Michelin chefs and Tex Mex chains lead US food invasion of London

London has become the target of an unprecedented invasion of American chefs and restaurateurs.

British and US property agents say they have been "overwhelmed" by inquiries for London sites at all culinary levels — from Michelin-starred New York chefs to Tex Mex fast-food chains.

The strength of the dollar against the pound is one factor. And awareness of London's culinary credentials has been enhanced by the TV success of Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver in the US.

In the vanguard of the charge is acclaimed French-born New York chef Daniel Boulud, who opened Bar Boulud at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge last month.

He said: "I've known London for 25 years and I always felt that if it had not been New York it could have been London.

"It is a very sophisticated market, European yes, but it is the most international of cities, not far from what we know in New York."

Boulud, who runs 12 restaurants in New York, Las Vegas, Miami, Palm Beach, Vancouver, Beijing and now London, is followed by New York-based "flame king" Adam Perry Lang, who launches Barbecoa with Jamie Oliver in the City in October.

Two more of New York's biggest names — both British-born — are also expected to make their debuts in London shortly.

Keith McNally, the Londoner behind Manhattan landmarks such as Pastis and Pulino's, has teamed up with Richard Caring to bring another of his ventures, Balthazar, to Covent Garden.

Meanwhile, April Bloomfield, the River Café-trained chef at New York's leading gastro pub The Spotted Pig is looking for a site in Mayfair, Belgravia or Chelsea.

Leading New York restaurant and property consultant Steven Kamali said he had just opened his first overseas office on the eastern fringes of the City to cope with the demand.

He said: "I have never experienced such enthusiasm in my entire life. It is overwhelming. People are thinking, Instead of opening in California, which is a six-hour plane ride away, why not open in London?' It's another capital, it is perceived as being the gateway to Europe and
London and New York are in many ways sister cities."

Most ambitious US chefs hoping to make their mark overseas used to look across the Pacific to Asia, now they turn to London. There is also a feeling that Londoners are ready for New York's less formal, more fun dining culture after 20 years of dominance by "corporatist" chains such as Conran Restaurants (now D&D), Gordon Ramsay Holdings and the Caprice Group owned by Richard Caring.