feel like a proper neighbourhood restaurant. It sounds corny, but I want it to be generous."
